Sarnoff Releases ATSC Loudness Reference Clips

Sarnoff Corporation, the legendary television innovator, today announced the availability of standard audio clips that are calibrated to be compliant with the ATSC recommended practice A/85 and the proposed 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.

"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," said Jerry Berger, Vice President for Broadcast and Bitstreams at Sarnoff. "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.

About Sarnoff Corporation
Sarnoff Corporation delivers vision, video and semiconductor technology innovations that empower government and commercial clients to see/sense, understand and control complex environments. Founded in 1942 as RCA Laboratories, Sarnoff makes continuous breakthroughs in real-time video processing for defense, security and surveillance; ICs, lasers, imaging and sensing devices; end-to-end video solutions. Sarnoff is a subsidiary of SRI International.