Data

Metadata can be used to provide more consistent audio quality for video content amid the growing shift away from linear TV viewing on televisions to the viewing of TV content across many different mobile devices, according to Scott Norcross, senior manager-office of the CTO at Dolby Laboratories. Incorporating metadata into content provides a device with extra information so that it can determine how loud any piece of content will get and adjust the volume properly to “optimize the playback, depending on the environment,” he told the DTV Audio Group (DTVAG) Audio Engineering Society (AES) Forum during the AES Convention Oct. 20. The use of metadata also enables the use of dynamic range control (DRC) profiles, enabling DRC management of mobile content, he said.

“Some codecs today actually have full native metadata support,” including the next-generation codecs MPEG-H and Dolby AC-4, he said, adding metadata was “starting to be implemented” by some companies. But he pointed out that “it works best when it’s a closed system – when they have full control over the encoder and obviously the decoder in the devices.”

There has been an “incredible explosion of digital devices and different platforms,” Roger Charlesworth, executive director of the DTV Audio Group, said during the AES Forum.

Along with that has come an “exploding ecosystem” of content and immersive experiences including for the cinema, TV, augmented reality, virtual reality and video game system engines, creating new challenges, Sean Richardson, executive director-audio at Starz Entertainment, told the AES Forum. The industry needs to “embrace and create predictable workflows to support single source to multi destination consumer experiences,” according to Richardson.

It also needs to exploit and develop new metadata and other standardized methods for content delivery, and hardware and software makers must provide such solutions in a timely manner, he said.

Perhaps the biggest challenge for the media and entertainment industry is the rapidly “evolving audience” for content, according to Tom Sahara, Turner Sports VP-operations and technology.

Instagram and (especially) Snapchat users are typically under 35 years of age, while the largest segment of Netflix’s audience is 25-34, he said, citing Ampere Analysis data. However, Amazon attracted the highest proportion of that latter age group, he said.

Perhaps most surprisingly, YouTube attracted the highest proportion of 55-64-year-old viewers, he said, citing the same data.

As the amount of content consumption on smartphones has exploded, members of the Generation Z/post-millennial age demographic (16-20), accounted for 26% of all people in U.S. TV homes in February, followed by baby boomers with 24%, millennials with 22%, Generation X with 20% and the “Greatest Generation” with 9%, he said, citing Nielsen data.

Seven of 10 Generation Z members viewed their smartphone as the most important device they had, and the average member of that demographic spent a whopping 3 hours and 38 minutes a day on their cellphones – about 50 minutes more than the global average, he said, citing the Nielsen data.

More personalization and use of artificial intelligence (AI) can be expected to help attract and keep viewers of mobile content, he went on to say, noting personalization increases brand engagement and loyalty, while data from AI improves an app’s ability to adapt to each user.