Quote:
Originally Posted by avare  It seems that you are not certain what type of viewing environment you are designing for. Once you have decided that, the rest is following that standard. TV has point sources for surrounds. Cinema does not. |
Higher end TV, like 1 hour drama, TV movies, even network sitcom is more often done in rooms with arrays. DVD remastering is usually (but not always) direct radiators, as are smaller, single operator rooms that do the smaller post jobs, like A&E one-offs and Fox's scariest police chases type programs etc.
An array is still a viable and perhaps even preferable option depending on the nature of the work, whether it is dramatic, corporate and advertising, game audio etc., if the room will be multipurpose (any music centric stuff, like concert video?), how many people one must accommodate, if clients will attend and need to hear the surround image as well, etc... I would still need more info before declaring my opinion one way or the other.
Also, careful of the P&E wing specs - it's for direct radiators and music-centric, and the ITU spec is for direct radiators as well. If you are going array, those angles are no longer relevant, and the whole circle is abandoned in a strictly-for-film room since the channels behind the screen are flat and not in an arc. I know you aren't going for full film, but you still may want to consider how large you will be able to get your ITU circle if you plan to go 5 direct radiators, and then consider whether it will still meet all criteria.
Oh, and Russ Berger's work is always worthy of serious consideration. Solutions like his are not unique. I can think of at least a couple Storyk rooms that do something similar. However, you need to have other design elements present to prevent too much interaction.
An array in general does not need to accomplish the same things as an ITU circle. You aren't as worried about exact phase relationships since dialog is often in the center, with effects and music spread around elsewhere. It's not like music where the phase relationships of original spaces and instruments must be preserved among all 5 top channels.
In fact, some of the differences in time arrival from an array is exactly what one is looking for in dramatic TV and film. You often are using the surrounds to create atmospheres, or ambiences of the environments on screen. The array will combine things to create a general envelopment in an artificially created space. You are usually not trying to have a discrete panning location as you would in music, and certainly not one that has an originally recorded phase relationship to the center or even front channels. This is why I ask above about the nature of the work in the room. It definitely has an impact on which approach is more appropriate.