This tutorial is for everyone working on the design or production of digital audio and should benefit beginners and experts. We aim to bring this topic to life with several interesting audio demonstrations, and up to date with new insights and some surprising results that may reshape pre-conceptions of high resolution. In a recent paper, we stressed that transparency (high-resolution audio fidelity) depends on the preservation of micro-sounds – those small details that are easily lost to quantization errors, but which can be perfectly preserved by using the right dither. It is often asked: ‘Why should I add noise to my recording?’ or, ‘How can adding noise make things clearer?’ This tutorial gives a tour through these questions and presents a call to action: dither should not be looked on as an added noise, but an essential lubricant to preserves naturalness.
Tutorial topics include: fundamentals of dithering; analysis using histograms and synchronous averaging; what happens if undithered quantizers are cascaded?; ‘washboard distortion’; noise-shaping; additive and subtractive dither; time-domain effects; inside A/D and D/A converters; the perilous world of modern signal chains (including studio workflow and DSP in fixed and floating-point processors) and, finally, audibility analysis.
Broadcasting movies in linear TV or via streaming presents a considerable challenge, especially for highly dynamic content like action films. Normalising such content to the paradigm of "Programme Loudness" may result in dialogue levels much lower than the loudness reference level (-23 LUFS in Europe). On the other hand, normalising to the dialogue level may lead to overly loud sound effects. The EBU Loudness group PLOUD has addressed this issue with the publication of R 128 s4, the forth supplement to the core recommendation R 128. In order to have a better understanding of the challenge, an extensive analysis of 44 dubbed movies (mainly Hollywood mainstream films) has been conducted. These analysed films were already dynamically treated for broadcast delivery by experienced sound engineers. The background of the latest document of the PLOUD group will be presented and the main parameter LDR (Loudness-to-Dialogue-Ratio) will be introduced. A systematic approach when and how to proceed with dynamic treatment will be included.
In this dynamic, hackathon-style session, participants will rapidly develop a world-class brand strategy for their company using cutting-edge AI tools and collaborative exercises. Attendees will leave with an actionable blueprint they can implement immediately in their businesses or projects.
Format: 90 minute session Key Takeaways: Master the essentials of brand strategy and its impact on content creation and sales Engage in hands-on exercises to develop a brand strategy in real time Learn how AI tools can accelerate brand positioning
