TC expands DB platform
New from TC Electronic, DB6 is a TV and mobile TV transmission processor designed to handle everything pertaining to loudness in one simple process: loudness metering at the input stage, up or down conversion, loudness processing, on-line lip-sync delay, loudness metering at the output stage, and logging of all relevant loudness statistics.
The DB6 is housed in a single rack space unit that allows processing of up to three simultaneous SD/HD/3G streams. It featyres two 5.1 capable processing engines per SDI stream, each able of delivering to any platform and any codec; be it HDTV, mobile TV, digital radio or podcast using AAC, Dolby, Ogg Vorbis, Lossless or Linear.
The LoudnessWizard algorithm takes care of loudness correction, up-conversion from stereo to surround formats and down-conversion from surround to stereo. Once configured, says TC Electronic, it can be left alone to work its wonders effectively as well as transparently; though the user also may let it know if a program has already been normalized or processed.
Loudness metering at the input and output stages is handled by TC Electronic’s Radar Loudness Meter. It is able to capture the essence of any loudness landscape at a glance for a complete and instant overview that includes Loudness History (S), Momentary Loudness (M), True-peak Level plus two user-definable parameters such as, egm Program Loudness (I) and Loudness Range (LRA). Both Radar Meters include a Statistics page showing all numbers and details at once, and both are capable of detailed 24/7 logging.
DB6 is compliant with all major broadcast standards, including ITU BS.1770-3, ATSC A/85, EBU R128, ARIB TR-B32, OP-59 and more. It even comes fully loaded with presets tailored specifically with each of these standards in mind.
The new product is available in two different versions: DB6 Multi and DB6 Single. At first glance, they look quite similar, but on the rear panel, there is one significant difference. As the name implies, DB6 Single handles one SD/HD/3G stream, which makes it suitable for local broadcasters or OB vans.
DB6 Multi also comes with the ability to process one stream right out of the box, but it is possible to install one or two additional ‘Transmission 3G’ dual-engine cards and thereby increase the count of total streams per unit to two or three, making DB6 Multi suitable for any TV station in need of processing multiple streams simultaneously.
Each Transmission 3G card holds two multichannel processors and is capable of running two LM6 Loudness Radar Meters as well as two LoudnessWizard algorithms simultaneously.