Audio
MPEG-H 3D Audio
Overview
License Fees
Licensors
Licensees
MPEG-H 3D Audio is the most recent international standard for today’s and tomorrow’s media delivery challenges, and it provides personalized and immersive sound for broadcast, streaming, and virtual/augmented reality applications. The standard is designed to meet the creative and technical needs of artists and content providers, while empowering consumers to personalize their audio experience and enjoy sound from every direction.
With built-in rendering and advanced dynamic range control capabilities, MPEG-H 3D Audio delivers high quality end user experience to all devices: TVs, mobile phones, tablets, soundbars, smart speakers, audio/video receivers, automotive or binaural rendering for headphone playback.
Developed by the ISO/IEC MPEG (Moving Picture Expert Group), the MPEG-H 3D Audio standard (ISO/IEC 23008-3) facilitates high quality sound production, bitrate-efficient transmission, and reproduction of immersive and personalized sound. It provides universal carriage of channel-based, object-based, and scene-based (Higher Order Ambisonics) content independent of the distribution platforms, which include terrestrial, satellite, and mobile or broadband networks.
Already adopted by major broadcast and streaming application standards, MPEG-H 3D Audio contains two market-relevant profiles: Low Complexity Profile and Baseline Profile. These are deployed by the broadcast, video and music streaming industries and enable interactivity and personalization of a program, such as switching between different content versions or adjusting the position and gain of audio objects during content playback. Another important feature of MPEG-H 3D Audio is its high level of accessibility, which is essential for offering an enhanced experience to the visual and hearing-impaired audience.
A copy of ISO/IEC 23008-3 can be obtained from the ISO online store.
Standard MPEG-H 3D Audio License Fees:
| Volume (per unit/annual reset) |
Per unit fee* | |
|---|---|---|
| For the first 1 – 500,000 units | US$0.70 | |
| For units 500,001 – 1,000,000 | US$0.60 | |
| For units 1,000,001 – 2,000,000 | US$0.52 | |
| For units 2,000,001 – 5,000,000 | US$0.46 | |
| For units 5,000,001 – 10,000,000 | US$0.40 | |
| For units 10,000,001 – 20,000,000 | US$0.35 | |
| For units 20,000,001 – 50,000,000 | US$0.30 | |
| For units 50,000,001 and more + | US$0.25 |
* License Fees to be capped at US$20,000,000 per year (only for compliant licensees).
Committed Volume Options are available as follows (only for compliant licensees):
| Annual committed volume (number of units) |
Annual committed payment amount |
Fee per excess unit* |
|---|---|---|
| 500,000 units | US$300,000.00 | US$0.60 |
| 1,000,000 | US$520,000.00 | US$0.52 |
| 2,000,000 | US$920,000.00 | US$0.46 |
| 5,000,000 | US$2,000,000.00 | US$0.40 |
| 10,000,000 | US$3,500,000.00 | US$0.35 |
| 20,000,000 | US$6,000,000.00 | US$0.30 |
| 50,000,000 | US$12,500,000.00 | US$0.25 |
| 75,000,000 | US$16,500,000.00 | US$0.22 |
| 100,000,000 | US$20,000,000.00 | US$0.20 |
* License Fees to be capped at US$20,000,000 per year (only for compliant licensees).
Please note that mere MPEG-H passthrough does not require a license on MPEG-H. In light of the anticipated timeline of deployment of the MPEG-H 3D Audio technology in the market and subject to terms and conditions, a time limited Market Maker Incentive may apply. Please contact Via LA for more information.
- AKART Co., Ltd.
- Astrodesign, Inc.
- ATEME S.A.
- Audio-Technica Corporation
- Azuma Co., Ltd.
- Bang & Olufsen A/S
- Cobalt Digital, Inc.
- CreNova Systems Co., Ltd.
- DEI Sales, Inc.
- Elytone Electronic Co., Ltd.
- Fluendo S.A.
- Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
- Immersive Audio Technologies NV
- KORG Inc.
- Lenbrook Industries Limited
- LowaSIS. Inc.
- MainConcept GmbH
- Media Hyperium, Inc.
- miniDSP Ltd
- New Audio Technology GmbH
- Panasonic Holdings Corporation
- Sakura Eiki Co., Ltd.
- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Sonova Consumer Hearing GmbH
- Sony Group Corporation
- Spin Digital Video Technologies GmbH
- Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH
- Synamedia Vividtec Holdings Inc.
- TLS Corp.
- VBox Communications Ltd.
- Wohler Technologies, Inc.
- Dolby International AB
- Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute
- Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft zur Foerderung der angewandten Forschung e.V.
- GW 5121 Patents, LLC
- Koninklijke Philips N.V.
- Nippon Hoso Kyokai
- NTT DOCOMO, INC.
- NTT, Inc.
- Orange SA
- Panasonic Holdings Corporation
- Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
- Sony Group Corporation
- VoiceAge Corporation
- Wilus Inc.
To obtain a license or for additional information, please contact info@via-la.com.
Any entity believing it has a valid patent essential to a normative part of the standards defined by the International Organization for Standardization (“ISO”) and the International Electrotechnical Commission (“IEC”) for the coding of immersive audio information: ISO/IEC 23008-3:2019 Information Technology – High efficiency coding and media delivery in heterogeneous environments – Part 3: 3D Audio; ISO/IEC 23008-3:2019/AMD 1:2019 Information Technology – High efficiency coding and media delivery in heterogeneous environments — Part 3: 3D audio — Amendment 1: Audio metadata enhancements; and ISO/IEC 23008-3:2019/FDAM 2 Information Technology – 3D Audio Baseline profile, Corrections and Improvements(collectively the MPEG-H 3D Audio Standard); in each case specifically limited to the following MPEG-H Audio Profiles: Low Complexity Profile; and Baseline Profile, is invited to submit its patent for determination of essentiality by an independent evaluator.
Patents are considered essential when they are determined to have at least one independent claim that would necessarily and unavoidably infringed (in the absence of a license) by the practice of the MPEG-H 3D Audio Standard.
If informed by the independent evaluator that the submitted patent is essential to the MPEG-H 3D Audio Standard, the submitter is expected to participate in the MPEG-H 3D Audio Licensing Committee and the patent licensing program.
Please contact Via LA at ProgramManagement@via-la.com to request a copy of the submission procedures and the terms and conditions governing the submission of patents for essentiality determination in order to join the MPEG-H 3D Audio Licensing Program.