Coding Technologies, Ibiquity Jointly Developed ‘HDC’

Several broadcast engineers are getting a demo of Ibiquity’s new codec at NPR today. The codec, called “HDC” is unique to Ibiquity, according to company President/CEO Robert Struble. He and other industry sources say the codec is not aacPlus, and it’s not PAC, but is proprietary to Ibiquity, as it uses much of the company’s patented technology. HDC has been customized for AM and FM broadcasters and to work with the Ibiquity system.
Coding Technologies VP/U.S. GM David Frerichs said the spectral band replication technology used in the codec helps Ibiquity “hit the bit rate efficiencies they were looking for.” He said the new codec has a bit rate resiliency that makes it suited for AM and FM broadcasting.
Members of the NRSC standards-setting body were not happy with the performance of Ibiquity’s previous codec, PAC, on AM at low bit rates. There was no issue with FM, but the new codec will be used for both AM and FM, Ibiquity said.
Coding Technologies has been working on the codec for 6 to 7 months, Freichs said.