TV at NAB: Telos Alliance NAB 2016 Wrap-up

This year at NAB, the Telos Alliance's TV Division was in the South hall alongside many of the other TV broadcasting companies. While we missed our radio friends, who we normally share a booth with, we had an incredible show. Since last year's NAB, we added Minnetonka, with Linear and Minnetonka sharing a booth that received a constant stream of interested folks. We had several new and innovative products on display both in the cloud and in the flesh. Here's our short recap from the TV side of the Telos Alliance.

Linear Acoustic

Linear Acoustic demonstrated a number of television applications for AoIP products from the Axia and Omnia product lines, including the iQ mixing console, an intercom panel, the VOCO 8 AoIP-enabled microphone preamp/processor, and (with cooperation from Audio Technica) a very unique microphone with AES67 output, powered by PoE through the Ethernet connection. Other IP solutions for television included the AERO.soft processing engine (pictured below), with up to eight instances of AERO processing connected via AoIP I/O, and the Linear Acoustic SDI xNode, which embeds and de-embeds audio from two ports of HD/SD-SDI I/O on an AoIP network.

Also on display were updates to the acclaimed AERO processors for television, including the AERO.10, AERO.100, and AERO.2000. First introduced in AERO.10 and now included in a new software update for all current AERO processors is a powerful “Task Scripting” feature. This allows any of over 200 parameters per processing instance to be fully scripted for automated control, in addition to other system parameters normally available through the remote control software. These scripts can be triggered from GPI or via IP and add a tremendous amount of control flexibility. Also now included in the AERO.100/2000/soft processors is the exclusive Linear Acoustic Crowd Control algorithm. This feature can enhance dialog in content with high levels of background noise such as sporting events, ensuring that commentary doesn’t get lost in the mix. Finally, all current AERO processors (AERO.10/100/2000/soft) will now have the option to support up to five stereo programs per instance (2+2+2+2+2).

 The LQ-1000 Loudness Quality Monitor (pictured above) and MT2000 Multichannel Bitstream Analyzer also received updates for NAB 2016. LQ-1000 now utilizes the same “New Framework” and NfRemote software found in our current AERO processors. This means that multiple operators can now monitor and control the LQ-1000 from any PC connected to the network, or additional metering displays generated by NfRemote can be integrated with a multi viewer. This update will ship on all new LQ-1000 units, and will be available as a $500 factory upgrade for existing units above S/N 1000. MT2000 has a streamlined menu structure, a 16-channel metering view that displays all SDI pairs simultaneously for quick access to measurements, and optional SNMP management capability. In addition, a hardware update to MT2000 provides more accurate battery metering, and improved battery runtime. This hardware update is available to all existing MT2000 users for cost of shipping the unit back to the factory. The new MT2000 software is available as a free field-installable update. Contact support@linearacoustic.com for further details on any of these software and hardware upgrades.

Minnetonka Audio

Not to be outdone by its boothmate, Minnetonka showcased several updates and innovations at NAB, as well. These include the latest version of AudioTools Server, AudioTools CLOUD, SurCode Dolby Digital Plus for Avid, and SurCode Dolby E for Adobe Premiere Pro CC. 

Version 4.1 AudioTools Server provides users with many new features including the addition of Linear Acoustic APTO adaptive loudness processing. Linear Acoustic APTO (sold separately) is the next-generation loudness processing solution designed for compliance in a real-time environment. Linear Acoustic APTO is available as an OEM module for direct integration, or can be used in AudioTools Server in a file-based mode. Available as a free upgrade to existing AudioCare subscribers, 4.1 now includes an operator application for simple workflow configuration, design and submission.

Minnetonka also demonstrated AudioTools CLOUD. From the occasional job, to expanding throughput for higher volume workloads, AudioTools CLOUD brings proven Minnetonka audio processing to the cloud, allowing on-demand, case-by-case use. Businesses only pay for the infrastructure they need, when they need it, using Amazon AWS.

 SurCode for Dolby Digital Plus Encoder and Decoder—also demoed at NAB—is the first solution to bring Dolby Digital Plus to the Avid platform. The plug-ins support up to eight channels of audio and ranges from 5.1 plus stereo to four independent stereo channels.  As Dolby-certified products, the decoded and encoded audio files from SurCode are compatible with all Dolby Digital–branded software or hardware encoders and decoders.

Rounding out the company’s Dolby solutions for NAB 2016 is the SurCode Dolby E Encoder and Decoder, which works with Adobe Premiere Pro CC. SurCode allows for files to be encoded and decoded directly within Premiere Pro CC. The iLok protected VST decoder can be instantiated as a real-time confidence monitor, and used for faster-than-real-time export. The Encoder is available as a WIBU protected export plug-in in the Adobe Media Encoder export engine. SurCode for Dolby E Encoder and Decoder for Adobe Premiere Pro CC is included at no additional charge in the SurCode for Dolby E Bundle and Master Suite.

For more on Minnetonka at NAB, watch this short video, in which Kitplus interviews Minnetonka Audio about our Enterprise product line.