Method and apparatus for enabling a loudness controller to adjust a loudness level of a secondary media data portion in a media content to a different loudness level

Abstract

A media fingerprint archive system generates and archives media fingerprints from second media content portions such as commercials. A downstream media measurement system can extract/derive query fingerprints from an incoming signal and query the media fingerprint archive system whether any of the query fingerprints matches any archived fingerprints. If so, the media measurement system can perform media measurements on a specific secondary media content portion from which the matched query fingerprint is derived. If not, the media measurement system can analyze media characteristics of a media content portion to determine whether the media content portion is a secondary media content portion and perform media measurement if needed to. The media measurement system may send fingerprints from an identified secondary media content portion to the media fingerprint archive system for storage.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 receiving a bitstream including audio data and metadata associated with the audio data;   analyzing the metadata to determine whether said metadata includes a target profile, where the target profile is used to perform at least one of loudness control, loudness normalization, or dynamic range control on the audio data in accordance with the target profile, and where the target profile determines a target loudness and/or at least one target dynamic range characteristic of a rendered version of the audio data for playback by an audio playback device of group of audio playback devices;   responsive to determining that the metadata includes the profile, using the profile and audio data to render audio including by performing said at least one of loudness control, loudness normalization, or dynamic range control on the audio data accordance with the target profile; and   responsive to determining that the metadata does not include the profile using a default profile   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the one or more characteristics comprises gain levels for different profiles of the audio data. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2  wherein the gain levels define at least one of: an artistic dynamic range profile that controls how the audio data will be played back for a defined program, and a short-term dynamic range profile that provides overload protection for portions of the defined program. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein using the profile and the audio data to render audio comprises transmitting the profile and the audio data to a downstream module that renders the audio for playback. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein using the profile and the audio data to render audio comprises rendering the audio data based on the profile and the audio data. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising:
 determining an output device that would render the received audio stream; and 
 determining whether the output device belongs to the group of audio playback devices, wherein the step of analyzing the metadata to determine whether said metadata includes the profile is executed after the step of determining whether the output device belongs to the group of audio playback devices. 
 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6  wherein the step of determining that the output device belongs to the group of audio playback devices comprises:
 receiving an indication from a module connected to the output device indicating an identity of the output device or indicating an identity of a group of devices that include the output device; and 
 determining that the output device belongs to the group of audio playback devices based on the received indication. 
 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the loudness control includes loudness parameters for the target profile. 
     
     
         9 . A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, comprising software instructions, which when executed by one or more processors cause performance of any one of the methods recited in  claim 1 .