When immersive audio dominates industry headlines, it’s easy to assume that every broadcaster is preparing for an Atmos® future. The reality is quite different.
In conversations with broadcasters around the world, one message consistently stands out: 5.1 surround remains the primary production and transmission format, with stereo continuing to play an equally important role. While immersive workflows are being evaluated, most live production, playout, and quality control operations still depend on surround and stereo every day.
For broadcasters, the challenge isn’t adopting immersive audio overnight, it’s ensuring the highest possible quality for the formats their audiences receive today.
That’s exactly where TMxCore excels.
Combining industry-leading loudness metering with a comprehensive suite of surround analysis tools, TMxCore helps engineers monitor, analyze, and verify every aspect of a stereo or 5.1 production. At the same time, it provides a seamless path to immersive workflows whenever the transition begins.
Built for Today’s Broadcast Workflows
Because surround production is still business-critical, RTW continues to invest heavily in making 5.1 workflows faster, easier and more reliable.
Professional Tools for Surround Production
TMxCore includes a comprehensive collection of instruments specifically designed for surround monitoring and quality control.
Users can combine loudness measurement, True Peak metering, phase correlation, vectorscopes, loudness history, spectrum analysis and customizable meters into layouts tailored to each operator’s role.
Version 2.2 further expands these capabilities with continued improvements across the platform, including enhancements to routing, Network Display and user workflows.
Loudness Monitoring
Broadcast Compliance at a Glance
For broadcasters, loudness compliance remains one of the most critical aspects of audio quality. Whether delivering stereo or 5.1 surround content, operators need immediate confidence that programs meet regional and platform-specific loudness standards.
TMxCore combines RTW’s renowned Loudness Numeric, Loudness Summation and LRA instruments with the Loudness Chart, giving engineers both an instant overview and a detailed history of loudness behavior.
The Numeric instruments provide clear, configurable displays of all essential loudness parameters, including Integrated, Momentary, Short-Term, Loudness Range (LRA) and True Peak, supporting all major international standards such as EBU R128, ITU-R BS.1770, ATSC A/85, ARIB, and many others.
Complementing the real-time measurements, the Loudness Chart visualizes loudness over time, making it easy to identify trends, verify compliance throughout a program, and quickly investigate loudness excursions. This combination of immediate numerical feedback and historical visualization allows operators to react instantly while maintaining confidence that an entire production remains within specification.
Together, the Loudness Numeric instruments and Loudness Chart provide everything broadcasters need for reliable loudness monitoring during production, quality control, and transmission.
Immersive Sound Analyzer
More Than an Immersive Tool
Despite its name, the Immersive Sound Analyzer is just as valuable for today’s 5.1 surround productions as it is for immersive audio.
The instrument provides an intuitive real-time visualization of the sound field, making it easy to verify the spatial balance and distribution of audio across a 5.1 mix. Engineers can immediately see whether audio is positioned where expected, identify routing errors, and confirm that surround channels contribute correctly to the overall soundstage.
For live production and quality control, this visual overview complements conventional metering by presenting the entire surround image at a glance. It provides immediate confidence that the mix is behaving as intended, something that is often difficult to judge from individual channel meters alone.
As broadcasters gradually transition toward immersive formats, the same instrument seamlessly extends to larger speaker configurations, protecting today’s investment while supporting tomorrow’s workflows.
Matrix-, Multi- and LFE-Correlation, as well as the traditional Stereo Correlator.
TMxCore Correlation Instruments
Stereo Correlator
The Stereo Correlator provides continuous monitoring of phase relationships between left and right channels, helping engineers quickly identify polarity or mono compatibility issues.
Matrix Correlator
The Matrix Correlator expands this concept across multiple channel combinations, making it possible to detect unwanted similarities or phase problems between surround channels.
Multi Correlator
For productions requiring detailed analysis, the Multi Correlator provides simultaneous correlation monitoring between numerous channel pairs, giving engineers a comprehensive overview of the surround sound field.
LFE Correlator
Introduced with Version 2.2, the new ISA LFE Correlator helps verify the relationship between the LFE channel and the main program channels.
Incorrect LFE routing, polarity or crossover issues can easily go unnoticed until playback. The LFE Correlator provides immediate visual feedback, helping engineers maintain proper low-frequency reproduction and identify problems early in the workflow.
Ready for IP Production
Modern broadcast facilities continue their gradual migration from SDI to IP.
Many installations today combine traditional infrastructures with ST 2110, AES67 or Dante.
TMxCore fits naturally into these environments, supporting modern AoIP workflows while remaining equally suited for hybrid facilities.
With browser-based Network Display, multiple operators can access customized metering layouts across the network without requiring dedicated display hardware.
Polarscope
A New Perspective on Your Surround Mix
Understanding the spatial balance of a surround mix can be challenging when relying solely on conventional meters. That’s where Polarscope offers a unique perspective.
Whether monitoring sports, news, entertainment or live events, Polarscope provides an additional layer of confidence that your 5.1 mix translates accurately to your audience.
Polarscope
LFE Bleed
Verify Low-Frequency Integrity
Managing low-frequency content is essential in surround production, particularly when content is distributed across multiple platforms and playback systems.
The LFE Bleed instrument helps engineers verify how low-frequency energy from the main channels contributes to the LFE channel. By visualizing the relationship between the LFE and the bass content of the full-range channels, it becomes easier to detect routing mistakes, unintended bass duplication, or missing low-frequency information.
This is especially valuable during quality control and transmission, where incorrect bass management can affect downmix compatibility and lead to inconsistent playback across consumer systems.
Together with the LFE Correlator, LFE Bleed provides engineers with greater confidence that low-frequency content is reproduced as intended throughout the production and delivery chain.
Ready for Tomorrow
Without Leaving Today Behind
Immersive audio will continue to grow. TMxCore is already prepared with dedicated immersive analysis tools, including the Immersive Sound Analyzer, Polarscope and advanced correlation instruments.
However, RTW recognizes that most broadcasters are still delivering stereo and 5.1 surround every day.
Instead of forcing customers to choose between present and future, TMxCore supports both.
It delivers the comprehensive metering, monitoring and analysis tools broadcasters need today while providing a straightforward path toward immersive workflows whenever the industry is ready.
Because for most broadcasters, surround isn’t legacy technology - it’s the format that keeps audiences listening every single day.
