An Extra TV Audio Track For Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers

An Extra TV Audio Track
for Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers
Part of the EU – Project DTV4All
Martin Link, Audio Production Systems, IRT
In Cooperation with:
Bettina Heidkamp (RBB), Sven Glaser (RBB), Pilar Orero (UAB),
Marta Miquel Iriarte (UAB)‫‏‬
© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser
TMT Nov.28, 2010 UAB - Pilar Orero, Marta Miquel Iriarte
Overview
An Extra TV Audio Track for Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers
Background of the Research
Clean Audio
Reduced Playback Speed
© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 2

Overview

1.Background of the Research
1.General Improvements for Disabled People as Audience
2.The Project "Digital Television For All" (DTV4All)‫‏‬
2.Clean Audio
1.Available Techniques for Signal Processing
2.Selection of Program Sequences for Evaluation
3.Votings by Concerned TV Viewers
4.Conclusions and Future Prospects
3.Reduced Playback Speed
• Aspects for Telecasts
1.Evaluation of Intelligibility
Overview

1.Background of the Research
1.General Improvements for Disabled People as Audience
2.The Project "Digital Television For All" (DTV4All)‫‏‬
2.Clean Audio

Additional Services
1. Background Of the Research

1.1. General Improvements for Disabled People ...
Helpful for Hard-of-....
Action on Audio Services
Clean Audio Hearing
Audio Description Seeing
Reduced Playback Speed Hearing Seeing
Easy Web-support by HbbTV Hearing Seeing
Action on Video Services
Signer Language Hearing
Subtitle Presentation Hearing
Reduced Playback Speed Hearing Seeing
... People
Project Partners

1.2. The Project "Digital Television For All" (DTV4All)‫‏‬
Supported by European Commission of ICT PSP
Time Schedule: July 1, 2008 – December 31, 2010)
Subject "Barrier-Free Access to Digital TV"
Partners:
•Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg (rbb)
•Danmarks Radio (DR)
•Radiotelevisione Italiana (RAI)
•Televisió de Catalunya (TVC)
BROADCAST
•Brunel University of London - Project Leader
•Institut für Rundfunktechnik (IRT)
•Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB)
RESEARCH
•Red Bee Media, London (Retired in 2009)
•(All in cooperation with EBU) INDUSTRIE
Cooperation

1.2. The Project "Digital Television For All" (DTV4All)‫‏‬
Separate Tasks
CLEAN AUDIO
Preparing and compilation of test sequences IRT
Pre-Tests RBB, UAB
Test organization RBB
REDUCED PLAYBACK SPEED

Preparing and compilation of test sequences IRT
Test organization and evaluation UAB

Overview

2. Clean Audio
1. Available Techniques for Signal Processing
2. Selection of Program Sequences for Evaluation
3. Votings by Concerned TV Viewers
4. Conclusions and Future Prospects
3. Reduced Playback Speed

Source Material
2. Clean Audio
2.1. Available Techniques for Signal Processing
Non-suitable and suitable program material
Existing
Asset wit
Fo otage h Footage
t
w ithou
As set
m en t , Noisy
ting Life Com News Show
Exis
Life
News Report On Site C New Produ
om ction
me
M ovie nt
&I
Old T-c
ha
nn
el
Normal Audio Normal Audio

Clean Audio Clean Audio

Genres of Source Material
2. Clean Audio
2.2. Selection of Program Sequences for Evaluation‫‏‬
Providing Material
Sometimes with ambient noise Normally no ambient noise
Movies Talk shows

Television plays News shows
Entertainment shows Educational stuff
Reports
Sports transmissions

Test Items
2. Clean Audio
2.2. Selection of Program Sequences for Evaluation
Soundtrack Content of the items
Item audio to keep audio to reject 1st segment "N" 2nd segment "a" 3rd segment "b" 4th segment "c"
rumbling, no atmo,1x
dialogue in an aisle of a
1 indoor ambience, piano tones Normal audio Cedar,Izotope -- --
hospital (tv_movie)‫‏‬
on piano ones
2x Cedar, a lot with

ladie and girl in a dining room
2 clicks by tableware, music Normal audio Izotope on the -- --
(film of a fairytale)‫‏‬
music
two ladies in a living room, moderate ambience of a boxing 2x Cedar, new setting
3 Normal audio -- --
radio speaker (movie)‫‏‬ arena from a radio set for radio-voice
slightly echoing dialogue

4 clicks in a coroner's room Normal audio Cedar only Cedar + Izotpe --
(TV_movie)‫‏‬
normal and loud talking rural ambience, 3x Cedar, level reduced

5 Normal audio 2x Cedar --
(movie)‫‏‬ men fighting, barking dog in pauses
like "a", with Izotope,

enthusiastic crowd at a boxing like "a", again Cedar,
6 sports reporter (movie)‫‏‬ Normal audio 1x-2x Cedar (edits)‫‏‬ re-peatedly
match no Izotope
Cedar
like "a", with Izotope, like "a", partially again

enthusiastic crowd at a boxing
7 sports reporter (movie)‫‏‬ Normal audio 1x-2x Cedar (edits)‫‏‬ re-peatedly Cedar, no
match
Cedar Izotope
ladie's voice and a girl outdoor 2x Cedar, level reduced

8 mostly music Normal audio -- --
(film of a fairytale)‫‏‬ in pauses
some indoor ambience, silent 2x Cedar, level

9 conversation Normal audio -- --
music reduced in
pauses

Test Helpers Onscreen
2. Clean Audio
2.2. Selection of Program Sequences for Evaluation

All Scores
2. Clean Audio
2.3. Votings by Concerned TV Viewers
subj. nr I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I6 I7 I8 I9
N a b N a b N a b c N a b c
#1 out 1 0 6 3 2 4 2 6 6 2 6 3 1 2 4 2 3 6 5
#2 out 0 6 6 2 5 5 2 6 6 2 6 6 6 2 5 5 5 6 5
#3 2 2 2 4 2 1 4 2 1 3 2 3 3 3 2 3 4 2 2
#4 out 0 0 6 6 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 4 3.5
#5 2 0 0 4 3 2 5 3 2 6 5 3 5 5 5 3 4 2 3
#6 4 3 4 4.5 3.5 3 4 3.5 3 5 4.5 4.5 4.5 5 5 4 4 4 3
#7 3 4 4 5 5 2 5 5 2 5 4 3 4 5 5 5 3 2 2
#8 3 2 6 3 3 3 3 3 3 6 5 6 6 6 6 6 6 2 3
#9 2 2 5 3 2 2 2 2 5 5 3 3 6 6 6 6 6 2 1
#10 3 4 4 4 3 2 4 3 2 6 5 5 4 5 5 4 4 2 2
#11 2 2 6 2 2 2 2 2 2 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 6 2 3
#12 1.5 1.5 5.5 3.5 3.5 3 5.5 5.5 5 6 6 5 5 5.5 5.5 5.5 5 1 2.5
#13 2 0 2 3 3 2 3 2 3 4 2 3 3 3 2 3 3 0 0
#14 4 2 4 2 2.5 2 3.5 4.5 5.5 4 1.5 2 3 2.5 2 2 2 1 1
#15 3 0 2 4 2 3 4 2 4 3 4 2 4 4 2 4 4 2 4
#16 2 2 0 3 2 2 4 4 4 6 2 3 4 5 2 2 5 2 2
#17 2.5 3 3 3 2.5 2 4 3.5 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 2 2
#18 0 2 2 2 1 2 2 1 2 5 5 2 3 2 1 2 3 1 2
Averages:
All subj. 2.5 2.7 4.2 3.4 2.9 2.6 3.6 3.6 3.6 4.7 4.3 3.9 4.4 4.3 4.1 4.1 4.3 2.5 2.7
#1,#2,#4 out 2.6 2.5 3.8 3.3 2.7 2.2 3.7 3.1 3.1 5 4.0 3.7 4.4 4.5 4.0 4.0 4.2 1.9 2.3

Ranking by Scores
2. Clean Audio
Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 8 Item 9
Answers Answers Answers Answers Answers
Good to very good 1 8 4 13 9
average 6 4 5 1 5
bad 0 0 4 0 0
(Sum)‫‏‬ 14 12 13 14 14
Noise in "Normal" +_____| ++____| ++____| ++____| +_____|
Pair Comparison results

Ranking by Scores
2. Clean Audio
Item 4 Item 5 Item 6 Item 7
a b a b a b c a b c
Answers Answers Answers Answers
2 or more
grades 2 4 3 4 4 5 3 1 2 1
better
Better than
normal
9 11 8 7 10 11 9 6 5 7
Same as normal 5 4 6 6 4 4 4 9 10 6
Worse than
normal
2 0 1 2 1 0 2 0 0 2
(Sum)‫‏‬ 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15 15
Noise in
++____| ++____| +++++_| +++++_|
"Normal"
Multiple Comparison results

Example: User Interface
2. Clean Audio
2.4. Conclusions and Future Prospects
NORMAL
Silence when not spoken

AGC
Ambience when not spoken

BACKGROUND LEVEL
Slightly CLEAN
BACKGROUND LEVEL
███████_______
FADER
SELECT ◄ ► INTENSITY ☻ EXIT

►
◄

Application
2. Clean Audio
To many hard-of hearing people the advantage of Clean Audio is proven.

Even when small quality impairments occur by post-processed 'cleaning'.
The acceptance could cause to start developments of automated systems,
the first step is to simplify the workflow

Overview

2. Clean Audio

1.Aspects for Telecasts
2.Evaluation of Intelligibility

Test Setup

3.1. Aspects for Telecasts
A test concerning acoustical and visual perceptance:
•Test in a laboratory environment

•1. part audio with video; 2. part video only
•8 items of about one minute durance in normal playing speed
•Presented playing speeds 100%, 90%, 80%,70%
•Pair comparisons of different items at different speeds
•Content are different reports, talkshows with current themes
•Evaluation by eye-tracking system and questionaires
•Detailed questions about understanding the content

Comparison Test Scheme

3.2. Evaluation of Intelligibility

Questionaire

Test material contains meanings and opinions on current affairs and

politics, which the subjects will understand more or less, related to
intelligibility
Test of intelligibility by questions on

details of the shown statements
Statements in the questionaire to answer with

"True/false"

Sample of evaluation chart

"correction" is related to the questions with [Y/N]

being right-or-wrong statements
When all answers were correct

# of Video 100% 90% 80% 70%
1 ALL ALL
2 ALL ALL
3 ALL ALL
6 ALL
7 ALL ALL
8 ALL
Sum 1 3 1 5
Results of video only
(Dumb Condition)‫‏‬ 0 4 1 3

Application

In case of talk shows, news shows etc.

Permament flow of information = talking. Just play all at Reduced Playback Speed:
Nothing to be done by the broadcasters
The receiver plays slowly according to user setting
In case of movies, some entertainment shows etc.:

Only Short phrases for Reduced Playback Speed, mostly no information for understanding:
Broadcast a control signal during dialog part
The Settop box will stretch dialog parts only, and overlap a little bit before and after
Over-all playing time is not prolonged

Application
Clean Audio
And
Reduced Playback Speed
Might even be useful tools in combination….

Thank-You for Your Attention.
Martin Link
Audio Production Systems
Institut für Rundfunktechnik
Floriansmühlstraße 60
80939 München
Tel. +49-(0)89 32399 458

Fax +49-(0)89 32399 351
E-Mail: link@irt.de Slides and documents are protected by copyright law. Any kind
of reproduction is not allowed without permission of the author.
This copyright notice may not be removed.
© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser

An Extra TV Audio Track For Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers

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An Extra TV Audio Track For Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers

Hochgeladen von

Copyright:

Verfügbare Formate

An Extra TV Audio Track

for Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers

Part of the EU – Project DTV4All

Martin Link, Audio Production Systems, IRT

An Extra TV Audio Track for Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers

Background of the Research

Reduced Playback Speed

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 2

An Extra TV Audio Track for Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers

An Extra TV Audio Track for Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers

3.Reduced Playback Speed

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 4

1. Background Of the Research

1. Background Of the Research

1. Background Of the Research

REDUCED PLAYBACK SPEED

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 7

An Extra TV Audio Track for Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 8

Normal Audio Normal Audio

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 9

Sometimes with ambient noise Normally no ambient noise

Movies Talk shows

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 10

2x Cedar, a lot with

slightly echoing dialogue

normal and loud talking rural ambience, 3x Cedar, level reduced

like "a", with Izotope,

like "a", with Izotope, like "a", partially again

ladie's voice and a girl outdoor 2x Cedar, level reduced

some indoor ambience, silent 2x Cedar, level

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 11

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 12

#6 4 3 4 4.5 3.5 3 4 3.5 3 5 4.5 4.5 4.5 5 5 4 4 4 3

#14 4 2 4 2 2.5 2 3.5 4.5 5.5 4 1.5 2 3 2.5 2 2 2 1 1

#17 2.5 3 3 3 2.5 2 4 3.5 3 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 4 2 2

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 13

Item 1 Item 2 Item 3 Item 8 Item 9

Answers Answers Answers Answers Answers

Good to very good 1 8 4 13 9

Noise in "Normal" +_____| ++____| ++____| ++____| +_____|

Pair Comparison results

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 14

Answers Answers Answers Answers

Multiple Comparison results

Silence when not spoken

Ambience when not spoken

SELECT ◄ ► INTENSITY ☻ EXIT

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 16

To many hard-of hearing people the advantage of Clean Audio is proven.

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 17

An Extra TV Audio Track for Hard-Of-Hearing Viewers

3.Reduced Playback Speed

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 18

3. Reduced Playback Speed

•Test in a laboratory environment

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 19

3. Reduced Playback Speed

© IRT - Martin Link, RBB - Bettina Heidkamp-Tchegloff, Sven Glaser S. 20

3. Reduced Playback Speed

Test material contains meanings and opinions on current affairs and

Test of intelligibility by questions on

Noise in "Normal" +_| ++| ++| ++| +_|