No matter what type of program, if the dialogue is unintelligible, much of the meaning of the video content is lost. Audiences are increasingly watching TV and video content on smartphones and other devices, which presents a challenge for content providers. Viewers are often in noisy environments, using ear buds for audio, and frequently complain about not being able to hear dialogue or sports announcers.

David Day, president of Orban, said the problem is in the mix going to each user. OPTICLOUD Any Content/Any Device dynamically addresses the audio in each stream, adjusting the mix for each destination device.

OPTICLOUD Any Content/Any Device is a file-based process that can deal with any sort of content ranging from stereo to 10.1, cleanly separating the center channel so that dialogue can be boosted or even replaced with a different language. The technology then creates a hemispherical downmix, including 3D immersive audio, for the stream going to each user. Even legacy stereo content can be processed.

“Anyone who is streaming video content can benefit from this technology,” said Day. “It makes voice dialogue and announcers’ audio crystal-clear, and allows content providers in other countries to easily change the language for their programming.”