Sound Matters – why ‘good enough’ isn’t, when it comes to audio
View the Q&A
Wednesday 4th April at 3pm UK time
Our customers believe that sound matters to consumers. They understand what a better audio experience can bring to their enjoyment of video content. This is why leading IPTV providers choose DTS for their subscriber services, this is why over 80% of blu-ray discs are encoded using DTS Audio.
During this webinar we’ll share some recent research from YouGov that shows why sound matters to consumers and how consumer expectations have changed. We’ll also show you what you can do to deliver an immersive engaging sound experience to your customer base.
Consumers are increasingly aware of, and are demanding better sound from all their devices, with 7 out of 10 adults between 18 and 24 stating that “Top Quality Sound” is important to them.
- - The study highlights audio preferences and how we consume media today with the results overwhelmingly pointing to the fact that consumers want improved audio and that they are willing to pay for it
- - Almost 8 out of 10 agree that sound matters
- - 36% of the UK population are willing to pay for a significantly improved audio experience.
Ted Laverty of DTS will present an overview of this fascinating research, DTS sound technologies and demonstrate how DTS can help you to differentiate your IPTV, OTT or broadcast offering in the market place. As the industry moves from making it work to making it better – how you can use audio to build and maintain your subscriber base.
Tags; Archive, DTS, Featured, IP&TV, telecoms.com
Thank you for your questions, this Q&A is now closed.
In the study where 36% said they were willing to pay for greater audio. Did they mention a number in $$$? I mean a lot of people seem more willing to pay for internet 3 times – on their home, phone and tablet. So 79% agree sound changes their emotions, but only 36% are willing to pay for this audio created emotional change? So in terms of marketing, how much were they willing to pay? 14% want it for nothing then? Prove to the medical field that audio changes peoples lives and get healthcare on board? That would be a little too perfect… The numbers from the research study sadly don’t look like a willing bunch of consumers. And yes very true about the dock systems. I suppose if it were easy to set up complex systems people may carry the “now” attitude over to their “now” we have a greater audio/visual experience. But what is easy to the consumer? Plug it in the dock and play? So we need to bring the age of convenience into the age of simplicity, right?
If you ask people are they willing to pay extra from something they will typically always say NO! However, if you demonstrate that you will get a better experience by paying a % more for something than you do today, people will willing pay (I am now getting +50Mbps to the house over fibre at an incrementally higher cost than my old 2Mbps service – and I am happy with the extra cost). In the survey we conducted the 36% of respondents said that they would be willing to pay for a better audio experience. The sweet spot was that the respondents would pay between £5-£20 for better audio. There are many use cases for improved audio and I’d be keen to hear your thoughts on medical uses.
As for what ease of use looks like? For me it is wire it up correctly when you install it, then avoid the labyrinth of sub menus to get what you want out of it.
Clarke’s Third Law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.
Douglas Adams: Technology is a word that describes something that doesn’t work yet.
We are moving from one to the other.
Any idea of 5.1-channel audio to mobile devices (smartphones) beyond the MWC announcement of Dolby Digital Plus with Voddler in Scandinavia? Seems the phone industry is still on stereo sound for some time…?
There is some interest in this field across the world that I am aware of. As smart phones start to be docked into larger fixed home systems, it begins to make more sense to get multi-channel audio to mobile devices. Further, as more computational horse power with lower current drain is being put on phone silicon then you can consider HRTF (Head Response Transfer Function) technologies that give you a surround-sound sensation on headphones. Just like stereo – only more fun that stereo..
I’ve just upgraded from SPDIF surround to HDMI surround with an AVR400. The auto-cal was essential. The DTS-HD is so much better via HDMI. Still my concern is how we get the public to install a 5.1 system in their homes. I suspect TV soundbars will prevail for a while. How well can DTS-HD be made to work with them?
It took me some time to get my home approval from a 5.1 to 7.1 speaker system from my significant other. Well worth it in the end. But I take the point and agree with it. Multiple speaker set ups are not possible for everyone. Sound bars do provide a good option. The great thing is that the price points for these external audio components – home theatre in a box, sound bar, AVR, are dropping all the time. Whatever the home environment of the future is I am convinced that is will sound better in a greater number of households than in the past.
BTW – I am in negotiation at present for 11.1 system. Expect home (wife) authorisation by end of May. Now I will get height with my Blu-ray movies on a Friday!
Hey there, I’m a 25 year old from Boston, MA. It is sad to see people treat audio as simply background noise… when it is the picture. It can change your mood, outlook on life, even heat up a room. Now this had a lot to do with the visual aspect as well. I’ve been having this discussion for years with others. Some people simply don’t get it. We concluded that it was the listener that needed to change. I suppose starting an audio awareness type of movement where we A/B a crap mp3 vs. a studio master may open the eyes of the blind, if you will. Any other suggestions towards changing the listeners ears other than not producing junk “alright” material would be greatly appreciated. A lot of people are content with the heartless click track, elastic, pieced together junk. I believe if they heard the difference, minds would change and music would come back to life. I mean… everyone wants everything 10 minutes ago. If their netflix streams slow they think the world is over. It seems speed has overrun quality. Change is near. Lets get this moving global.
Im with you on that, Stephen. What we all really need , is for the ISP’s to give as much support as possible so that content streams can be smoother. Its not as if the bandwidth isnt available..of course it is, but it requires a bit of a profit/loss rethink in terms of how they can offer faster speeds , so that sound and picture are smoother more often than not.
Be sure and let your local ISP know! If people are willing to show there is a demand then it will be met by the companies that can compete the best.
As a guy who happily burnt my 20′s in the music industry as a musician I couldn’t agree more. I have used the wine analogy before – once you have drank a £20 bottle of wine you will look more critically at a £3.99 bottle of plonk. Audio is the same. The motivation is there for people to care, buy decent reproduction systems and then vote with their wallets to insist on better audio. Just not everyone is aware of the emotional impact good audio can have on them, an their power to ask for better (even pay for it!).
Are there bandwidth limitations today that mean I cannot broadcast HQ audio over ADSL? I’m used to a netflix type experience which is somewhat limited in this regard.
The challenge for sending content over a network is the fact that networks are extremely diverse – from ADSL to Fibre and everything in between. Our aim is to enable audio tools to be available to content suppliers to match their network capabilities. If you are using high capacity fibre then you can deliver many more bits per second and that is how you can get an experience that is nearer Blu-ray. If you are limited to a lower capacity network then you can use higher efficiency technologies in DTS HD that will get you a great 5.1 experience at data rates well less that 256kbps.
Ted – can you tell us more about active deployments today?
We have support today from IPTV operators that have our technologies in their platforms. Devices like the Freebox ‘Revolution’ have powerful IC capabilities and support DTS technologies for a variably of applications including OTT, Blu ray. Bouygues Telecom have made announcements earlier this year for the inclusion of DTS in their upcoming platforms. Further there was a number of STB’s on show at the recent IP&TV WF event in London with DTS ‘in the box’. There has been extensive testing and verification of our Neural audio technologies across the US and Europe and there are deployments of Neural enabled content today in the IPTV space. The deployments have started, expect more to follow.
I wrote an article about surround sound ( link here – http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/213282 ), because ive passionately advocated it since i first experienced it many years ago, both as a consumer, and as a composer/ musician and sound designer . However i still feel the same issues regarding domestic adaption exist, i.e. the mess of wires, positioning and calibration, which to a degree some manufacturers have addressed (eg KEF wireless, which i own and use, and yamaha with their soundbars). What do you feel can be done to help better consumer adoption of this rich, immersive standard, which should by rights go from strength to strength?
There is an element of ‘build it and they will come’. I remember in the late 1990′s questions being asked about 5.1 support. Now this is prevalent and technologies exist that delvers quality that I personally couldn’t have dreamed of in a 20th century world of DAT tapes and the like. If the consumers will always want ‘better’ (I believe they will) and the industry can make accessing ‘better’ easier then things can only improve. I have faith in the future and desire for tomorrow to be better than today!
Thanks for responding, Ted. Im optimistic that wireless adoption becomes en masse for the domestic market, so that i can enjoy MORE music based content, than is currently available, for the reasons ive possibly already given, simply because the music industry hasnt leapt onto surround as a valid, regular output stream as much as they should have, as of yet, simply due to the economies of scale or ROI ( eg studio time spent makling a proper 5.1 or even 7.1 mix of an album, rather than just a “upmix” of an existing stereo master).
If the toys are out there in peoples living space then the content community has the opportunity to use them to the max. In the past we did lots of work with the guys in Swedish Radio. If you haven’t done so check out http://www.sr.se/multikanal for extreme multichannel audio fun! Also, as virtulization technologies can now deliver great experiences to headphones, the drivers are increasing to create more multi-channel audio content.
Why are you in this space? (by that we mean why is DTS in talking about TVs and connected devices?
It comes down to content. In the past DTS has not been used for over-the-air DTTV transmissions so we were know in the STB market for HEAAC transcoding. Now content is flowing in and through the home network for many sources (optical media, UGC, OTT) DTS is becoming more critical to the converged media space. That added to by our long-standing association with top-of-the-range audio make DTS extremely relevant for todays media consumers.
Can you tell me more about your two/multi screen solutions? We access content on many other devices today.
We all have seen the rising importance of content consumption, the anywhere anytime requirement. We want consumers to have the best audio possible played back from whatever device they are using. DTS has a suite of post processing technologies that are being implement on tablets, smart phones and other mobile devices that typically play back on headphones on built-in speakers.
I know you for the blu-ray experience , how can this same experience I get this on my connected TV?
Blu-ray uses high bit rates to achieve excellent quality video and audio. The principle challenge for getting this kind of experience on a connected TV is the capacity of the network supplying the content. This is becoming more possible given the demand for high bitrate delivery networks on fibre. The expectation is there, the networks are being rolled out, and it will come. As this network technology develops however DTS has a range of scalable technologies as discussed in the webinar.