From SAC to SAOC - Recent developments in parametric coding of spatial audio

One of the most remarkable innovations in low bitrate audio coding during the recent years was the arrival of 'Spatial Audio Coding' (SAC) technology. Exploiting the human perception of spatial sound, these coding schemes are capable of transmitting high quality surround sound using bitrates that have been used for carrying traditional two-channel stereo audio so far. Following the recent finalization of the MPEG Surround specification, a next technology generation is envisaged for standardization within ISO/MPEG allowing bitrate-efficient and backward compatible coding of several sound objects. On the receiving side, such a 'Spatial Audio Object Coding' (SAOC) system renders the objects interactively into a sound scene on a reproduction setup of choice. The paper reviews the principles and current status of Spatial Audio Coding schemes and discusses their evolution towards Spatial Audio Object Coding with particular focus on the ongoing ISO/MPEG Audio standardization activities in this field. Entnommen aus <a_href="http://www.fiz-technik.de/db/b_tema.htm" target="_blank">TEMA</a>