As the association for smart home professionals, CEDIA is focused on ensuring the industry continues to deliver first-class home technology solutions. A key pathway to achieving this goal is the setting of standards and recommended practices that guarantee the highest levels of professionalism and ensure that consumers get the best performance out of the smart home installations delivered by industry professionals.
RP22 – Excellence in Immersive Audio Design
Delivering high-performing audio systems is a huge part of what our industry does. Whether you are a manufacturer creating the products to deliver this performance, or the integrator designing and installing the system, we’re all involved.
Yet, until now, there has been no clear guidance for the industry to follow.
In 2023, CEDIA finalized a new recommended practice for immersive audio system design in collaboration with the Consumer Technology Association (CTA). CEDIA/CTA – RP22 Immersive Audio Design Recommended Practice redefines how we quantify system performance.
This is the first time that system performance metrics are defined by distinct levels instead of vague “good, better, best” packages or “low, middle, high” cost models. And the new definitions aren’t just for the integrator’s benefit. With RP22, manufacturers know their products are functioning as intended and customers understand the breadth of what they’re paying for.
Having clearly defined levels not only holds integrators accountable, but also elevates our industry to the highest professional standard.
This document is a guideline on how spaces should be designed to ensure that a standard of audio performance is achieved. It’s been broken down into four performance levels:
- Level 1 – Conveys basic artistic intent
- Level 2 – A higher level of performance with additional accuracy for artistic intent
- Level 3 – Meets or exceeds reference commercial cinema standards
- Level 4 – Achieves the maximum level of performance across every parameter
RP22 ensures the homeowner will know what they’re getting, the integrator will know what they’re designing, and the manufacturer will know that their product is going to perform ideally for the room.
Experts representing film studios, audio manufacturers, immersive audio standards, and residential technology integrators collaborated to produce this set of guidelines. By combining input from content creators, device makers, and system designers, RP22 presents a consensus that honours artistic vision whilst acknowledging the physical and budgetary constraints, faced by integrators and their clients.
Taking over three years to complete, everyone at CEDIA appreciates the time and effort that all volunteers and staff put in to produce this game-changing document for the industry.
The new Recommended Practice has already been endorsed by manufacturers such as Officina Acustica, PerListen Audio, Snap One, StormAudio, Triad Speakers, and Trinnov Audio.
RP22 at ISE 2024
We will be hosting an Immersive Audio Design Excellence Workshop at ISE 2024. This course is suitable for integrators, distributors, manufacturers, and consultants who want to practice standards-based private entertainment space design.
As an advanced workshop, the session will introduce the new guidelines, with a focus on the four new objectively defined levels of performance that will define different levels of immersive experience. The course will follow a “teach, then do” approach for the class, with participants working in small groups to apply some of the guidelines to real-world rooms.
Book the course by visiting www.iseurope.org/ise-2024-conference-programme/smart-home-technology-conference.
