LOUDNESS

The EBUs 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...
WHATS 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

DATE
December 2014

VERSION
5.0