MP3Surround
Contents
MP3 Surround
MP3 Surround is a new type of MP3 that supports 5.1 channels of audio. MP3 Surround files have the extension *.mp3 like normal stereo MP3 files and can't easily be distinguished from them. That is possible as MP3 Surround encoded MP3-files are completely backwards compatible with standard MP3. MP3 Surround has been developed by the fathers of MP3, the FhG (IIS) in 2004.
Playback
Due to the backwards compatibility to MP3, any hardware and software MP3 player should be able to play MP3 Surround encoded files - although in stereo only. For the playback of the 5.1 content of MP3 Surround files there aren't that many options at the moment: there is a Winamp plugin and a standalone player, both provided at all4mp3.com. The newest DivX player in the version 6.3.x and above can decode DivX-encoded movies with an MP3 Surround encoded audio part. No hardware player for MP3 Surround exists at the moment.
Technology
The MP3 backwards compatibility of MP3 Surround has been achieved by downmixing six discrete audio channels into two stereo channels (!) while a third channel (the "surround" channel) outside the stereo MP3 frames contains the dispatching information necessary to get back the full 5.1 content. This third channel is invisible for normal MP3 players (as it is outside the defined MP3 frame structures), they treat the surround channel as they would treat id3 tags: they don't recognize them for playback. The data overhead needed for the third surround channel is 16 kbit/s, which allows for file sizes similar to standard stereo MP3 files.
Encoding of MP3 Surround
There are two ways of encoding MP3 Surround files: by encoding five (5.0) or six (5.1) mono WAV files by running the FhG - MP3 Surround encoder and by enhancing already existing stereo MP3 files with the FhG - MP3SX converter.
WORK IN PROGRESS
In January 2006, Thomson and Fraunhofer IIS also released two new companion technologies: Ensonido, which allows playback of MP3 Surround 5.1 channel sound through stereo headphones, and MP3 SX, which upgrades standard stereo mp3 file to mp3 surround files.
External links
- http://all4mp3.com Software, demos, information, and various mp3 resources
- http://mp3surround.com - Demo content, information and evalution software
