Fraunhofer details MPEG Surround for handhelds
updated 03:55 pm EST, Tue February 9, 2010
MPEG Surround and HE-AACv2 come to portables
Best known for its work on the MP3 format, Fraunhofer this afternoon said it would use Mobile World Congress next week to formally roll out two new audio formats specially designed for mobile. MPEG Surround can produce as much as 7.2-channel surround sound but has no real effect on the bitrate versus a stereo mix. A smartphone or a networked media hub using MPEG Surround can get the full audio of a movie without needing more space or a faster network connection.
It similarly enables virtual surround on regular headphones and operates on top of an existing audio codec rather than becoming its own.
As part of the unveilings, Fraunhofer also plans to bring both MPEG Surround and the existing HE-AAC v2 standard to Android at the Barcelona trade show. The firm expect HE-AAC v2 to be especially useful as it can compress audio to as little as 16Kbps for "good quality," or enough to ensure that Internet radio and some video will get through while remaining clear.
It remains to be seen whether Google or other companies will formally license either standard to be a core part of their operating systems, but third-party Android app developers will have the freedom to implement Fraunhofer's code as soon as it's available.
