Japan Audio Society is inviting the world of audio to experience this year’s OTOTEN in Tokyo as an Audio & Home Theater Festival. A few days later and a good thousand miles west at MWC Shanghai, the Consumer Electronics and communication world comes together to explore the latest developments.
Fraunhofer IIS has been contributing cutting-edge technologies to the audio industry for over 30 years and is excited to return to China and Japan to showcase innovations and technologies that shape the most amazing sound.
Listen to great sound anywhere
On the go or in your space – headphones and mobile devices are one of the most-used options of enjoying audio content. Fraunhofer Cingo enables surround and immersive audio experiences through headphones and even the built-in speakers of mobile devices. The state-of-the-art binauralizer is the ideal companion for Next Generation Audio codecs such as MPEG-H Audio. Cingo provides best-in-class audio quality and is easy on the hardware. When fed with headtracking data, it can create an even more realistic 3D sound experience. The technology can be deployed on the app or operating system level of smartphones and similar platforms. It is also ideal for dynamic spatial audio rendering on true-wireless earbuds and headphones.
In the home, TVs, soundbars, and satellite speakers are the go-to devices for maximum audio enjoyment with a minimal device footprint. The new upHear Flexible Rendering takes care of the perfect setup and ensures sound that is perfectly matched to its surroundings. We present an outstanding experience of the Fraunhofer IIS innovation with our partners StreamUnlimited and WiSA. The implementation of upHear Flexible Rendering on the StreamUnlimited Stream1955 module powered by an NXP iMX8 SoC and utilizing WiSA E for wireless audio transmission can be experienced at the StreamUnlimited booth at OTOTEN. Please get in touch to arrange your personal demonstration.
High-quality audio for communication platforms
Today, devices can be positioned with the utmost flexibility, thanks to wireless communication platforms. LC3 and LC3plus are the perfect technologies for platforms such as Bluetooth, DECT, and VoIP terminals. In addition to their low complexity, they reduce the required bit rate by about 50 percent compared to older codecs. LC3 and LC3plus enable energy-saving services that make a longer battery life or the development of smaller products possible. Thanks to the flexible codec design, applications are not limited to voice services, but can also be extended to high-quality music streaming. At the same time, the codec operates with low coding delay, low computational complexity, and small memory requirements. Get ready to experience how LC3/LC3plus noticeably improves your wireless devices.
The foundation of great sound
A low-bitrate audio codec ensures the efficient transmission of sound in optimum quality. At the core of many streaming and broadcast services, technologies from Fraunhofer IIS are getting this vital job done. xHE-AAC, the latest generation of the AAC codec family, is the ideal solution for such services – be it movies, music, audiobooks or podcasts. With adaptive DASH/HLS streaming from 12 kbit/s up to 320 kbit/s for stereo services, as well as improved speech quality and stereo imaging, xHE-AAC noticeably improves reception and sound quality. Its mandatory MPEG-D DRC loudness and dynamic range control and seamless bitrate adjustment guarantee the best user experience in any playback situation. xHE-AAC decoding is natively supported in Android, Fire OS, iOS, and Windows and used by Netflix, Facebook, Instagram, and Langit Musik. In addition, xHE-AAC is the mandatory audio codec for Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM).
MPEG-H Audio is the next-generation technology for immersive and personalized sound. The recent advancements of this audio ecosystem span from developments in the broadcast and streaming area to advanced accessibility options. MPEG-H Audio is included in the ATSC, DVB, TTA (Korean) and SBTVD (Brazilian) TV standards and the world’s first terrestrial UHD TV service in South Korea. In Brazil, it enhances terrestrial HD TV services and has been selected as the sole mandatory audio system for Brazil’s next-generation TV 3.0 broadcast service. MPEG-H Audio is the basis of Sony’s immersive 360 Reality Audio music streaming services. The 3D music tracks, available from providers such as Amazon Music, Tidal, nugs.net, and Sony Select, can be enjoyed on mobile devices (with headphones), soundbars, AVRs, smart speakers, and in the car. At OTOTEN, Fraunhofer IIS presents the latest innovations with our partner KORG.
Debuting immersive voice communication at MWC Shanghai
IVAS (Immersive Voice and Audio Services) is the cutting-edge 3GPP voice codec that revolutionizes communication and telephony by creating immersive experiences. Experience it exclusively at MWC Shanghai! IVAS enhances the quality of calls and creates more lifelike ad-hoc and multi-party conferencing. This can contribute to improved focus and reduced fatigue during calls and virtual meetings. IVAS transports users to a new level of audio immersion by capturing realistic acoustic images of various modern life scenes as they occur in outdoor as well as indoor spaces like offices, homes, and industrial environments. Developed with mobile communication in mind, IVAS was optimized for highly efficient compression with low complexity and minimal delay. IVAS builds on the EVS (Enhanced Voice Services) technology. It is backwards compatible with this codec, which is used widely in 4G and 5G voice services (VoLTE and VoNR). This makes IVAS the perfect codec for the future of mobile immersive audio.
See you in Asia
At OTOTEN, taking place June 22-23, 2024, at the Tokyo International Forum, you can find our booth in the B1F Lobby Gallery. Mobile World Congress Shanghai is happening June 26-28, 2024, at the Shanghai New International Expo Centre (SNIEC) and we are located at booth D82 in hall N2. We are excited to welcome you and look forward to introducing all our new developments to you!