64 cinema technology • june 2010 • www.cinematechnologymagazine.com

SOUND DATASAT AP20

Datasat Digital Entertainment recently intro-duced the AP20, a completely new design of 16-channel digital audio processor, which of-fers an impressive collection of all the features that any cinema operator is going to need, plus the Dirac Live® high performance sound shaper and controller, which corrects impulse responses and smooths out the frequency re-sponse of any cinema auditorium to eliminate the inevitable distortions created by the room and the speakers.

Although you wouldn’t expect this rather staid reviewer to go along with the company’s some-what over the top PR line that “The AP20 is as revolutionary to cinema processors as digital is to film”, there is no doubt that the AP20 can provide all the facilities that a cinema operator could require, both for the latest digital and for legacy analogue sound systems.

To provide these facilities, in essence, Datasat Digital Entertainment has combined its vast experience in conventional analogue sound systems with state-of-the-art digital signal processing technology. The resulting AP20 Audio Processor is one of the most flexible and powerful general-purpose audio processors available today.

It has been engineered to deliver precise repro-duction of both analogue and digital sources, making use of the power of six Analog Devices 400MHz Digital Signal Processor chips. The AP20 can cope with 16 channels of digital sound and 8 channels of analogue inputs, and these are coupled to the 16 digital and 16 analogue outputs. In addition to one S/PDIF and two TOSLINK inputs, the AP20 features four HDMI 1.3b inputs with Blu-Ray HD, DTS, Dolby or satellite delivery decoding, and active loudspeaker crossovers.

Each of the 16 channels Includes • 31 bands of 3rd octave equalization • 3 bands of parametric equalization • Channel gain & phase inversion control • Individual Bass & Treble controls • Variable delay line adjustable from 0ms to 1000ms

Adaptive Audio Equalization In recent years there has been much practical development of adaptive audio equalisation techniques for domestic and small listening rooms, but apart from the adaptive audio system that comes as part and parcel of the complex IMAX Digital installations that we have reported on in Cinema Technology, (see Odeon

IMAX Southampton article in this issue) these techniques have not generally been applied to cinema auditoria. We know that creating the perfect listening environment can be difficult – we can’t always have the loudspeakers ideally placed in a room and nor can we always be sit-ting in the perfect spot to listen to a programme. Adaptive audio techniques can eliminate these problems and maximise the areas of locations where the ultimate in sound quality is available.

Real time adaptive equalization of room acous-tics in the frequency domain depends upon first obtaining the frequency response characteristics of the room by inserting a number of acoustic probe signals into the main audio spectrum and then picking up the loudspeaker outputs from a number of strategically placed microphones. A spectral analysis of the resulting audio signal is developed, which can include modifications based on a psychoacoustic model of frequency masking, so taking greatest account of the sounds which are most important to the human hearing system. Since the system knows the exact location of the loudspeakers, its complex algorithm can make the necessary calculations and compensate by adjusting timings and fre-quency responses for the particular loudspeaker placement. I have also seen and experienced the results of software which suggests that you would be best advised to move some of the loudspeakers to other positions, and gives the coordinates. These techniques mean that you get the best possible sound experience without having to turn your living room into a sound studio.

It is these techniques that Datasat Digital Enter-tainment has now incorporated for the cinema, based on cutting edge research from Dirac Research AB, founded by scientists at Uppsala University, Sweden. http://www.dirac.se/

And one of the most compelling features of the AP20 is the inclusion of Dirac Live® room optimisation technology. Dirac Live® is a state-of-the-art digital room correction technol-ogy that improves the listener experience by correcting for room modes and anomalies using high-resolution filter technology. The idea is that you configure the cinema auditorium once and never have to touch it again. The results are claimed to be improved musical staging, clarity of dialogue and a generally enhanced listener experience.

Key Features: The AP20 offers: • 16 Channels (digital & analog) • 31 Bands of 3rd Octave EQ (per channel) • 3 Bands of Parametric EQ (per channel) • Memory Settings for all EQ • 3 Expansion Bays • Dirac Live® Room Optimization • Individual & Global Channel Delays • 4 HDMI audio/video inputs (with video pass-through) • Inputs & Active Crossovers

A cinema sound processor with several significant differences ...

Datasat Digital Entertainment AP20Formerly better known to Cinema Technology readers as DTS Digital Cinema, but reborn in recent times as Datasat Digital Entertainment, the company is a special-ist provider of digital entertainment services for content owners and exhibitors. A leading innovator and supplier of 5.1 digital surround sound for motion pictures, the company specialises in hardware products for the exhibition of movies and other content in digital form, with a dedicated focus on supporting the film industry’s transition to digital cinema.

65 www.cinematechnologymagazine.com • cinema technology • june 2010

Looking to the future It is always difficult for a cinema owner to move from the equipment it knows and trusts to something new and different, but Datasat Digital Entertainment’s DTS heritage should provide the confidence that the AP20 will prove to be a thoroughly professional piece of kit. The AP20 is a forward-looking device that could bring numerous benefits to cinemas.

The fact that it is a true 16 channel device means that it will be able to cope with what-ever extra sound channels become the norm in digital cinema, and the kit has been built to professional standards and designed so that will not be made obsolete by any changes in the still developing digital cinema standards.

The AP20 has 3 expansion slots for system op-tions, the first of these expansion cards already being able to provide support for legacy film, with “A” chain film support. This card supports two projectors, A-type and SR-type noise re-duction and matrix decoding, all accomplished in the digital domain for maximum flexibility and sound quality.

It is planned that other options will follow such as network support for the CobraNet digital audio networking system.

Because the Dirac Live® auditorium ‘tuning’ is automatic and computer controlled, every indi-vidual cinema auditorium can sound as good as it is possible to be, and different auditoria can be matched to sound similar, if required. The AP20 is secure and, as well as being oper-

ated from the front panel, as it might be in a typical projection booth, it can also be operat-ed by remote control, so it can be very suitable for modern compact cinema installations where it can be tucked away in an equipment room.

Although the manufacturers naturally be-lieve that the Dirac Live® room optimisation technology is one of the AP20’s unique selling points, it is recognised that not every cinema will want to use an adaptive sound system, so the AP20 also makes available high qual-ity legacy filters, making it a top of the range traditional cinema processor with 16 channels incorporating 3rd octave filters, tone controls, parametric filters for subwoofers and a pink noise source. This provides cinemas with the choice of either using the Dirac Live® optimi-sation system, using the services of a certified installer, or to align their auditoria using more traditional methods and equipment.

Since it has been designed with digital cinema in mind, the AP20 has a wide range of inputs which make it ideal for playing alternative con-tent (concerts, sporting events, etc.) in addition to Digital Cinema Packages. The processor can also store multiple (completely different) room EQs in memory, so as to be ready to adapt to different content or presentations at the flip of a virtual switch.

Benefits to Installers Installers know how difficult it can be to carry out a full audio alignment in an auditorium, so I was interested to see that the AP20 Dirac Live® install system is completely wireless

- you don’t need to thread microphone cables through portholes between the projection booth and the cinema floor. The manufac-turers claim that it takes less than half of the time to install an AP20 and tune a room using Dirac Live® than it takes using traditional third octave systems. If the installer configures the automation in the AP20 before moving to the cinema auditorium to tune the room, after tuning he can remotely start and stop the show from the cinema floor to validate his work, and the whole process can be done from the auditorium - no more running up and down the stairs! It is claimed that the active tuning system is likely to extend the useful life of a cinema’s current speakers - no need to rip out the exist-ing speakers and wiring - and that other cost savings can be realised by using the AP20, since it eliminates the need for external automation systems, HDMI video conversion and any other additional non-sync inputs.

Remote options The AP20’s front panel can be remotely viewed and operated using a VNC (Virtual Network Connection), and a VNC client for a laptop is provided as part of the installer’s kit. Reflecting the trend for more remote control operation, VNC clients are also available to allow control from IPhone, IPad and Google phones.

The Datasat Digital Entertainment AP20 Audio processor certainly seems to provide a good deal of flexibility, and to provide a package that compares well with other processors, as well as including a number of unique features.

How does it sound? The most important question, of course, is ‘how does it sound?’ I am hoping to visit the company shortly for a full demo, but in the meantime the AP20 will be on show at the Datasat Digital Entertainment stand (Booth no.141) at Cine Expo, which will provide the opportunity to listen to it, handle it and learn more.

Further details are available fromwww.datasatdigital.com

Jim Slater