MPEG-H 3D Audio: Immersive Audio Coding

Abstract

The term "Immersive Audio" is frequently used to describe an audio experience that provides to the listener the sensation of being fully immersed or "present" in a sound scene. This can be achieved via different presentation modes, such as surround sound (several loudspeakers horizontally arranged around the listener), 3D audio (with loudspeakers at, above and below listener ear level) and binaural audio to headphones. This article provides an overview of the recent MPEG standard, MPEG-H 3D Audio, which is a versatile standard that supports multiple immersive sound signal formats (channels, objects, higher order ambisonics), and is now being adopted in broadcast and streaming applications.