Romania

[RO] Recommendation on Programme Loudness

IRIS 2013-8:1/30

Eugen Cojocariu

Radio Romania International

On 18 June 2013, the Consiliul Naţional al Audiovizualului (National Audiovisual Council - CNA) adopted a Recomandare privind nivelul tăriei sonore în programele audiovizuale (Recommendation on loudness in audiovisual programmes).

The Recommendation was issued because of the loudness irregularities within programmes, between programmes of the same channel and between different radio and television channels, which triggered numerous complaints from listeners and viewers.

The document is in line with the experience accumulated by different European states which put into practice the Recommendation EBU R 128-2011 on „Loudness normalisation and permitted maximum level of audio signals” adopted by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) (for the regulations in the Czech Republic, see IRIS 2013-7/8; for Bulgaria, see IRIS 2013-4/5; for Poland, see IRIS 2010-2/29).

The Council established a common measurement reference in order to preserve the original sound and its artistic value. At the same time, the technical equipment needed by the radio and TV stations is taken into account. The CNA recommended to the broadcasters, the distributors and the programme providers that the Integrated Loudness should be of -23 LUFS (the unit for subjective loudness levels relative to full scale). The LUFS is the synonym used in the EBU’s Recommendation mentioned above for the LKFS (Loudness, K-weighted, relative to Full Scale), a loudness standard meant to enable normalisation of audio levels for the delivery of TV and other video contents. LKFS is standardised in ITU-R BS.1770, an ITU (International Telecommunication Union) Recommendation on the „Algorithms to measure audio programme loudness and true peak-audio level”.

The CNA recommended that the broadcasters and the programme services providers under Romanian jurisdiction should annually recalibrate the transmitted alignment level according to the EBU’s and ITU’s norms, irrespective of the transmission medium used. The broadcasters and the providers have to notify the CNA as for the implementation of the Recommendation, along with any problems occurring during the installation process.

The Integrated Loudness of a programme, measured throughout a 24-hour period, will be set at a -23 LUFS and the True Peak Level will not be bigger than -1 dbTP (the unit for measurements of True Peak audio Level, relative to full scale). For programmes of up to two minutes long, the Programme Loudness will have the following recommended values: the Integrated Loudness of -23 LUFS; the Short Term Loudness (measured for a 3 seconds sequence of time) of maximum -20 LUFS; the True Peak Level up to -1 dbTP. For programmes longer than 2 minutes, the Integrated Loudness will be of -23 LUFS ± 1 LU, the True Peak Level up to -1 dbTP and the Loudness Range will be less than 20 LU and, if possible, bigger than 5 LU (the unit for subjective loudness differences, for example, relative to a specified target level such as -23 LUFS).