LAS VEGAS, NEVADA: European satellite broadcaster BSkyB, better known as Sky, has purchased eight of SoundField’s stereo-to-5.1 upmix processors for live use in their studios and outside broadcast facilities. The SoundField UPM-1 is a 1U, 19-inch rack processor which can create a convincing, phase-coherent 5.1 surround panorama from stereo audio in real-time, without adding any reverb or unwanted additional phase shifts. It does this by adaptively analyzing the two-channel stereo material, separating the content into its ambient and direct components, and placing any material from the center of the original stereo mix, such as commentary or dialogue, into the center channel of the resulting 5.1 panorama. For HD broadcasters, the UPM-1 ensures that most audio can be broadcast in fold-down friendly surround sound, without obvious moments when the broadcast soundscape narrows to stereo during the transmission of older, stereo-only material.

“The UPM-1 is already proving its worth here at Sky,” comments Keith Lane, Operations Manager at BSkyB. more