Technical Paper

Dolby Volume: An Innovative Global

Solution to Television’s Inconsistent
Volume Issues
The Problem
Inconsistencies in volume level have been a serious, global problem in television
for many years. Television audiences around the world encounter vast differences
in the perceived volume level of content each and every day. Whether it is a
simple channel change or switching sources—such as from a DVD to broadcast
programming—television viewers are frequently required to make volume
adjustments via their remote controls.

Dolby has invested many years into researching volume level problems in order
to develop effective solutions. Dolby’s first major solution to resolve volume level
issues is a metadata concept featured in Dolby® Digital and Dolby Digital Plus.
While Dolby audio metadata is well suited to resolving volume level issues (it
provides content providers, broadcasters, and operators with a tool called dialogue
normalization), global volume level challenges remain on broadcast systems where
Dolby audio formats are not being used. These systems have no built-in mechanism
such as metadata to manage volume levels across channels or content. In addition,
significant level differences occur due to level differences between analog and
digital transmission and between different input sources connected to a TV set.

Dolby’s Innovative Solution

Recognizing the widespread and intrusive issues related to volume variations,
Dolby has leveraged its extensive understanding of audio and years of research
to create Dolby Volume, the next generation of volume control technology for
televisions. Dolby Volume features a groundbreaking volume leveling solution
that, when integrated into televisions, provides a unique technology that finally
overcomes the volume level differences in all content experienced through
television sets. By continually monitoring and adjusting the perceived volume level
of the audio, Dolby Volume allows any audio source played through a TV’s speakers
to match a desired target playback level set by the user. The new volume control
technology offered in Dolby Volume works regardless of the audio format (analog,
digital, or low-bit-rate coded, for example). While the volume leveling function in
Dolby Volume resolves loudness differences in a single-ended way (that is, without
preprocessing or metadata), it can also take advantage of and benefit from Dolby’s
powerful audio metadata when available and provide an even higher-quality
volume control solution.

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How Does It Work?

Dolby Volume is composed of a suite of complementary volume level processing
technologies designed to work together seamlessly, and provides a complete high-
quality audio solution. Unlike previous attempts that have addressed the problem
by using standard audio compressors or automatic gain controls (AGCs), Dolby
Volume’s uniqueness lies in the fact that for the first time the measurement, analysis,
and control of the volume level of audio is performed using a perceptual processing
engine built on an advanced psychoacoustic model of human hearing. This engine
simulates, in real time, the complex, nonlinear mechanisms through which humans
perceive loudness and organize sound. With the guidance of this perceptual
engine, Dolby Volume knows not only how and when to process the audio but,
equally important, when not to process the audio. As a result, Dolby Volume is a
new approach uniquely capable of reproducing any audio signal, at any desired
playback level set by the user with a standard volume controller, free of any of the
audio artifacts (like pumping and breathing) introduced by the previous standard
compressor or AGC solutions. Dolby Volume achieves this high-quality and artifact-
free performance by combining two patented features derived from its powerful
analysis and processing engine: the Volume Leveler and the Volume Modeler.

Volume Leveler
Dolby Volume’s main feature is the Volume Leveler, a powerful and unique
solution that continually measures the perceptual loudness of audio content and
dynamically applies multiband gain modifications to the audio using its perceptual
processing engine so that the perceived loudness of the audio content remains
consistent. This allows audio from multiple sources (different television channels,
for example, or audio coming from different external inputs on a television set, such
as from a DVD player or a gaming console) to have the same perceived loudness
level. When the Volume Leveler is used in conjunction with the volume controller
of an audio system, the volume controller is transformed and no longer emulates an
electrical resistor that controls the audio signal level being sent to an amplification
section. Instead, the volume controller now provides input to the Dolby Volume
system indicating the user’s desired perceived loudness reproduction level.
This information is then used to modify the perceived loudness of the reproduced
audio to match that of the user’s desired loudness level.

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Figure 1 Existing Leveling Solution vs. the Volume Leveler in Dolby Volume

The top of Figure 1 shows the time domain waveform of the original, unprocessed
audio signal as a user switches between two different television channels. As shown
in the figure, the audio in television channel 2 is at a significantly lower level than
the audio in channel 1 and would require the user to modify the volume on the
television to adjust for the differences and maintain a consistent experience. The
middle row of Figure 1 shows the time domain waveform of the audio processed
using an existing leveling solution found in a commercially available television.
As can be seen in the figure, the leveler does not provide a sufficient increase in
gain to match the level between the two channels. The lower part of Figure 1 shows
the same audio processed by the Volume Leveler feature in Dolby Volume, which
has properly matched the level between the two channels. While an audio signal’s
time domain waveform does not specifically indicate the perceived loudness of an
audio signal, it should be noted that the Volume Leveler has adjusted the audio in
channel 2 so that it matches the perceived loudness of the audio in channel 1.
This is possible because of Dolby’s powerful new perceptual audio processing
engine that understands how we perceive loudness and organize sound.

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Figure 2 Second Existing Leveling Solution vs. the Volume Leveler in Dolby Volume

A comparison between a second commercially available leveling solution and

Dolby Volume’s powerful Volume Leveler solution is outlined in Figure 2. In Figure 2,
the audio being processed is from a movie soundtrack in which the audio switches
between dialogue and quiet background wind sounds. In this case the wind sounds
should remain quieter than the dialogue to maintain the intelligibility of the
dialogue and the overall balance of the soundtrack. By comparing the processing
results of the two existing non-Dolby leveling solutions shown in these figures, a
common and serious problem found with existing leveling solutions is highlighted.
In the existing solutions, either the leveler does not provide sufficient gain to correct
the large variations in loudness found between different television channels (as
exhibited by Existing Leveler 1) or the leveler introduces an inappropriate and
time-varying increase in the amount of gain applied to the audio (too much gain
applied to the wind sound by Existing Leveler 2—commonly referred to as a
compression breathing artifact). Only the Volume Leveler feature in Dolby Volume,
which contains powerful loudness and audio content analysis processing capabilities,
provides the appropriate amount of gain for all types of audio content.

Because of Dolby Volume’s new approach to controlling audio in the perceptual

loudness domain, the Volume Leveler allows high-quality and artifact-free control
of the audio—heretofore unavailable from previous solutions. Dolby Volume truly
provides a paradigm shift in next-generation audio control by very effectively
eliminating loudness level differences while at the same time maintaining the
integrity of the audio signal without imposing any quality degradations.

Volume Modeler
The Volume Modeler technology featured in Dolby Volume was originally developed
based on research for Dolby’s professional digital cinema systems. In digital cinema,
audio content is mastered and expected to be reproduced at a specific reference
level in theatres equipped with Dolby processors (85 dB C-weighted measurement of
pink noise in one channel, or a setting of 7 on a Dolby cinema processor). However,
theatres often play back soundtracks at reduced levels to address complaints from
movie audiences that perceive the sound in theatres to be too loud when played

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back at reference level (setting 7). Due to the variation in the perception of audio
at any given reproduction level (which is related to psychoacoustics, the equal
loudness contours, and the threshold of hearing in quiet settings), reduced playback
levels result in dramatic differences in timbre and spatial reproduction of the audio
when compared to the same content played back at reference level.

The Volume Modeler technology in Dolby Volume continually analyzes and modifies
the audio depending on both the content and the playback level, restoring it to the
way it would be perceived at the reference playback level. The result is improved
imaging, intelligibility, and audibility of the audio content (for example, improved
audibility of the surround channels in multichannel content when downmixed
and mapped to stereo for a two-channel reproduction through the speakers of a
television set and played back at lower-than-reference levels).

Figure 3 Dolby Volume Maintains Sound Quality at Low Volume

An example of the content- and playback-level-dependent processing provided

by the Volume Modeler is outlined in Figure 3. As shown in the top left of the
figure, when a louder section of audio is reproduced at the reference level, nearly
all of the audio is above the threshold of hearing and therefore audible. If this same
audio is reproduced 40 dB quieter using a normal volume control that applies the
same gain to all frequencies and channels (top middle of the figure), some of the
audio’s lower frequencies and all the audio’s frequencies above 10 kHz are below
the threshold of hearing and therefore inaudible. The result is a dramatically
different listening experience when compared to the audio being played back at
the reference level. However, when the same audio is played back at the lower
level using the Volume Modeler feature in Dolby Volume (top right), the audio
is processed such that all frequencies of the audio remain audible, even at the
reduced reproduction level, thereby maintaining the reference-level experience for
the listener. The relationships between frequencies are maintained such that the
original frequency relationships or timbre are preserved.

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The lower half of Figure 3 shows the results for a second, softer section of audio—
for example, low-level ambience in a soundtrack. In this case, when the softer
audio is played back 40 dB quieter with a normal volume control (lower middle of
the figure), all of the audio falls below the threshold of hearing and the channel
is completely inaudible to the listener. However, when the same audio is played
back using the Volume Modeler (lower right), the audio is processed such that all
frequencies that were audible at the reference playback level of the audio remain
audible, even at the reduced reproduction level, thereby maintaining the reference-
level experience for softer sections of audio.

How Does This Affect Dolby’s Concept of Audio Metadata?

Dolby Volume has been carefully designed to work seamlessly in conjunction with
the metadata included in Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus. In the many cases
when metadata is present and has been set correctly, Dolby Volume complements
this concept by staying subtly in the background until the next level change
occurs—when the user switches the channel on the TV, for example, or when a
program element is broadcast without Dolby audio metadata. In such cases, Dolby
metadata is more important than ever, and broadcasters and operators should ensure
that they set dialnorm and dynamic range control (DRC) profiles correctly for each
program element. This can be most easily achieved using the Dolby DP600 Program
Optimizer. In such an environment, Dolby Volume will focus on eliminating the level
differences between content and input sources delivered in different audio formats
(MPEG-1 LII, for example, used for legacy stereo in DVB applications).

Every television set using Dolby Volume will be calibrated by the manufacturers in
the factory to allow for perfect interoperability between Dolby audio metadata, the
Volume Leveler, and the Volume Modeler.

Dolby Laboratories, Inc.

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