Sarnoff releases ATSC loudness reference clips

PRINCETON, USA: Sarnoff Corp. has announced the availability of standard audio clips that are calibrated to be compliant with the ATSC recommended practice A/85 and the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (CALM).

The new reference clips will allow media professionals to assure their content complies with the law and industry best practices. The clips include both male and female dialog samples as well as pink noise, all at a constant -24 dB LKFS as defined by ITU BS.1770-1. Sound mixers can use the clips to calibrate their ears and monitors prior to mixing content. Engineers can use the tools to verify that their loudness meters are properly calibrated.

Jerry Berger, Vice President for Broadcast and Bitstreams at Sarnoff, said: "These audio clips come at a time when many content providers and content distributers are faced with meeting delivery specifications but lack practical tools to do so. With these tools, content producers and distributers can ensure compliance with ATSC A/85 and the CALM Act."

The new reference clips will be offered as an option with the Test Sequence Generator TSG-1, Sarnoff’s flagship platform for sourcing signals for testing television signal chains and workflows.