Varying Audio Quality for Networked Multimedia Services and Tools

Metadata

Publisher: SMPTE — White Plains, NY, USA
Doc Type: Journal Article
Content Type: Original Research
Abbreviated Title: SMPTE J
Volume: 106, No. 12, pp. 872–880
Abstract: As a result of listening tests performed with users of multimedia applications we present constraints for a dynamic adaptation (scaling) of audio data streams to the available system and network resources. For the speech medium, any severe deformation of frequency characteristics should be avoided while shortening and expanding of speech pauses is suitable to cope with varying delays. For the music medium the best scaling algorithm is a smooth fade between quality levels. Scaling resulting in lower quality should be performed in multiple steps, while any approach can be chosen for higher quality scaling. It appears that six levels of quality are sufficient for scaling of music from high quality [compact disc (CD)] to very low quality (cellular phone), and vice versa. We propose enhancements to multimedia tools based on a Dynamic Quality of Service (QoS)-Centered Architecture, where the bit rate and scheduling of associated media streams are adapted dynamically, while taking into account the highest possible QoS for the user. These enhancements allow authors of multimedia applications to constrain the media content to the range in which scaling may be performed by the system. An alternate approach of using post-processors to include scaling information embedded in the data in the form of digital watermarks is also presented.
Publication Date: 1997-12-01
DOI: 10.5594/J17161
ISSN: Print: 0036-1682
Link: https://doi.org/10.5594/J17161
Author(s): Reinhard BertramDarmstadt University of Technology, D-64283, Darmstadt, Germany
bio
Reinhard Bertram, has been working as a scientific assistant in the Electrical Engineering and Information Technology departments of the Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany, since early 1996. He is a member of KOM, research group for Industrial Process and System Communication, headed by Ralf Steinmetz. His research interests are networked multimedia systems, gateways for multimedia data, secure networks, and firewalls. Bertram studied mechanical engineering at the Darmstadt University of Technology, where he received the M.Sc. (Dipl.-Ing.) degree in 1996. During his studies he worked in the field of professional music production.
Ralf SteinmetzDarmstadt University of Technology, D-64283, Darmstadt, Germany
bio
Ralf Steinmetz has been a professor at the Electrical Engineering and Information Technology and Computer Science departments of Darmstadt University of Technology, Germany, since early 1996. At the university, he is in charge of a new chair position in the area of process communications and multimedia networking sponsored mainly by the Volkswagen-Stiftung. In late 1996, he was appointed director of the Integrated Publications and Information Institute of the German National Research Center in Darmstadt. His research interests are networked multimedia systems, cooperative applications, and mobile and service gateways for multimedia data. Dr. Steinmetz was employed at the IBM European Networking Center in Heidelberg, Germany, from 1988 to 1996, where he was involved in various multimedia project workstation development activities. He is editor and co-author of a multimedia course reflecting the issues of a first in-depth technical book on multimedia and is also the editor of Computer Communications and Distributed Systems Engineering. Steinmetz studied electrical engineering at the University of Salford, England, and at the Darmstadt University of Technology, where he received his M.Sc. degree (Dipl.-Ing.) in 1982, and his Ph.D. degree (Dr.-Ing.) in 1986.
Copyright: © 1997 Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers, Inc.

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Reinhard Bertram and Ralf Steinmetz; Varying Audio Quality for Networked Multimedia Services and Tools, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 106, Issue: 12, December 1997); SMPTE, 1997. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J17161

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Reinhard Bertram and Ralf Steinmetz; Varying Audio Quality for Networked Multimedia Services and Tools, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 106, Issue: 12, December 1997); SMPTE, 1997. Available at https://doi.org/10.5594/J17161

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Reinhard Bertram and Ralf Steinmetz; Varying Audio Quality for Networked Multimedia Services and Tools, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 106, Issue: 12, December 1997); SMPTE, 1997
doi: 10.5594/J17161
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Reinhard Bertram and Ralf Steinmetz; <cite id="bib-10-5594-j17161">Varying Audio Quality for Networked Multimedia Services and Tools</cite>, SMPTE Journal ( Volume: 106, Issue: 12, December 1997); SMPTE, 1997
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