IEC 62574:2011

IEC 62574 ®
Edition 1.0 2011-04
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Audio, video and multimedia systems – General channel assignment of
multichannel audio
Systèmes audio, vidéo et multimédia – Affectation générale des voies des
systèmes audio à voies multiples

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IEC 62574 ®
Edition 1.0 2011-04
INTERNATIONAL
STANDARD
NORME
INTERNATIONALE
Audio, video and multimedia systems – General channel assignment of
multichannel audio
Systèmes audio, vidéo et multimédia – Affectation générale des voies des
systèmes audio à voies multiples

INTERNATIONAL
ELECTROTECHNICAL
COMMISSION
COMMISSION
ELECTROTECHNIQUE
PRICE CODE
INTERNATIONALE
CODE PRIX M
ICS 33.160.30 ISBN 978-2-88912-428-2

– 2 – 62574  IEC:2011
CONTENTS
FOREWORD . 3

INTRODUCTION . 5

1 Scope . 6

2 Terms and definitions . 6

3 General channel assignment . 9

3.1 General . 9

3.2 Model . 10

3.3 Channel maps and labels . 12
Bibliography . 13

Figure 1 – Model of channel spaces . 10
Figure 2 – Top layer . 11
Figure 3 – Middle layer . 11
Figure 4 – Bottom layer. 11

Table 1 – General channel assignment table. 12

62574  IEC:2011 – 3 –
INTERNATIONAL ELECTROTECHNICAL COMMISSION

____________
AUDIO, VIDEO AND MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS –

GENERAL CHANNEL ASSIGNMENT OF MULTICHANNEL AUDIO

FOREWORD
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International Standard IEC 62574 has been prepared by IEC technical committee 100: Audio,
video and multimedia systems and equipment.

The text of this standard is based on the following documents:
CDV Report on voting
100/1706/CDV 100/1773/RVC
Full information on the voting for the approval of this technical specification can be found in
the report on voting indicated in the above table.
This publication has been drafted in accordance with the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.

– 4 – 62574  IEC:2011
The committee has decided that the contents of this publication will remain unchanged until
the stability date indicated on the IEC web site under "http://webstore.iec.ch" in the data

related to the specific publication. At this date, the publication will be

• reconfirmed,
• withdrawn,
• replaced by a revised edition, or

• amended.
62574  IEC:2011 – 5 –
INTRODUCTION
There are many multichannel audio formats and there will be new formats. These formats

have a specific channel assignment such as a channel mapping and channel labels, but the

basic channel assignments are not so different from each other. These can be unified to one

common channel assignment as the general channel assignment. This general channel

assignment provides audio devices and digital audio interfaces with the usage of unified

channel assignments for any multichannel audio formats.

– 6 – 62574  IEC:2011
AUDIO, VIDEO AND MULTIMEDIA SYSTEMS –

GENERAL CHANNEL ASSIGNMENT OF MULTICHANNEL AUDIO

1 Scope
This International Standard specifies the general channel assignment for multichannel audio
formats. The general channel assignment as a channel mapping and labeling provides the

unified usage of channel assignments for source devices, digital audio interfaces and sink

devices. This standard excludes the specification of the exact position of each loudspeaker. It
is aimed at consumer applications, but is not targeted for theatrical environments. Up to 32
labels for loudspeaker positions are specified, which can be used for all current multichannel
formats.
2 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
NOTE The general sequence of position labels is used: height, front/back, left/centre/right. Absence of a height
letter indicates the middle layer. The other two planes are always indicated. See also Table 1.
2.1
top layer
top (highest) layer of three loudspeaker-layers located at the top of the screen, alternatively at
the top of the room; loudspeaker channels of the top layer are annotated with the letters Tp
2.2
middle layer
middle layer of three loudspeaker-layers located at the vertical centre of the TV screen,
alternatively at the same height as the height of viewer’s ear
2.3
bottom layer
bottom (lowest) layer of three loudspeaker-layers located at the bottom of the TV screen,
alternatively at floor level of the room; loudspeaker channels of the bottom layer are
annotated with the letters Bt
2.4
front left
FL
loudspeaker position located at far left and centred vertically of the middle layer
2.5
front right
FR
loudspeaker position located at far right and centred vertically of the middle layer
2.6
front centre
FC
loudspeaker position located in the middle layer corresponding to the centre of the TV screen,
as viewed from the seating area

62574  IEC:2011 – 7 –
2.7
low frequency effects
LFE
carry only sound effects in low frequency band, generally below 120 Hz; the LFE channel is

not used as a subwoofer channel to compesate for low frequency band of each loudspeaker

2.8
low frequency effects 1
LFE1
LFE loudspeaker position located at the bottom layer

NOTE When mono LFE is used, it is conveyed in the LFE1 channel and the LFE1 loudspeaker position at the
bottom layer is not defined. When LFE2 is also used, the LFE1 loudspeaker position is normally located far left
front at the bottom layer.
2.9
back left
BL
loudspeaker position located at far left back of the middle layer
2.10
back right
BR
loudspeaker position located at far right back of the middle layer
2.11
front left centre
FLc
loudspeaker position located mid-way between the front centre and front left of the middle
layer
2.12
front right centre
FRc
loudspeaker position located mid-way between the front centre and front right of the middle
layer
2.13
back centre
BC
loudspeaker position located at centre back of the middle layer

2.14
low frequency effects 2
LFE2
LFE loudspeaker position located at the bottom layer and normally far right front, when LFE1
is used
2.15
side left
SiL
loudspeaker position located on the left of the middle layer
2.16
side right
SiR
loudspeaker position located on the right of the middle layer

– 8 – 62574  IEC:2011
2.17
top front left
TpFL
loudspeaker position located at far left front of the top layer

2.18
top front right
TpFR
loudspeaker position located at far right front of the top layer

2.19
top front centre
TpFC
loudspeaker position located at centre front of the top layer
2.20
top centre
TpC
loudspeaker position located at the centre of the top layer directly above the seating area
2.21
top back left
TpBL
loudspeaker position located at far left back of the top layer
2.22
top back right
TpBR
loudspeaker position located at far right back of the top layer
2.23
top side left
TpSiL
loudspeaker position located on the left of the top layer
2.24
top side right
TpSiR
loudspeaker position located on the right of the top layer
2.25
top back centre
TpBC
loudspeaker position located at centre back of the top layer
2.26
bottom front centre
BtFC
loudspeaker position located at centre front of the bottom layer
2.27
bottom front left
BtFL
loudspeaker position located at far left front of the bottom layer

62574  IEC:2011 – 9 –
2.28
bottom front right
BtFR
loudspeaker position located at far right front of the bottom layer

2.29
front left wide
FLw
loudspeaker position located at front left end in the room in the middle layer

2.30
front right wide
FRw
loudspeaker position located at front right end in the room in the middle layer
2.31
left surround
LS
array of loudspeakers positioned along the left side of the middle layer starting approximately
1/3 of the distance from the screen to the back wall
2.32
right surround
RS
array of loudspeakers positioned along the right side of the middle layer starting
approximately 1/3 of the distance from the screen to the back wall
2.33
left surround direct
LSd
loudspeaker position located on the left wall of the middle layer for localized directionality as
opposed to the diffuse array
2.34
right surround direct
RSd
loudspeaker position located on the right wall of the middle layer for localized directionality as
opposed to the diffuse array
2.35
top left surround
TpLS
array of loudspeakers positioned along the right side of the top layer starting approximately
1/3 of the distance from the screen to the back wall
2.36
top right surround
TpRS
array of loudspeakers positioned along the right side of the top layer starting approximately
1/3 of the distance from the screen to the back wall
3 General channel assignment
3.1 General
The channel assignment specifies the channels of multichannel audio, the loudspeaker
assignment is the loudspeaker position of its channels.

– 10 – 62574  IEC:2011
3.2 Model
Figure 1 shows the model of channel assignment spaces with the three layers, and a listener

is located in the centre of the bottom layer. The middle layer is located at the vertical centre

of the picture screen or, alternatively, at the same height as the height of a listener’s ear.

This model specifies the general channel assignments in these three layers, which are the top

layer, the middle layer and the bottom layer. Each layer specifies channels in its layer.

Top layer
Middle layer
Bottom layer
IEC  627/11
Figure 1 – Model of channel spaces
Figure 2 shows the top layer with its channel assignments, Figure 3 shows the middle layer
with its channel assignments, and Figure 4 shows the bottom layer with its channel
assignments.
62574  IEC:2011 – 11 –
TpFL TpFC TpFR
TpSiL TpSiR
TpC
Top layer
TpLS
TpRS
TpBL TpBC TpBR
IEC  628/11
Figure 2 – Top layer
FLw FL FLc FC FRc FR FRw
SiL SiR
Middle
LS
RS
LSd RSd
BL BC BR
IEC  629/11
Figure 3 – Middle layer
LFE2
LFE1
BtFL BtFC BtFR
Bottom layer
IEC  630/11
Figure 4 – Bottom layer
– 12 – 62574  IEC:2011
3.3 Channel maps and labels
Table 1 shows the definition of channel maps and labels of the general channel assignments.

The channel label has an ID name as abbreviation label for each channel label. Each name is

case sensitive.
Table 1 – General channel assignment table

Channel number
Channel label ID name Full name of ID

1/2 FL/FR Front Left/Front Right

3/4 FC/LFE1 Front Centre/Low Frequency Effects-1
5/6 BL/BR Back Left/Back Right
7/8 FLc/FRc Front Left centre/Front Right centre
9/10 BC/LFE2 Back Centre/
...