Linear Acoustic Helps TV Stay CALM
Linear Acoustic was featured in a November 25th, 2011 article by Tim Stuhldreher in the Central Penn Business Journal about the much-talked-about "CALM" (Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation) Act passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama:
Television station managers have no shortage of kind words for Lancaster County's Linear Acoustic Inc."We're really, really pleased with them," said Keith Blaisdell, director of technology at Harrisburg's ABC affiliate, WHTM-TV.
"They make a neat product," said Bob Good, director of operations at WGAL-TV in Lancaster Township, an NBC affiliate. "It's very effective."
Linear Acoustic specializes in sound-control technology for television broadcasters. The company offers "end-to-end solutions," managing sound at every stage from input to transmission, said Christina Carroll, senior vice president of global sales.
It supplies equipment for the Emmy and Oscar broadcasts, the Rose Bowl and the summer and winter Olympics. In January, it won a technical Emmy for real-time audio and metadata processing. Metadata is information that describes the audio signal.
Among Linear Acoustic's signature products is the Aero line of transmission loudness management systems.
Television stations broadcast content from dozens of different sources every day, all in different formats, recorded at different loudness levels. Loudness management systems automatically adjust equalization levels, raising and lowering volume to keep overall sound levels consistent from segment to segment and show to show.
A particular problem is commercials. While most programs have a mix of loud and soft sound, many advertisers record their pitches at near-maximum volume from start to finish.
Even if such a commercial is no louder than the loudest noise in the surrounding program, it subjectively seems louder, because of its longer duration.
Loud commercials have been the No. 1 complaint among viewers about broadcast television, according to the Federal Communications Commission, which tracks complaints and publishes quarterly summaries.
Last December, Congress passed and President Barack Obama signed the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation, or Calm, Act. It empowers the FCC to regulate commercials so they are no louder than the average loudness of the surrounding programming.
Under the CALM Act, the FCC must finalize its loudness rules by Dec. 15. One year later, the rules will take on the force of law.
At that point, stations without loudness management systems will be risking federal sanctions, Good said.
"Eventually the FCC's going to fine stations for loudness," he said.
Complaints to ABC-27 about loud commercials largely disappeared after the station installed Linear Acoustic's equipment, Blaisdell said.
The equipment not only lets stations monitor and manage sound, but also outputs data so they can document their compliance to the FCC, WGAL's Good said.
A few other manufacturers offer loudness management gear, "but we think Linear Acoustic's is the best," Good said.
Linear Acoustic's Aero boxes also convert sound from one format to another on the fly. In particular, they can "upmix" a two-channel stereo feed to 5.1-channel surround sound.
Miking a live event for surround sound is expensive and technically challenging. In many cases, upmixing provides a viable, cost-effective alternative, Carroll said.
Linear Acoustic makes software versions of its products, Carroll said. More and more, the industry is moving away from racks and patch cables toward servers and Ethernet, she said.
Carroll's husband and Linear Acoustic's president is Tim Carroll, a veteran of Dolby Laboratories, the groundbreaking audio technology company. He founded Linear Acoustic in 2002, originally operating out of his New Jersey home.
The company moved to Lancaster in 2004, lured by a $400,000, three-year investment from Ben Franklin Technology Partners, Pennsylvania's state-sponsored tech incubator, which also provided business mentoring.
"It's been an excellent relationship," said Richard Heddleson, director of business development for Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Central and Northern Pennsylvania. He called Linear Acoustic a "storybook example" of Ben Franklin client success.
In 2007, Linear Acoustic merged with Telos Systems, a Cleveland-based maker of audio equipment for radio stations. The Telos Alliance consists of four companies: Telos; Linear Acoustic; Omnia, which makes audio processing equipment; and Axia, which makes broadcast consoles.
Linear Acoustic has 25 full-time staff and four contract workers, Christina Carroll said. Fifteen work out of Lancaster County, where research and development, administration and final product assembly takes place. The rest are based all over the world, Carroll said.
In August, Linear Acoustic moved to 108 Foxshire Drive in Manheim Township, about 2½ miles north of its previous location on North Prince Street in downtown Lancaster.
The standalone building, formerly a Long & Foster real estate office, offers more space and easier parking, Carroll said.
Blaisdell said ABC-27 is delighted to be using "world-class technology that was designed and produced right here in Central Pennsylvania."
"They're doing well," said WGAL's Good, who said the station has ongoing dialogue with Linear Acoustic as sound standards continue to evolve.
"I think they're an up-and-coming company."
