DATE

December 2014

VERSION

5.0

LOUDNESS The EBU’s Loudness work has become a resounding international

success. Many national broadcasters have adopted and over 70 product

manufacturers are offering tools in support of EBU R 128. And there still

is more to come...

WHAT’S NEW?

In 2014, the EBU Loudness Recommendation, EBU R 128, was updated based on feedback from users

and a supplement was created for short-form content (commercials, promos, etc.). The most important

change to the original R 128 version from 2011 is a general target level tolerance (±0.5 LU).

For live production the wider tolerance of ±1.0 LU was kept. In addition to Loudness Range (LRA),

Maximum Momentary Loudness and Maximum Short-term Loudness are now part of R 128 to even

further characterize a programme. The main EBU publications on loudness are:

EBU R 128 The core of the work, which specifies a target level of -23 LUFS (+/- 0.5 LU)

EBU R 128 s1 Loudness parameters for short-form content, such as advertisements and promos.

EBU Tech 3341 A technical specification on how to create meters for measuring Loudness

EBU Tech 3342 The Loudness Range (LRA) parameter, helping to characterize audio content

EBU Tech 3343 Practical production guidelines; “How to implement R 128 in your facility”

EBU Tech 3344 A very detailed guide on the distribution aspects of loudness normalization

Test material, Technical Review articles, translations and many presentations are available too.

PLOUD chairman Florian Camerer emphasises that audio

“sausage processing” does not produce good sound (picture: IBC 2013).

DATE

December 2014

VERSION

5.0

There has been a particular focus on sharing experiences from the field. An elaborate update of the

Production Guidelines (EBU Tech 3343) is currently being worked on, so the industry at large can benefit

from the expertise gained by the PLOUD participants.

THE CHALLENGE FOR PUBLIC SERVICE MEDIA

The biggest challenge broadcasters face is to decide how and when to switch over to loudness

measurement and levelling. Important factors include (re)investment cycles, switch-over dates set by

colleagues/competitors, and the amount of training that is required to educate staff and clients.

The move to HDTV or file-based facilities has proved to be a good moment for broadcasters to

switch from an audio peak-level approach to loudness measurement and levelling. Another

good switching point is the use of loudness normalization in legacy archive migration projects.

Typically broadcasters try to make the loudness switch-over in sync with their prime

colleagues/competitors, involving other organizations where relevant too (such as advertising

agencies and national legislators).

Although the loudness measurement and levelling approach is much more intuitive than the

traditional peak-level approach, staff nonetheless require a reasonable amount of training to get

acquainted with the new loudness paradigm. Many broadcasters have set up in-house projects

to deal with this, often inviting colleagues from countries that have already made the switch.

Other challenges (and opportunities!) relate in particular to the use of loudness tools for radio and

broadband content distribution, such as catch-up TV, where loudness variations have, historically, been

bigger than in broadcast TV.

WHAT IS THE EBU DOING?

The main deliverables have been achieved, the uptake is a huge success, and the EBU is continuing its

work, especially to address above challenges. In brief:

The group is addressing the problem of how to use/set loudness processors to get even more

benefit from R128 and to prevent turning broadcast audio into ‘sausage-processed’ sound.

There is increased awareness of the need for improving the audio levels used for streamed

content, which is a growing audience for broadcasters. This topic is discussed in PLOUD in

detail, including an analysis of the limitations posed by current portable CE devices.

The group is drafting practical advice on the use of EBU R 128 for radio. For radio production

and digital distribution in particular, the use of loudness tools seems an easy gain. In Norway,

for example, DAB broadcasts have already switched to being loudness normalized.

FIND OUT MORE

EBU R 128 information tech.ebu.ch/loudness