TSL announces new platform for multi-channel audio monitoring

TSL Professional Products Ltd., has unveiled its new PAM2 MK2 Multichannel Audio Monitoring Unit (PAM2 3G16 MK2) with an option for the latest in Dolby decoding technologies at NAB.

The PAM2 MK2 delivers a new set of critical features for precision audio monitoring, including an SDI output connection to export display information to an external video monitor, a front-panel USB port for preset save/recall management and an Ethernet port providing network connectivity to Web browsers and system management software applications.

The platform is built upon TSL’s existing PAM2 features, including loudness-compliance monitoring and audio delay to match video latency, creating a system that helps simplify the complex world of broadcast audio.

As a member of the Dolby OEM Partner Program, TSL’s PAM2 MK2 is also one of the first audio monitoring solutions to feature Dolby’s CAT1100 module, a new platform for comprehensive decoding and monitoring of Dolby audio formats that are used throughout the HD broadcast chain (Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Digital and Dolby E).

The new module will enable the PAM2 MK2 to perform Dolby E decoding and external speaker monitoring, as well as Dolby Digital Plus with surround descriptive audio and stream mixing, which will evolve to 7.1 as broadcasters adopt the full cinematic experience.

TSL also plans to incorporate an array of new features into the PAM2 MK2 over the course of 2012 to address the future of audio in the broadcast environment, including Dialogue intelligence Loudness Measurement, simultaneous Multichannel and Stereo outputs and selectable error concealment.

In keeping with the company’s software upgrade policy, which spans across its entire product range; these future features will be available to early adopters of the PAM2 MK2 as they are released.

“Since the launch of PAM2-3G16, our development team has responded to valuable customer feedback and requests to evolve the PAM series to meet real-world production requirements,” stated Martin Dyster, head of Audio for TSL Professional Products, Ltd.

“The PAM2 MK2 represents a quantum leap in functionality for the PAM family as, for example, the SDI monitor output can export the on-board bar graph, loudness and data displays to a video monitor in front of the engineer or to different locations in the facility via SDI routing infrastructure or even from a remote truck to master control. This brings critical audio monitoring and compliance information to the wider production team. With more than 1,000 PAM units already in use worldwide, we believe the PAM2 MK2 will be adopted as the new industry standard in multichannel audio monitoring.”

A front-panel USB port provides easy access and flexibility for day-to-day operation, allowing operators to save and recall common settings. To speed up turnover time between productions, the PAM2 MK2 can be configured for different productions’ with user presets instantly recallable.

With the PAM2 MK2, users can back up production-specific snapshots on a USB memory stick and recall them on a show-by-show basis, all while building a user preset archive. Loudness measurement has become a major issue for broadcasters, especially as the world embraces regional, national and local recommendations and legislation such as the CALM Act in the United States. Configurable loudness information, in full compliance with EBU R128 and ATSC A85, is one of the resident metering sets available both on-board the PAM2 MK2 and exportable to an external display from the SDI port. As the information screen is programmable, any available information can be easily displayed, with the loudness histogram taking up one of the display quarters.

Additionally, for field operations, the SDI bar graph feed (from a truck, for example), can be sent over a reserve circuit back to master control for accurate compliance and confidence monitoring of remote broadcast sources, thereby verifying the integrity of the signal chain between outside broadcast and the host.