The Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers (ITE), in collaboration with the Association of Radio Industries and Businesses (ARIB), has commenced distribution of the Standard test materials for three-dimensional multichannel stereophonic sound systems – Series B.

【Purpose】
Object-based audio, also known as Metadata-Guided Audio (MGA), Next-Generation Audio (NGA), or Advanced Sound System (AdvSS), has recently gained significant attention and is supported by advanced terrestrial broadcasting systems such as ISDB-T3, ATSC 3.0, and DVB-T2. Object-based audio is an audio system in which audio signals transmitted as individual audio objects, such as dialogue, background sounds, and sound effects, are converted (rendered) into audio signals optimized for the playback environment based on audio-related metadata and then reproduced. Object-based audio is well suited to personalized services, such as enabling efficient multilingual broadcasting by replacing dialogue tracks with versions spoken in different languages and improving speech intelligibility by independently increasing the level of the dialogue without affecting other audio elements.
Object-based audio has been standardized by international standards organizations such as ITU-R, MPEG and SMPTE. Advanced sound systems and the Audio Definition Model (ADM) for program production and international program exchange are specified in Recommendations ITU-R BS.2051 and ITU-R BS.2076. ARIB Technical Report TR-B48 specifies ADM profiles for program production, complete program exchange, and emission. MPEG-H 3D audio and AC-4, both audio coding systems, support object-based audio and are included in ARIB Standard STD-B32 (March 2025).
These Series B materials are intended to support the research, development, and dissemination of object-based audio technologies by providing audio content consistent with audio signals and audio-related metadata that enable such services. They are designed to promote a better understanding of object-based audio and audio-related metadata, and to facilitate the verification and evaluation of related equipment and systems.

【Configuration】
6 Categories (66 Files): Channel Check, Localization, Functional Check, Simulcast, Downmix, and Loudness
Supported Loudspeaker Layouts: Stereo, 5.1, 7.1, 5.1.4, 7.1.4, 22.2, etc. (available in both polar and Cartesian coordinates)

No.1: “Channel Check”
Evaluation material primarily intended to confirm that, for channel-based audio objects, the reproduction chain from the playback device to the loudspeakers is correctly connected and functioning.

No.2: “Localization”
Evaluation material designed to verify the localization accuracy and panning performance of mono audio objects

No.3: “Functional Check”
Evaluation material primarily intended to verify the operational functions of audio-related metadata, such as accessibility enhancement and personalization.

No.4: “Simulcast”
Evaluation material that simulates simultaneous program delivery using different loudspeaker layouts in current 4K/8K television broadcasting. This item verifies the seamless switching between channel-based audio objects encoded for multiple loudspeaker configurations.

No.5: “Downmix”
Evaluation material designed to confirm the application of custom downmix coefficients specified within the audio-related metadata when converting channel-based audio objects to alternative loudspeaker configurations.

No.6: “Loudness”
Evaluation material intended to verify the accuracy of loudness correction performed on the basis of the associated loudness-related metadata defined within the ADM.

【File format】
The following file formats are available.
– Audio signals (Linear PCM, 48 kHz, 24 bits): WAV, BW64*1
　*1 BW64 files contain audio signals, audio-related metadata, and a list of audio tracks. BW64 is specified in Recommendation ITU-R BS.2088.
– Audio-related metadata (ADM*2): XML
*2 ADM: Audio Definition Model specified in Recommendation ITU-R BS.2076.
– Audio track list: CSV

【Sample】
Coming soon

【Specifications】
For more information, see the manual.

【Price】*3
ITE member：60,000 JPY, including the manual
Non ITE member：75,000 JPY, including the manual
*3 For shipments outside Japan, additional shipping charges apply.

【Offer medium】*4
USB flash drive (32GByte)
*4 The actual cost of the USB flash drive will be charged separately.

【Distribution start date】
July, 2026

【Distributed for a fee Application Contact】
The Institute of Image Information and Television Engineers
Kikai-Shinko-Kaikan, 3-5-8 Shibakoen, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-0011 JAPAN
Phone: +81-3-3432-4677 e-mail: ite@ite.or.jp