Bridge Technologies will be using NAB 2024 to demo the VB440’s extensive range of production monitoring features, which has now been extended to include monitoring of ST 2110-31 and -41 SADM for the effective transmission of immersive audio in live, uncompressed production environments. This new capability, which follows on from the incorporation of monitoring for Dolby’s full set of audio standards – including ATMOS – is unique to the VB440, and cements the probe’s position as the de-facto monitoring probe for IP production environments, particular for broadcasters engaging in immersive audio and live production.
In normal cases, immersive audio is rendered and accompanied with an ADM file, which contains the metadata needed to facilitate immersive playback. However, in the case of live production and transmission, the ADM file cannot be constructed and added as a metadata file, it needs to be serialised in the form of SADM.
Two approaches can be used. The first is to use one of the available audio tracks as a data carrier for the metadata. This however carries disadvantages. For uncompressed transmission, the ST 2110 -41 standard can be used to construct a separate serialised metadata file and transmit it separately to the audio file, allowing for the transmission of live, uncompressed, immersive audio. However, this approach adds complexity; by separating the audio and its metadata into two transmissions it brings added risk in terms of synchronicity upon delivery.
It is exactly this risk which the VB440 is now able to mitigate with its incorporation of ST 2110-41 monitoring and decoding. It allows not only for the identification of sync issues in the moment, but – through its unrivalled understanding of packet behaviour and IP network performance more generally – is able to identify network anomalies which may lead to issues down the line, facilitating much earlier error detection and avoidance. Its intuitive presentation of the audio and metadata being transmitted – both numerically and through an incorporated room meter – give at-a-glance insight into the real-time performance of immersive audio productions. Through this, the VB440 thus enables immersive audio for live production by granting full consistency and reliability to immersive audio productions.
Speaking of the incorporation of the -31 and -41 standards, Chairman of Bridge Technologies Simen Frostad said: “Yet again, with the VB440 we are pushing forward the scope of what can be done in the field of live IP production. Our recent focus on audio advancements has seen us incorporate a range of crucial immersive audio tools, and currently no other monitoring solution on the market incorporates ST 2110-31 or -41 monitoring. The development has been driven by a client’s need to deliver immersive audio for the live broadcast of one of the world’s largest global sporting events, coming up later this year – but its potential use will extend to a whole range of broadcasters and events. We’re excited to showcase its full potential at NAB2024”.