TC Electronic Ships LM5 Loudness Radar Meter Plug-in for ProTools|HD

Mar 12, 2008

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TC Electronic announces that the LM5 Loudness Radar Meter plug-in for ProTools|HD is now shipping. LM5 derives statistical information from the ITU-R BS.1770 standard to visualize instant loudness and loudness history, thereby helping engineers to realize the dynamic range at their disposal during production, and to predict the dynamic range restriction needed during distribution to various platforms. LM5 is suitable for use in broadcast, post production, film and music alike. A 10-day free demo license is availableonline. A 10-day free demo license is available at http://www.tcelectronic.com/LM5Trial.aspLM5 is available at a suggested retail price of € 999.

In a multi-platform world it is important that delivery criteria can be easily specified and met even by people not primarily concerned with audio. Some of the currently used principles lead to ambiguous level management and consequently, extra time spent on audio production and quality control. Compliant with ITU-R BS.1770, LM5 offers a standardized step forward. It can be used for precise real-time balancing and tight specification of any type of audio signal, and covers mono, stereo and 5.1 formats.

In the radar view, LM5 displays real-time loudness (LU or LFS) and true-peak level along with loudness history. The angular, color-coded display makes it easy for an editor to balance audio visually, and to see when level falls below or exceeds the end-listener's dynamic range tolerance. The true-peak level display even warns the operator when excessive peaks are at the risk of creating distortion in downstream equipment such as data reduction codecs or DA converters. LM5 enables easy and predictable level management across distribution and broadcast platforms with or without the use of metadata. In either case, the meter can help improve speech intelligibility and reduce level jumps on all platforms from MobileTV to HDTV using AAC or Dolby AC3. Years of research into loudness relating to any type of audio programming has brought TC Electronic to the forefront of performing real-time loudness measurement and control. TC Electronic has taken active part in loudness standardization efforts in Japan, the US, Europe and other areas, and several TC papers are available on the subject. Please refer to http://www.tcelectronic.com/TechLibrary for more details.

For more information, visit their web site at www.tcelectronic.com.