LMn Manual

Using LM2n/LM6n
LM2n / LM6n Manual 11
LM2n/ LM6n offers a standardized option: The
visualization of loudness history and Dynam-
ic Range Tolerance in combination with long-
term descriptors from production onwards is a
transparent and well-sounding alternative to our
current peak level obsession.
This is relevant not only for music, but also in
production for broadcast or film. The engineer,
who may not be an audio expert, should be able
to identify and consciously work with loudness
developments within the limits of a target dis-
tribution platform, and with predictable results
when the program is transcoded to another plat-
form.
LM2n/ LM6n therefore color-codes loudness so
it’s easy to identify
target level (green),
below the noise floor level (blue), or
loud events (yellow) – see Fig. 8.
Fig. 8.: Color coding and target loudness for
selected broadcast platforms based
on a consumer’s Dynamic Range Tol-
erance (DRT). The aim is to center dy-
namic range restriction around average
loudness, in this case the -20 dB line,
thereby automatically avoiding to wash
out differences between foreground
and background elements of a mix.
Note how different broadcast require-
ments are from those of cinema.
When production engineers realize the bound-
aries they should generally stay within, less dy-
namics processing is automatically needed dur-
ing distribution, and the requirement for main-
taining time-consuming metadata at a broadcast
station is minimized.
In broadcast, the goal is to use the same loud-
ness measure for production, ingest, linking,
master control processing and logging – thereby
ensuring better audio quality not only in DTV au-
dio, but across all broadcast platforms.
LM2n / LM6n and TC signal processing can
coexist with PPM meters, VU meters or Dol-
by’s LM100 meter. LM2n / LM6n greatly in-
creases the usability of LM100 in production en-
vironments because it provides running status
and gives a standardized and intuitive indication
of both dialog and non-dialog program.