Audio and video trends 2022

There’s no doubt that the audio visual industry has proven its ability to survive and thrive in trying times. Global events have facilitated the rapid evolution of audio visual technologies, and these only continue to advance. Here are some audio visual trends for 2022 collected from many sources (click the link colored to text to get to the information source):

Growing consumer demand for audio content: People are listening to all forms of audio content: news, music, podcasts and books. Nielsen reports 75 per cent of people working from home are streaming music every week, with 40 per cent tuning in daily.

Rapid smart speaker adoption: Smart speakers and voice assistants are becoming common home appliances. One-third of U.S. households are equipped with smart speakers and 44 per cent of U.S. adults use voice assistants. Smart speakers let listeners to respond to ads using voice commands. Consumers are rapidly embracing voice to access information, entertain themselves and shop. The ability to instantly answer consumers’ questions and help them solve problems is becoming a key advantage for marketers who lean into audio.

Digital Audio is becoming multi-devices: Historically, digital audio has been widely consumed via mobile devices; it can now also be launched from a variety of new technologies including tablets, connected speakers, TVs and even smart watches.

Prosumer audio: Prosumer audio gear has remained on a steady upward curve over the last few years. With podcasting, live streaming, and at-home work solutions more popular than ever, it’s been a fantastic few years for prosumer audio sales. Their need for reliable, slightly elevated gear to take their content to the next level is proving highly profitable for certain companies.

Social sound: Audio fans are getting more social than ever, thanks to new apps that allow like-minded users to communicate without the screen fatigue or doom-scrolling associated with photo and video-based social networks.

3D audio: Spatial or 3D audio has firmly found its footing in the video game industry, with Sony and Microsoft’s next-gen consoles both natively supporting the feature.

Content Still Rules: Audiophiles are fiercely loyal to their favorite DJs, hosts, podcasters, artists and stations. As a result, they’re spending more time than ever listening to audio daily. Listeners consume programming on their own terms.

Streaming rules: Streaming music now account for more than 85% of all music enjoyed. Only 6% of music is now downloaded, even less than is physically purchased in the form of records, CDs, or the last tapes.

TikTok has caused a seismic shift in the world of content creation, skewing it ever further into a mobile-first industry. To capitalise on the market, more and more mobile-friendly gear is being created, forgoing the need for hundreds of adaptors and plugging straight into AUX, USB-C, or iPhone ports (or working wirelessly).

Many amplifier technologies in use: While classic class AB amplifiers are more and more often replaced with class D amplifier technology, there is still special audiophile markets for class A amplifiers and tube based amplifiers. New technology just coming to the class D amplifiers are GaN-based audio amplifier powered with switch mode power supply. They promise premium audio systems with good sound quality in a small and light format.

Vinyl records: Vinyl is here to stay, it seems, despite all technological advances that would have seemed to threaten it. Vinyl records (and coincidentally, cassette tapes) are selling like hot cakes again. Vinyl sales have been steadily rising for some time, but in 2020 for the first time in 34 years, vinyl has surpassed CD sales.

Streaming has killed CD: CDs sales are continuously and quickly declining thanks to streaming and music flash drives.

The race to wireless zero latency: Companies around the world are racing to find a solution that all but eliminates latency from wireless audio, removing the need for cables in an increasingly space, waste, and aesthetically-conscious world.

Green screens: As events become more hybrid, green screens will play a significant role, enabling speakers to be placed directly in the content becoming part of the message. Green screens are a great cost-effective way to insert branding and infographics, which works perfectly for online events and we will see them become adopted further for conferences. There are also cameras with depth sense features and software that can use pretty many background for green screen type effects without building a real green screen.

Hybrid events: Events have had to embrace the constant mix of who can attend, who can possibly attend and who is not afraid to attend and as such have flipped to hybrid. Although not necessarily an AV trend, hybrid events are unsurprisingly on the increase as people work from home and corporate travel is halted. In those events content needs to be clear and targeted to get the information across efficiently. There is demand for standalone apps that can enhance hybrid events such as Slack, Slido and Survey Monkey.

4k UHD: We will see more quality content produced in 4K UHD to ensure graphics can stand up to the state-of-the-art vision sources that are being employed in venues. If you are not creating content in 4K UHD then you are not taking advantage of all that is available to project your message.

Touchless Environments: COVID-19 has accelerated the desire for automation and touchless environments from a nice-to-have to a must-have. They minimize the amount that people come into contact with shared surfaces. Following the throes of COVID-19, it appears that touchless building controls are here to stay.

Remote Control And Remote Management: We’re seeing an increase in demand for remote management software that allows one person, or a small group of people, to log into a remote system and review the status of a set of classrooms or meeting spaces. Increasingly in 2022, companies can implement remote monitoring and maintenance for audio visual systems to support the advancement of technology. Whether your organization is expansive or small, remote audio visual support teams can significantly reduce operating costs for your business.

Live Streaming: As more people look to tune into events from home, we’re seeing an increased need for equipment that supports live streaming.

Video Walls: In many commercial spaces, there’s often a need for a large video display. In past years, many spaces have opted for projection screens as opposed to large LCD displays or video walls, solely because the cost was much lower. The price of video walls getting close to similar to a projection screen, and the benefits almost always outweigh the slightly higher cost.

Service And Maintenance: As more commercial spaces look for ways to save, there’s been an increasing demand for AV integrators to handle service and maintenance in order to maximize the lifespan of AV products. Businesses are focussing on reducing the overhead costs associated with maintaining and installing the equipment. Companies having expertise in sectors other than AV cannot have a dedicated team to manage and monitor their AV equipment.

Snake oil: Many audiophiles are infected by the snake oil curse, which causes them to chase endlessly after what is supposedly better sound reproduction. Audio interconnect and speaker cables have become a profitable business built on imaginative marketing and misinformation. This market now extends into power cords, HDMI, and optical cables. Untold sums of money have been wasted on the fanciful claims of cable vendors. There is lots of ridiculous pieces of pseudo-audiophile nonsense out there. Try to avoid this bullshit in 2022. Try to to restore peace of mind, and the enjoyment of music.

Hybrid environment: Although some employees are returning to the office, it is doubtful that society will return to an entirely on-site work environment. Remote workspaces from 2020-21 on will now be ‘Hybrid’ (home and office). AV technologies are playing a crucial role in creating a modern working environment. Hybrid technologies are changing their form, we had just a Skype call before the pandemic and now we have Zoom, Microsoft Team Rooms, Google Meet, etc with more advanced features allowing space for seamless collaboration and communication. Hybrid environments are expected to go beyond that with continuous innovation and development. Remote employees, distant customers, healthcare providers, and educational institutions can utilize unified communication solutions. It is now increasingly important to adopt technologies that make collaboration easier. At one time, frequent video communications, online learning, and compact hardware design were ambitious audio visual innovations that were hard for people to imagine. Today, they’re top priorities for business, educational, and religious spaces of all types, and are critical to how people interact in those spaces.

Silent Video Gains Momentum: It’s estimated that 85% of short videos viewed on Facebook are watched without sound. Yet as much as 41% of video would be incomprehensible to viewers without sound. Video marketers are using captions, context and other “no-audio” tactics to convey information.

Social Media Goes Video-First: video content is one of the internet’s main attractions. Users are being drawn to video-first platforms. One of the most common reasons people use social media is to view video. But with video streaming set to be as much as 82% of total web traffic by 2022, the importance of video content to marketing strategy is massive and still growing.

Digital audio: Digital audio consumption accelerated in 2021 and commercial engagement followed the audiences. In 2022 we foresee three key commercial trends in the digital audio space: Data-led targeting capabilities provide a powerful way to get advertising cut through, Creativity is a constant rather than a ‘trend’ in advertising and Audience Growth is attracting new advertisers. Programmatic audio is divided into three main supply sources – music streaming (through suppliers like Spotify), podcasts (the biggest opportunity for brands), and online broadcast radio (now more attractive with the addition of data overlay opportunities). Amongst these audio heavyweights we can see emerging innovation in the form of conversational and actionable audio ads.

Virtual and Augmented Reality: Although virtual and augmented reality first entered the public consciousness via video games or social media filters, they are now infiltrating every aspect of our lives. Given the rapid evolution of technology, it is inevitable that these advancements will impact the audio visual industry. Companies specializing in the development of VR and AR technologies are noticing an increase in interest from educational institutions wishing to create an enhanced learning experience. Within the healthcare sector, VR solutions are assisting healthcare professionals with socializing medically isolated patients. Virtual reality has been in development within the audio visual industry for many years. In 2022, virtual reality is becoming mainstream. Or at least tries.

Shift from linear TV to streaming: Video streaming goes beyond traditional TV viewing for people under 45. The lion’s share of viewing by those over 45 is still grabbed by linear television.

883 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    These New Video Switchers are a GAME CHANGER for Churches
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LlWn020W98

    Reply
  2. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Introducing the Roland AeroCaster Livestreaming System
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGqkfGhi8XU

    The AeroCaster Livestreaming System makes switching and streaming live shows easier than ever. Using just an iPad and up to four mobile devices, you can go live wirelessly on Facebook Live, YouTube, Twitch, and more.

    Mount your phones to capture shots that may be out of reach with a traditional camera. Then easily control settings on the phones remotely using the app. With the app’s multi-view function, monitor and switch between each camera, perfect for highlighting band members during a performance or different speakers on a panel. Plus, pull in media from your camera roll or add titles and graphics for some added production flair. Then create and instantly recall custom scenes with split views, greenscreen effects, and overlays. Thanks to W-Fi and 4G/5G connection, you won’t be tied down and can take your production on the road and broadcast from almost anywhere.

    Reply
  3. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Tom Warren / The Verge:
    Microsoft is bringing its Xbox TV app to Samsung’s 2022 smart TVs on June 30, letting Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers play 100+ Xbox games without a console

    Microsoft’s new Xbox TV app streams games without a console later this month
    https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/9/23159460/microsoft-xbox-tv-app-samsung-2022-tv-xbox-cloud-gaming-streaming?scrolla=5eb6d68b7fedc32c19ef33b4

    Samsung’s 2022 smart TVs will be the first to get the Xbox app

    Microsoft is launching its Xbox TV app later this month, allowing owners of Samsung’s 2022 smart TVs and monitors to play Xbox games without a game console. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will be able to access more than 100 games through Samsung’s 2022 smart TVs, streaming through the cloud powered by custom Xbox Series X hardware. Fortnite is even available to stream free of charge if you’re not a Game Pass Ultimate subscriber.

    The Xbox TV app will work very much like Netflix does on TVs and will be available from Samsung’s gaming hub on June 30th in 27 countries. You simply log into your Microsoft account in the app and stream Xbox games just like you would through Xbox Cloud Gaming in a browser.

    Reply
  4. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.bluetooth.com/auracast/

    Auracast™ broadcast audio is a new Bluetooth® capability that will deliver life-changing audio experiences. It will let you share your audio, unmute your world, and hear your best, enhancing the way you engage with others and the world around you. 

    Reply
  5. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Wall Street Journal:
    Study: some streaming devices keep playing content when TVs are off, leading to ~17% of ads being shown when users can’t see them, costing brands $1B+ per year — Lack of communication between TV sets and streaming devices causes estimated waste of over $1 billion in ad dollars

    Some Ads Play on Streaming Services Even When the TV Is Off, Study Finds
    https://www.wsj.com/articles/some-ads-play-on-streaming-services-even-when-the-tv-is-off-study-finds-11655042401?mod=djemalertNEWS

    Lack of communication between TV sets and streaming devices causes estimated waste of over $1 billion in ad dollars

    Some 17% of ads shown on televisions connected through a streaming device are playing while the TV isn’t on, according to a new study.

    Many commercials continue to play on ad-supported streaming services after viewers turn off their television, new research shows, a problem that is causing an estimated waste of more than $1 billion a year for brands.

    The findings come as an ever-growing share of ad dollars is shifting from traditional TV to streaming platforms, a trend that is likely to accelerate now that industry giants Netflix Inc. NFLX -5.10% and Walt Disney Co. DIS -3.78% ’s Disney+ have embraced the idea of offering an ad-supported version of their services.

    Some 17% of ads shown on televisions connected through a streaming device—including streaming boxes, dongles, sticks and gaming consoles—are playing while the TV is off, according to a study by WPP PLC’s ad-buying giant GroupM and ad-measurement firm iSpot.tv Inc.

    That is because when a TV set is turned off, it doesn’t always send a signal to the streaming device connected to the TV through its HDMI port, GroupM said. As a result, the streaming device will continue playing the show and its ads unless users had exited or paused the streaming app they were watching before turning off their TV.

    Due to the nature of the problem, using a smart TV—on which streaming apps are loaded—makes it far less likely that ads would be shown while the TV is off, since in this instance the television and streaming device are just a single piece of hardware. GroupM said it found “virtually no incidence” of the issue on smart TV apps. The study, which included smart TVs and some hooked up with a streaming device, found that on average, between 8% and 10% of all streaming ads were shown while the TV was off.

    Advertisers have been increasingly turning to streaming services as more Americans abandon their traditional pay-TV packages.

    The U.S. connected-TV ad market has been growing exponentially in recent years, going from $2.6 billion in 2017 to an expected $18.9 billion this year, according to estimates from Insider Intelligence. That means that this year alone, between $1.5 billion and $1.9 billion worth of ads are expected to be shown to viewers who can’t see them.

    “The explosion of streaming is rich with opportunity,” said Kirk McDonald, GroupM’s North America chief executive officer. “But, as with any technological advancements, it’s our job to close the gaps so all avenues of ad delivery are verified.”

    Unlike traditional TV, streaming content is widely consumed on platforms other than televisions sets, including laptop computers, tablets and smartphones. Many Americans rely on TVs connected to streaming players—the vast majority of which are made by Roku Inc., ROKU -10.46% Amazon.com Inc. AMZN -5.60% and Apple Inc. AAPL -3.86% —for their streaming entertainment. According to Parks Associates, 41% of U.S. households with a broadband connection own a streaming player, while 38% own a gaming console, some of which are used to stream content on TV.

    “We live in a much more complicated media world now,” said Adam Gerber, GroupM’s executive director of U.S. investment strategy. “A lot more work has to be done at an industry level with TV manufacturers, streaming device makers, media companies and ad buyers” to come up with remedies to this problem, he said.

    Advertisers have long had to deal with the risk of having ads not seen by their intended audiences. That is certainly true for traditional television, when the TV can be on while no one is in the room, or in the early days of online advertising, when display ads were often placed at the bottom of the screen where web surfers were unlikely to see them. The ad industry eventually came up with new viewability standards to address the problem.

    “The findings are not surprising,” said Travis Hockersmith, a vice president at Vizio. When it comes to “ancillary devices that are connected to the TV, the TV doesn’t inherently control them.” That problem doesn’t happen with Vizio’s smart TVs, he said, since all apps and video playback are shut down when the TV is off. Vizio said it accounted for 15% of all TV sets sold in the U.S. over the 12-month period ended March 31.

    “We obsess over earning and maintaining customer trust, and this includes our advertising customers,” Amazon said. “We take steps to prevent this behavior from happening on Fire TV, and are in contact with GroupM to better understand their research.” Apple didn’t respond to a request for comment.

    The study found ads were far more likely to be shown after the TV was turned off when people were watching free, ad-supported streaming channels as opposed to on-demand content. These channels, which are available on many streaming apps including Paramount Global’s Pluto TV and Fox Corp.’s FOX -3.07% Tubi, have a very similar interface to that of traditional TV, making it more likely that users would stop watching by just turning the TV set off instead of closing the app.

    Ad-measurement firm iSpot said it would begin offering advertisers a new product that verifies that commercials are indeed delivered to TVs that were on.

    Reply
  6. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Bluetoothilla voi pian jakaa musiikkia massoille
    https://etn.fi/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13709&via=n&datum=2022-06-10_16:22:52&mottagare=30929

    Auracast on uusi brändinimi tekniikalle, joka tunnettiin aiemmin nimellä Audio Sharing. Se tulee osaksi BLE-standardia (Bluetooth Low Energy). Bluetooth SIG lupaa laajennusta standardiin lähikuukausien aikana. Android 13 tulee tukemaan tekniikkaa.

    Bluetooth SIG:n toimitusjohtaja Mark Powell uskoo, että Auracast aloittaa uuden massiivisen muutoksen äänentoiston alueella. – Mahdollisuus lähettää ja jakaa ääntä Bluetooth-tekniikan avulla mullistaa musiikin kuuntelun julkisissa tiloissa.

    Auracastin avulla voidaan jakaa musiikkia muille linkin alueella olevilla. Jos esimerkiksi kuuntelee langattomia kuulokkeita älypuhelimella, tabletilla tai kannettavalla tietokoneella, Auracastin avulla perheenjäsenet tai ystävät voivat liittyä lähetykseen omilla Auracast-yhteensopivilla Bluetooth-kuulokkeilla.

    Teknisesti Auracast ei ole kovin monimutkainen. Yksi lähetin ”mainostaa” itseään eri laitteille entiseen tapaan. Vastaanottavassa laitteessa voidaan erillisellä napilla tai avustimella liittyä lähetykseen, jolloin voidaan vastaanottaa kahta eri stereo-bittivirtaa.

    https://www.bluetooth.com/auracast/

    Reply
  7. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Recreating A Camera Shot
    https://hackaday.com/2022/06/14/recreating-a-camera-shot/

    People rolling off shields and spears clashing against swords as the camera zooms in and out wildly makes the hallmark action sequences in the movie 300 so iconic. Unfortunately, achieving this effect wasn’t particularly easy. Three cameras were rolling, each with a different lens (100mm, 50mm, and 21mm) to capture a different view of the same scene. In post-production, you can dramatically switch between the three cameras since the shot is synchronized. The folks over at [Corridor Crew] wanted to recreate the effect, but rather than create a custom mount to hold three expensive cameras, they 3d printed a custom mount to hold three costly smartphones.

    I Made Zack Snyder’s Crazy Camera From “300″ Using iPhones
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8X16Gw3Qa4

    Reply
  8. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Upscaling The Sierras
    https://hackaday.com/2022/06/13/upscaling-the-sierras/

    If you played many games back in the mid-80s to 90s, you might remember the iconic graphics from Sierra’s Online Adventure Games. They were brightly colored (16 colors) and dynamic with some depth. To pay homage, [eviltrout] worked to upscale the images. Despite being rendered at 160×200 at 16 colors and then stretched, storing all those bitmaps even at only 4 bits per pixel would take all the storage available on the floppy disk. The engineers on the game decided instead to take a vector approach to a raster problem.

    How classic Sierra game graphics worked (and an attempt to upscale them)
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sclZDCjUVvI

    Reply
  9. Tomi Engdahl says:

    How-To: Transparent & Animated Graphics for Live Video
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NjlMjO7t5aw

    Creating animated and transparent graphics for live video is probably a lot easier than you might think. Here’s a deep dive, covering the basic topics while looking at how I did my graphics and music for my Stream Day 2022 presentation.

    00:00 Introduction
    00:34 Stream Day Example
    01:48 Necessary Equipment
    03:00 Connections
    03:56 View of Alpha Channel
    06:50 Set Up Keyer
    07:55 Set Up HyperDeck
    09:24 Obtaining Graphic Assets
    10:15 Build a MoGrT
    14:51 Build the Timeline
    18:46 Add an Animated Transition
    23:07 Another Animated Transition
    24:46 Animated Wipe
    25:42 Add the Black Layer
    27:31 Music Time
    29:37 Rendering for Playback
    31:44 Ready the Switcher
    32:20 Play the Results
    33:01 Automate with Macros
    34:18 Wrap-Up

    Reply
  10. Tomi Engdahl says:

    The end of film photography and the rise of deep learning are both easily explained within the brilliant expositions of Clayton Christensen.

    Deep Learning’s Little-Known Debt to The Innovator’s Dilemma A small band of believers triumphed after years of quietly plugging away
    https://spectrum.ieee.org/deep-learnings-little-known-debt-to-the-innovators-dilemma?utm_campaign=RebelMouse&socialux=facebook&share_id=7097768&utm_medium=social&utm_content=IEEE+Spectrum&utm_source=facebook

    In 1997, Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen created a sensation among venture capitalists and entrepreneurs with his book The Innovator’s Dilemma. The lesson that most people remember from it is that a well-run business can’t afford to switch to a new approach—one that ultimately will replace its current business model—until it is too late.

    One of the most famous examples of this conundrum involved photography. The large, very profitable companies that made film for cameras knew in the mid-1990s that digital photography would be the future, but there was never really a good time for them to make the switch. At almost any point they would have lost money. So what happened, of course, was that they were displaced by new companies making digital cameras.

    Reply
  11. Tomi Engdahl says:

    FFS, Apple, stop this nonsense and just put a decent camera in your laptops already
    https://techcrunch.com/2022/06/06/apple-laptop-camera/

    Reply
  12. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Peter Riccardi’s 3D-Printed $30 Microphone Holds Its Own Against $1,000 Lab-Grade Equivalents
    Using four MEMS microphones for reduced noise, this low-cost lab tool may even outperform the competition for some tasks.
    https://www.hackster.io/news/peter-riccardi-s-3d-printed-30-microphone-holds-its-own-against-1-000-lab-grade-equivalents-14367be86b6e

    Reply
  13. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Record players make comeback with Ikea, others pitching tricked-out turntables
    The Obegränsad is the company’s first record player since 1973
    https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/11/ikea_record_player/

    Ikea is introducing a fresh take on a product it hasn’t sold since 1973: The record player.

    Introduced as part of the upcoming Obergränsad collection, the turntable was designed in collaboration with Swedish electronic music group Swedish House Mafia, and serves as a reminder of how much vinyl has surged in the past several years.

    Record collecting has been growing in the past few years to the point where in 2021, Statista said, LP sales jumped by more than 50 percent year-over-year to beat both digital and CD album sales. Keeping it in context, that figure shrinks to a meager 4.7 percent when streaming and downloading of music is included.

    Over the past year, vinyl sales spiked another 61 percent and topped $1 billion for the first time in more than 35 years, with the top-selling records coming from new artists like Adele, Taylor Swift and Billie Eilish.

    Photographs of the device show what appears to be a replaceable Audio-Technica needle cartridge, manual arm, RCA stereo out jacks, and a USB port that provides power. It also has a built-in preamp and works with Ikea’s Eneby Bluetooth speaker, though without Bluetooth: the turntable only appears to support wired speakers.

    In other words, those who are serious about actually owning a physical music collection are reaching into the analog past for the technology to do it, and most weren’t even alive when records were the standard format. It’s young people buying the records and the players, boosting not only vinyl sales, but the new turntable market as well – it reached $361 million in 2020.

    Just as they did in the past, modern turntable and record player prices vary wildly. A basic all-in-one record player from Crosley starts at less than $100, while roughly equivalent models from Audio-Technica, a well-established turntable maker, cost just a bit more. Technics, a Japanese Panasonic subsidiary and long-time maker of high-end turntables, offers models that run well into the thousands of dollars, as do other manufacturers.

    Reply
  14. Tomi Engdahl says:

    But what of sound quality? According to Victrola, modern players aren’t manufactured with the same attention to detail when records were the primary source of home music, meaning modern players don’t sound the same. That doesn’t mean worse, necessarily: New players are generally considered to sound cleaner, while vintage ones are described as sounding “warm.”
    https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/11/ikea_record_player/

    Reply
  15. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Gaurav Singh’s Open Source USB 3.0 Camera Packs Interchangeable Lenses and Sensors
    Designed so that two main boards, one FPGA and one USB, can drive a third interchangeable sensor board, this camera is extremely flexible.
    https://www.hackster.io/news/gaurav-singh-s-open-source-usb-3-0-camera-packs-interchangeable-lenses-and-sensors-3bf57db861d2

    Reply
  16. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Measurement Microphone Comparison
    BEHRINGER ECM8000 VS. BEYERDYNAMIC MM1 VS. ISEMCON EMX-7150
    https://www.jochenschulz.me/en/blog/measurement-microphone-comparison-isemcon-emx-7150-vs-behringer-emc8000-vs-beyerdynamic-mm1

    The market for measurement microphones is somewhat more manageable than that for loudspeakers. But still: we find microphones for EUR 30 and those for over EUR 2000. The big question you always have to ask yourself: Do the technical differences have an advantage for my application? And if anything, is it worth the extra charge? Or can I compensate for the product disadvantage of the cheaper microphone in another way?

    Specifically, three different measurement microphones have accumulated in my microphone case over the years:

    Behringer ECM8000* (approx.EUR 34)

    Beyerdynamic MM1* (approx.EUR 155)

    iSEMcon EMX-7150 (approx.EUR 253)

    RECOMMENDATION FOR BEGINNERS
    For all home use I would like to clearly advise you to start with a measuring microphone for less than 100 euros. Ultimately, the measurement and interpretation is not done by the microphone, but by you! The microphone together with the analyzer software shows you data such as the frequency response so that you can make decisions and change parameters if necessary.

    More than 90% of all questions can be answered with every microphone in the world: level relations, delay times, phase relation between subwoofer and main speaker, determination of room modes, standing waves to help speaker placement, etc. Only for the very few times that you are concerned with frequencies above 4kHz, it takes a certain amount of attention to interpret the displayed frequency curve.

    I would only recommend the price range from 500 EUR for laboratory measurements or very manageable environments. The information gain is almost zero for normal applications. In contrast, the effort that you have to spend to supervise your expensive equipment and make every move yourself or to take out equipment insurance increases significantly. If a microphone for 30 or even 250 EUR actually falls off or disappears, the shouting is not quite as great as when it comes to a microphone of 1000 EUR and more.

    Reply
  17. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Wooden You Like To Hear A CNC-Cut Phonograph Record?
    https://hackaday.com/2022/06/17/wooden-you-like-to-hear-a-cnc-cut-phonograph-record/

    Say what you will about [Thomas Edison], but it’s hard to deny the genius of his self-proclaimed personal favorite invention: the phonograph. Capturing sound as physical patterns on a malleable medium was truly revolutionary, and the basic technology that served as the primary medium of recorded sound for more than a century and built several major industries is still alive and kicking today.

    With so much technological history behind it, what’s the aspiring inventor to do when the urge to spin your own phonograph records strikes? Easy — cut them from wood with a CNC router. At least that’s how [alnwlsn] rolled after the “one-percent inspiration” hit him while cutting a PCB with his router.

    What does a record made of WOOD sound like? | CNC milling phonograph record grooves
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1N9oMS3lRM

    Reply
  18. Tomi Engdahl says:

    DIY Doesn’t Save You Money -The DIY Speaker Bar Build
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Vw2fEg33Yk

    In this video, I build the Overnight Sensation Center Channel DIY Speaker kit. Or more simply, I build a badass speaker bar using a DIY speaker kit. And along the way we have a frank discussion about why building your own speakers isn’t really a good idea if you’re looking to save money.

    Reply
  19. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Video Post-Processor Delivers Pixel Magic
    June 16, 2022
    Check out what Pixelworks is doing with its X7 mobile visual processor.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/embedded-revolution/article/21244449/jon-peddie-research-video-postprocessor-delivers-pixel-magic?utm_source=EG+ED+Connected+Solutions&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS220617018&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    What you’ll learn:

    Integrating motion processing into mobile gaming.
    What does the X7 post-processor deliver to gaming and other applications?
    Who is Pixelworks?

    Video processors have used frame interpolation systems such as motion estimation (ME) and motion compensation (MC) for decades. However, typical solutions are power-hungry and introduce interpolation errors.

    Pixelworks, a video alchemist skunkworks in San Jose, has been quietly developing a new, back-end mobile processor that works for both movies and now, video games. The result is an incredibly brilliant image, at super high resolutions and high frame rates, but with minimal latency that can actually improve battery life as well. It sounds almost as if they have broken the law of physics. But, no, says their CEO, we just know those laws very well and how to work within them.

    Reply
  20. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Humans Can Learn to ‘Echolocate’ in Just 10 Weeks, Experiment Shows
    CARLY CASSELLA
    20 JUNE 2022
    https://www.sciencealert.com/most-humans-can-learn-how-to-echolocate-in-just-10-weeks-experiment-shows

    With enough training, most humans can learn how to echolocate, using their tongue to make clicking sounds and interpreting the echoes that come back, reflected from the surrounding environment.

    In as few as 10 weeks, researchers have been able to teach participants how to navigate obstacles and recognize the size and orientation of objects using the rebounding calls of their clicks.

    The experiment, the results of which were published in 2021, involved 12 participants who’d been diagnosed as legally blind during their childhood, and 14 sighted people.

    Echolocation is a skill we usually associate with animals such as bats and whales, but some blind humans also use the echoes of their own sounds to detect obstacles and their outlines.

    Despite how useful this skill can be, very few blind people are currently taught how to do it. Expert echolocators have been trying to spread the word for years, and this study suggests a simple training schedule is all that’s needed.

    “I cannot think of any other work with blind participants that has had such enthusiastic feedback,” said psychologist Lore Thaler from Durham University in the UK in June last year when the results were published.

    Over the course of 20 training sessions, which were about 2 to 3 hours long, researchers found that blind and sighted participants, both old and young, all improved considerably at click-based echolocation.

    For weeks, participants were trained to navigate virtual mazes – corridors arranged in T-intersections, U bends, and zig-zags – and identify the size and orientation of objects using mouth clicks.

    Reply
  21. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Optical Microphone System Recreates Sound From Vibrations
    The system features dual cameras and a laser to sense high-speed, low-amplitude surface vibrations that are then used to reconstruct sound.
    https://www.hackster.io/news/optical-microphone-system-recreates-sound-from-vibrations-4fd00b24d76d

    Engineers from Carnegie Mellon University have developed a novel camera system that can see sound vibrations with a level of precision that it can single out an instrument in an orchestra. Think of it as recreating audio without a microphone. The team from CMU’s School of Computer Science’s Robotics Institute built the system, which features a pair of cameras and a laser.

    Optical Microphone Developed by CMU Researchers Sees Sound Like Never Before
    https://www.cs.cmu.edu/news/2022/optical-microphone

    Dual-Shutter Vibration-Sensing System Uses Ordinary Cameras To Achieve Extraordinary Results

    A camera system developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers can see sound vibrations with such precision and detail that it can reconstruct the music of a single instrument in a band or orchestra.

    Reply
  22. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Quantum microphone works even better than a regular one
    By detecting tiny movements of particles of light, a quantum microphone has recorded human speech that is easier to understand than if it is captured by an equivalent classical version
    Read more: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2325051-quantum-microphone-works-even-better-than-a-regular-one/#ixzz7XCrKdRwA

    Reply
  23. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Newly developed optical microphone sees sound like never before
    https://techxplore.com/news/2022-06-newly-optical-microphone.html

    A camera system developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers can see sound vibrations with such precision and detail that it can reconstruct the music of a single instrument in a band or orchestra.

    Reply
  24. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Multispectral imaging smartphone camera
    A smartphone imaging system for art conservation analysis
    https://hackaday.io/project/185259-multispectral-imaging-smartphone-camera

    This project started with utilizing a separate USB camera module, removing the IR filter, and interfacing with a smartphone with an app. That turned out to be a lot easier than modifying a smartphone, but was limited to the lower-quality cameras and USB camera software. I’ve gone through about a couple dozen smartphone camera modules to find ones that were able to be modified and the method by which to do so.

    Finally, it’s starting to work.

    I’ve been using the Google Pixel 3a because it has great camera software, excellent night and astrophotography modes, and used versions are available very affordably.

    What we’re seeing here is

    1) Infrared long pass filter–this filter doesn’t allow light below approximately 760nm through. Often, this is used in art conservation for IR reflectography to see drawings on the canvas below the paint. Certain paints/pigments that are opaque in visible light are transparent in IR.

    2) UV short pass filter–this is typically used in art conservation to differentiate certain paints: lead white (which has been used for centuries) shows up as white in UV reflectography. Titanium white (which was developed much later) shows up as grey. A handy way to determine if paints are historical or not.

    3) Polarized–often used for reflective objects or if a painting has a high gloss varnish over it. Makes it easier to see true colors and some previous restoration. In the current version, I need to cement a visible light pass filter to the polarized lens, otherwise, it lets in everything from UV to visible to IR.

    My goal is to create an entire analysis system that uses a smartphone for the user interface and the processing power. I am working on building swappable filter wheels for different analysis methods (sets of bandpass filters for subtractive imaging, etc.), wheels for macro photography/microscopy, and interchangeable modules for led lights, sensors, and spectrometers.

    Reply
  25. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Microphones are the new gaming status symbol
    By Luke Winkie published 1 day ago
    https://www.pcgamer.com/microphones-are-the-new-gaming-status-symbol/?utm_campaign=socialflow&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social

    Studio-quality mics and boom arms are the new gaming chair.

    Nobody needed a gaming mic in the late ’90s. Hell, webcams barely even existed yet—if you were attending QuakeCon and wanted to inspire a roiling envy among your fellow PC elitists, your best bet was a garish, chromed-out case. You know what I’m talking about: the crystalline chassis, the glittering water cooling kits, the monolithic fans that sounded like a spaceship taking off. This was the threshold that every up-and-coming geek was expected to aspire to. No peripherals, no bells and whistles, just a big machine and a chunky monitor, pumping out Counter-Strike headshots all night long. You could take that PC to your local LAN party and show everyone who’s boss.

    In this wonderful era, the only people who owned computer microphones used them for their day jobs.

    Microphones have morphed from a fringe boutique curiosity to an out-an-out necessity

    Mics are everywhere. They are now a stylistic orthodoxy, like wearing a pocket square to a wedding.

    There is truly nothing wrong with my headset. My friends can hear me just fine, and I rarely need to record professional audio. But after internalizing the Twitch norms and seeing all the fancy HyperX mics trickle across the timeline, I too have started to feel a primordial gamer inadequacy that brings me back to my teenage years.

    “I think that all the kids want a ‘complete’ streaming setup like they see their favorite streamers online have. So whether or not they use it for streaming or just casually, it’s become a part of a complete setup,” says another poster on r/Battlestations, who opted for a $99 Blue Yeti. “I think it has everything to do with wanting to be like the streamers they look up to.”

    It’s hard to know when, exactly, this revolution began. Livestreaming is older than anyone gives it credit for—kids were running livestreams on local access TV in the early 1990s.

    My best guess is that dedicated mics became more widely adopted when young people started to get the bulk of their gaming information from YouTube, because Ninja, Shroud, and Pokimane spend much of their public life with their faces partially obscured by a fuzzy black mass.

    “Streaming has exploded as a form of entertainment,” says Adam, a 26-year-old in Canada and another Blue Yeti owner, in an interview with PC Gamer. “So every stream is advertising a ‘battlestation,’ so to speak.”

    Don’t expect this trend to reverse course anytime soon. We are all going to be external microphone people eventually—for reasons both aesthetic and utilitarian. It is yet another thing to buy in a hobby that continually moves the goalposts. (The RAM, the graphics cards, the chiseled decals on the case, the utterly unnecessary water cooling system, and so on and so forth forever.) The kids set the rules, and we race to catch up, which I suppose is how every subculture is supposed to work.

    Reply
  26. Tomi Engdahl says:

    https://www.facebook.com/6738073078/posts/pfbid029BVFumoXNQPVT687pqTuqdLJTqimBpzDzJFihgLLduKr9Pwa4py2dsHHtbWAmCgAl/

    To be fair, if you talk on stream, a bad mic will drive people away fast while a good mic can do wonders without many people realizing why. Audio is drastically more important than most people realize.

    Reply
  27. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Converting A Sigma Lens To Canon, Digital Functionality Included
    https://hackaday.com/2022/07/01/converting-a-sigma-lens-to-canon-digital-functionality-included/

    These days, camera lenses aren’t just simple bits of glass in sliding metal or plastic housings. They’ve often got a whole bunch of electronics built in as well. [Dan K] had just such a lens from Sigma, but wanted to get it working fully with a camera using the Canon EF lens fitting. Hacking ensued.

    The lens in question was a Sigma 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX DG, built to work with a Sigma camera using the SA mount. As it turns out, the SA mount is actually based on the Canon EF mount, using the same communications methods and having a similar contact block. However, it uses a mechanically different mounting bayonet, making the two incompatible.

    [Dan] sourced a damaged EF lens to provide its mount, and modified it on a lathe to suit the Sigma lens. A short length of ribbon cable was then used to connect the lens’s PCB to the EF mount’s contacts. When carefully put back together, the lens worked perfectly, with functional auto-focus and all.

    https://zdp-189.tumblr.com/post/9737658407/i-converted-a-sigma-15-30-lens-from-sigma-sa-to

    Reply
  28. Tomi Engdahl says:

    AI Image Generation Sharpens Your Bad Photos And Kills Photography?
    https://hackaday.com/2022/07/03/ai-image-generation-sharpens-your-bad-photos-and-kills-photography/

    We don’t fully understand the appeal of asking an AI for a picture of a gorilla eating a waffle while wearing headphones. However, [Micael Widell] shows something in a recent video that might be the best use we’ve seen yet of DALL-E 2. Instead of concocting new photos, you can apparently use the same technology for cleaning up your own rotten pictures.

    Will This New Invention be the Death of Photography?
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoIMFijWhlY

    Reply
  29. Tomi Engdahl says:

    An Affordable Reference Mic You Can Build Yourself
    https://hackaday.com/2022/07/02/an-affordable-reference-mic-you-can-build-yourself/

    Reference mics are vital tools for audio work. They’re prized for their flat frequency response, and are often used for characterizing the audio response of a room or space. OpenRefMic aims to be an open source design for producing reference mics without paying exorbitant retail prices.

    The heart of the build is a preamplifier that runs off standard 48 V phantom power, and is responsible for both biasing the electret microphone element and acting as a buffer for the mic signal. It’s designed specifically to work with the PUI AOM-5024L-HD-F-R mic capsule, chosen for its good performance and low noise characteristics. However, other electric mics should work, too. The hardware is wrapped up in a 3D printed case which can readily be made on most basic printers. It’s complete with a press-fit grille that holds the mic capsule in place.

    https://github.com/loudifier/OpenRefMic

    Reply
  30. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Richard Lai / Engadget:
    Xiaomi’s new 12S Ultra smartphone features a 6.73-inch OLED screen and three rear cameras, including a 50MP main camera with a 1-inch sensor, starting at ~$900

    Xiaomi 12S Ultra has a Leica camera with a massive 1-inch sensor
    With this new Leica partnership, Xiaomi has picked up where Huawei left off.
    https://www.engadget.com/xiaomi-12s-ultra-leica-one-inch-sensor-130451208.html

    Merely six months after its previous flagship launch, today Xiaomi announced a trio of familiar-looking smartphones to mark the beginning of its partnership with Leica. The new 12S Series features MIUI 13 based on Android 12, and it runs on Qualcomm’s allegedly more efficient Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 flagship processor, with the headlining 12S Ultra packing a massive 1-inch, 50.3-megapixel Sony IMX989 main sensor. This translates to a generous pixel size of 1.6um, which then doubles to 3.2um via pixel binning for a supposedly boosted color accuracy and low light performance. And unlike the Sony Xperia Pro-I, the Xiaomi 12S Ultra apparently uses the entire portion of its 1-inch sensor.

    According to CEO Lei Jun, Xiaomi took part in the Sony IMX989′s development, and the $15 million cost was also split evenly between the two companies. Interestingly, the sensor won’t be exclusive to Xiaomi; Lei added that it’ll be made available to his local competitors after the launch of the 12S Ultra, in order to “promote the advancement of mobile imaging together.”

    Reply
  31. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Manori Ravindran / Variety:
    To cut costs, HBO will cease producing HBO Max originals in the Nordics, Central Europe, the Netherlands, and Turkey and will also remove some HBO Max content — As the media conglomerate looks to recalibrate its streaming priorities, it will no longer produce originals in the Nordics …

    HBO Max Halts Originals in Parts of Europe in Major Restructure (EXCLUSIVE)
    https://variety.com/2022/tv/global/hbo-max-europe-originals-development-1235308730/

    Warner Bros. Discovery’s post-merger growing pains and an eye-watering $3 billion cost-savings target are hitting its programming strategy in Europe, Variety can reveal.

    As the media conglomerate looks to recalibrate its streaming priorities, it will no longer produce originals for HBO Max in the Nordics (Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland), Central Europe, the Netherlands and Turkey, and will also remove some content from its platform in order to free up licensing deals elsewhere.

    Reply
  32. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Samsung’s latest 200-Mpixel image sensor, the ISOCELL HP3, touts a pixel size of 0.56 µm, 12% smaller than its predecessor.
    Read now: http://arw.li/6182zW03p

    #EDN #Pixel #Samsung

    Reply
  33. Tomi Engdahl says:

    11 Myths About Image Sensors
    July 1, 2022
    Virtually all electronic devices are replete with image sensors these days. However, this technological escalation also has generated misconceptions about these devices. onsemi’s Geoff Ballew sets the record straight.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/technologies/analog/article/21245756/onsemi-11-myths-about-image-sensors?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS220628017&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    What you’ll learn:

    One size doesn’t fit all: Debunking why image sensors can’t be selected based on a few physical parameters.
    Misconceptions surrounding pixel size, resolution, read noise, SNR, and more.
    Why industry collaboration will be key to power tomorrow’s intelligent sensing era.

    Today, every electronic device, from the smartphone in your pocket to the electric vehicle you drive, contains anywhere from 3 to 10 image sensors providing new features and powering ever-more intelligent applications. The recent advances in semiconductor technology have revolutionized how we see and capture the world around us.

    Image sensors are a big part of this sensor revolution. From drones and advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) to machine-vision and medical applications, image sensors have propelled wider use of image data across numerous market segments. The right choice of image sensor determines accurate inspection, depth sensing, object recognition, and tracking.

    PMICs for Automotive Camera Modules Built to Meet ISO 26262
    July 5, 2022
    Advances in automated driving have brought about the need for standards that define functional safety and contribute to preventing accidents. On that front, ROHM recently announced ISO 26262- and ASIL B-compliant PMICs targeting automotive camera modules.
    https://www.electronicdesign.com/markets/automotive/article/21245844/electronic-design-pmics-for-automotive-camera-modules-built-to-meet-iso-26262?utm_source=EG+ED+Analog+%26+Power+Source&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CPS220628017&o_eid=7211D2691390C9R&rdx.ident%5Bpull%5D=omeda%7C7211D2691390C9R&oly_enc_id=7211D2691390C9R

    Reply
  34. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Visit to the Early Television Museum
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqGaEM9sjVg

    Mechanical 32-line COLOUR TV monitor
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mc9x6ym9UzM

    Reply

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