AES Budapest 2012
Paper Session P8
P8 - Listening Tests: Part 1
Friday, April 27, 09:00 — 11:00 (Room: Lehar)
Chair:
Jan Plogsties
P8-1 Comparison of Localization Performance of Blind and Sighted Subjects on a Virtual Audio Display and in Real-life Environments—György Wersényi, József Répás, Széchenyi István University - Györ, Hungary
Localization performance of blind subjects was measured in a virtual audio environment using non-individualized but customized HRTFs. Results were compared with former results of sighted users using the same measurement setup. Furthermore, orientation and navigation tasks in a real-life outdoor environment were performed in order to compare localization ability of sighted and visually impaired including "walking straight" tasks with and without acoustic feedback and test runs using the white cane as an acoustic tool during navigation.
Convention Paper 8611 (Purchase now)
P8-2 HELM: High Efficiency Loudness Model for Broadcast Content—Alessandro Travaglini, Fox International Channels Italy - Rome, Italy; Andrea Alemanno, Aurelio Uncini, University of Rome “La Sapienza” - Rome, Italy
In this paper we propose a new algorithm for measuring the loudness levels of broadcast content. It is called the High Efficiency Loudness Model (HELM) and it aims to provide robust measurement of programs of any genre, style, and format, including stereo and multichannel audio 5.1 surround sound. HELM was designed taking into account the typical conditions of the home listening environment, and it is therefore particularly good at meeting the needs of broadcast content users. While providing a very efficient assessment of typical generic programs, it also successfully approaches some issues that arise when assessing unusual content such as programs heavily based on bass frequencies, wide loudness range programs, and multichannel programs as opposed to stereo ones. This paper details the structure of HELM, including its channel-specific frequency weighting and recursive gating implementation. Finally, we present the results of a mean opinion score (MOS) subjective test that demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed method.
Convention Paper 8612 (Purchase now)
P8-3 Defining the Listening Comfort Zone in Broadcasting through the Analysis of the Maximum Loudness Levels—Alessandro Travaglini, Fox International Channels Italy - Rome, Italy; Andrea Alemanno, University of Rome “La Sapienza” - Rome, Italy; Fabrizio Lantini, Electric Light Studio - Rome (RM), Italy
Over the last few years, the broadcasting industry has finally approached the loudness issue by standardizing its measurement and recommending target loudness levels with which all programs are required to comply. If the recommendations are applied and all programs are normalized at the target level, viewers ought to experience consistent perceived loudness levels throughout transmissions. However, due to the inner loudness modulation of the programs themselves, this is not always the case. In fact, even if the overall program loudness levels perfectly match the required target level, excessive loudness modulations can still generate annoyance to viewers if the foreground sound levels exceed the so-called “comfort zone.” The fact is that we still have no clear data on which metering can provide visual/numeric feedback on the perception of “hearing annoyance.” This paper investigates this issue and aims to provide objective evidence of which parameters would better represent this phenomenon. In particular, we describe an extensive subjective test performed for both the typical Stereo TV and the 5.1 home theater set reproductions and analyze its results in order to verify whether the Maximum Momentary Loudness Level, the Maximum Short Loudness Level, and Loudness Range (LRA) values described in EBU R128 can provide robust and reliable numeric references to generate a comfortable listening experience for viewers. Furthermore, we perform a similar analysis for the loudness descriptors of the algorithm HELM and finally indicate the values of those parameters that show the most consistent and reliable figures.
Convention Paper 8613 (Purchase now)
P8-4 The Relative Importance of Speech and Non-Speech Components for Preferred Listening Levels—Ian Dash, Consultant - Marrickville, NSW, Australia; Miles Mossman, Densil Cabrera, University of Syndey - Sydney, NSW, Australia
In a prior paper the authors reported on a listening test that attempted to establish the relative importance of speech and non-speech components of a mixed soundtrack when matching loudness to reference audio items. That paper concluded that listeners match loudness by overall content rather than by the loudness of the speech or non-speech components. This paper reports on a follow-up listening test that attempts to establish the relative importance of speech and non speech components in setting preferred listening level without any external reference. The results indicate that while speech levels are set more consistently than non-speech levels, listeners tend to set the overall levels more consistently than either of these components.
Convention Paper 8614 (Purchase now)
