Signal clipping protection using pre-existing audio gain metadata

1. A method of providing protection against signal clipping of an audio signal derived from digital audio data, the method comprising:

determining whether first gain values based on received audio metadata are sufficient for protection against clipping of the audio signal, the received audio metadata embedded in a first digital audio stream; and

in case a first gain value is not sufficient, replacing the respective first gain value with a gain value sufficient for protection against clipping of the audio signal, wherein the step of determining comprises the steps of:

computing second gain values based on the digital audio data, the second gain values sufficient for clipping protection of the audio signal;

comparing the first gain values based on the received audio metadata and the computed second gain values; and

selecting a minimum of a first gain value and a corresponding second gain value based on comparing the first gain values and the computed second gain values.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of computing second gain values comprises:

determining maximum allowable gain values.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method is performed in the course of transcoding

the first audio stream coded in a first audio coding format into

a second audio stream coded in a second audio coding format different from the first audio coding format, the second audio stream comprising audio metadata having the replaced gain values sufficient for protection against clipping of the audio signal or having gain values derived therefrom.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the audio signal is a downmixed audio signal and the method provides protection against signal clipping of the downmixed signal.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining whether first gain values are sufficient for protection comprises the step of:

downmixing the digital audio data according to at least a first downmixing scheme.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of determining whether first gain values are sufficient for protection comprises the step of:

computing peak values, wherein a peak value is computed by determining the maximum of the absolute values of at least two audio signals at a time, the at least two audio signals selected from the following group of:

at least two audio signals after downmixing according to the first downmixing scheme,

at least two audio signals before downmixing, and

at least two audio signals after downmixing according to a second downmixing scheme.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of determining whether first gain values are sufficient for protection comprises the step of:

determining the maximum of a plurality of consecutive signal values derived from the digital audio data.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the step of determining whether first gain values are sufficient for protection comprises the step of:

computing peak values, wherein a peak value is computed by determining the maximum of the absolute values of at least two audio signals at a time, the at least two audio signals selected from the following group of:

at least two audio signals after downmixing according to a first downmixing scheme,

at least two audio signals before downmixing, and

at least two audio signals after downmixing according to a second downmixing scheme, and

wherein the plurality of consecutive signal values correspond to consecutive peak values or consecutive filtered peak values.

9. The method of claim 7 ,

wherein the method is performed in the course of transcoding

the first audio stream coded in a first audio coding format into

a second audio stream coded in a second audio coding format different from the first audio coding format, the second audio stream comprising audio metadata having the replaced gain values sufficient for protection against clipping of the audio signal or having gain values derived therefrom, and

wherein

the second audio stream is organized in data segments, and

the maximum of a plurality of signal values associated with a segment of the second audio stream is determined.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein

a maximum signal value is divided by the determined maximum.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein

the determined maximum is inverted.

12. The method of claim 1 ,

wherein the method is performed in the course of transcoding

the first audio stream coded in a first audio coding format into

a second audio stream coded in a second audio coding format different from the first audio coding format, the second audio stream comprising audio metadata having the replaced gain values sufficient for protection against clipping of the audio signal or having gain values derived therefrom, and

wherein

the first audio stream is organized in data segments, at least one gain value being received per data segment of the first audio stream,

the second audio stream is organized in data segments, and

the method further comprises the step of:

resampling gain values of the first audio stream.

13. The method of claim 1 , comprising the step of:

wherein the method is performed in the course of transcoding

the first audio stream coded in a first audio coding format into

a second audio stream coded in a second audio coding format different from the first audio coding format, the second audio stream comprising audio metadata having the replaced gain values sufficient for protection against clipping of the audio signal or having gain values derived therefrom, and

wherein

the first audio stream is organized in data segments, at least one gain value being received per data segment of the first audio stream,

the second audio stream is organized in data segments,

the method further comprises the step of:

determining the minimum of a plurality of consecutive gain values of the first audio stream.

14. An apparatus for providing protection against signal clipping of an audio signal derived from digital audio data, comprising:

determining means for determining whether first gain values based on received audio metadata are sufficient for protection against clipping of the audio signal, the received audio metadata embedded in a first digital audio stream; and

replacing means for replacing a first gain value with a gain value sufficient for protection against clipping of the audio signal in case the first gain value is not sufficient for protection, wherein the determining means comprise:

computing means for computing second gain values based on the digital audio data, the second gain values sufficient for clipping protection of the audio signal;

comparing means for comparing the first gain values based on the received audio metadata and the computed second gain values, and for selecting a minimum of a first gain value and a corresponding second gain value, based on comparing the first gain values and the computed second gain values.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the apparatus is part of a transcoder, the transcoder configured to transcode the first audio stream coded in a first audio coding format into a second audio stream coded in a second audio coding format different from the first audio coding format, the second audio stream comprising audio metadata having the replaced gain values sufficient for protection against clipping of the audio signal or having gain values derived therefrom.

16. The apparatus of claim 14 , wherein the audio signal is a downmixed audio signal and the apparatus provides protection against signal clipping of the downmixed signal.

17. A transcoder configured to transcode

a first audio stream coded in a first audio coding format into a second audio stream coded in a second audio coding format, the transcoder comprising the apparatus of claim 14 .

18. A transcoding apparatus for transcoding a first audio stream coded in a first audio coding format into a second audio stream coded in a second audio coding format, comprising:

determining means for determining whether metadata related to dynamic range control is present in the first audio stream and, if so, whether first gain values based on received audio metadata are sufficient for protection against clipping of the audio signal; and

gain value adding means for adding gain values to the second audio stream; wherein the determining means comprises:

computing means for computing second gain values based on the digital audio data, the second gain values sufficient for clipping protection of the audio signal;

comparing means for comparing the first gain values based on the received audio metadata and the computed second gain values if metadata related to dynamic range control is present in the first audio stream, and for selecting a minimum of a first gain value and a corresponding second gain value, based on comparing the first gain values and the computed second gain values; and

wherein the gain value adding means comprises:

means for adding the selected gain value to the second audio stream if metadata related to dynamic range control is present in the first audio stream; and

means for adding the second gain values to the second audio stream if metadata related to dynamic range control is not present in the first audio stream.