New -27 LKFS Spec

[its2loud]

I have now had confirmation from two networks that want their deliverables at -27LKFS. Has anyone else seen or heard about this?

[amagras]

Network you say? Then must be fake news...

[philper]

Which networks? What's the rest of the spec?

[dr sound]

Originally Posted by philper

Which networks? What's the rest of the spec?

I have heard that Netflix is the one with the upcoming -27

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by dr sound

I have heard that Netflix is the one with the upcoming -27

Yep, and AMC now.

I just dont get why. It doesnt make any sense to me. Is there something wrong with the current -24 LKFS spec?

[TVPostSound]

Look for the positive.

-27 = Better dynamic range!!

[its2loud]

I get that it means a more cinematic mix for Netflix material but people are not watching Netflix shows in cinemas. They’re watching on devices with earbuds in noisy environments. Not to mention that whenever I do make a dynamic mix the note I always get from the clients is “we cant hear thr dialog”. Guess I’ll have to turn up the monitoring level in the room.

[paulo m]

Originally Posted by TVPostSound

Look for the positive.

-27 = Better dynamic range!!

Try to do a trailer around 2 min and you won´t have the same opinion.

In my opinion, -27 is too low, considering that most people are not going to hear it in cinemas anyway. I can hear people shouting at their smart stuff already "ok google, turn up the volume"

You had a group of people and organisations studying and evaluating options to get rid of the loudness wars, then setting standards so that things could be unified as possible, users adapting to it over the years and then somebody decides to come up with their own interpretation of things. I guess in a way that´s a disrespect.

[its2loud]

Originally Posted by paulo m

Try to do a trailer around 2 min and you won´t have the same opinion.

In my opinion, -27 is too low, considering that most people are not going to hear it in cinemas anyway. I can hear people shouting at their smart stuff already "ok google, turn up the volume"

You had a group of people and organisations studying and evaluating options to get rid of the loudness wars, then setting standards so that things could be unified as possible, users adapting to it over the years and then somebody decides to come up with their own interpretation of things. I guess in a way that´s a disrespect.

I absolutely agree. A lot of years, science, and really smart people created a standard that has seemingly been working for many years. Much better than the days of the loudness wars. Now there’s a new kid on the block that feels like they can just make it up as they go along and ignore the years of studies, polls, and science that has gone into making the LKFS standard.

Here is my speculation on this new spec from a certain streaming company.

1. They buy and produce a large number movies to be shown on their platform. These movies are typically mixed in a theatrical environment or for a theatrical release. These mixes have a wide dynamic range, as most feature films do. The majority of theatrical mixes, when mixed for theater viewing, usually measure out to -27 LKFS on average. Not every one.

Instead of requiring these films to meet a nearfiled -24 LKFS mix which would cost time and money to remix on the part of the production company after the film was completed for it’s original release, they are simply requiring all other original programming to be the same as the film mixes they acquire.

Again, this is pure speculation based on my own experiences with delivering and acquiring assets. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Particularly with the adoption of AC-4 embedded audio. Looking into my crystal ball, I see streaming companies offering viewers the option to change specific audio levels within the program they are watching. Dialog too low? No problem just turn up the dialog volume. Music too loud? Just turn that music volume down in the options menu.

[Bob Olhsson]

So nobody is doing TV mixes anymore?