Sustainability of Digital Formats
Planning for Library of Congress Collections
Sustainability of Digital Formats
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| Introduction | Sustainability Factors | Content Categories | Format Descriptions | Contact | |
| Full name | EBU Broadcast Wave Format, Version 1 |
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| Description | From the United Kingdom's PRONOM technical registry (consulted May 27, 2010): "Broadcast WAVE is a chunk-based audio format developed by the European Broadcasting Union, and based on the Microsoft WAVE format, which is in turn based on the generic Resource Interchange File Format (RIFF) specification developed by Microsoft and IBM. Structurally, a BWAVE file is composed of a number of chunks, each comprising a four character code chunk identifier, the chunk size, and the chunk data. It comprises a RIFF header with a WAVE data type identifier, followed by a series of chunks. Every file must include a Broadcast Audio Extension ('bext') chunk, containing metadata required for exchange of information between broadcasters, a Format chunk, which describes the format of the audio data, and a Data chunk, containing the audio data itself. BWAVE files which contain MPEG-encoded audio data must also include a Fact chunk, containing file-dependent information about the audio data, and an MPEG Audio Extension chunk, containing extra information required to describe the MPEG encoding." According to Indiana University's Sound Directions: Best Practices for Audio Preservation(consulted June 1, 2010): "The audio contained in a BWF file can be reproduced by any software that can read a .wav file, although software applications that do not support the format will not be able to access the metadata in the 'bext' chunk. A Broadcast Wave file also carries an embeddable sample accurate timestamp that enables it to be placed in the appropriate spot on a destination timeline on any computer workstation with software that supports the format." |
| Relationship to other formats | |
| Contains | LPCM, Linear PCM |
| Subtype of | RIFF, Resource Interchange File Format for Windows 3.1 |
| Subtype of | WAVE, WAVE Audio File Format |
| Subtype of | WAVE_LPCM, WAVE Audio File Format with LPCM audio |
| Used by | AES31, AES31 (Format description not yet available) |
| LC experience or existing holdings | Implemented for master format for mono and stereo audio at the Packard Campus for Audio-Visual Conservation and by the American Folklife Center. |
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| LC preference | Proposed as preferred master format for mono or stereo audio. he Library is a participant in the Federal Agencies Audio-Visual Working Group that published a recommended specification for BWF bext metadata in 2009. |
| Disclosure | Open standard developed as a refinement of the WAVE format by the European Broadcast Union (EBU), a standards developing organization. |
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| Documentation | The main standard document for Broadcast WAVE is EBU Tech 3285 - Specification of the Broadcast Wave Format (BWF) - Version 1 - second edition (2001); other related EBU standards are listed in the Formats Specifications section below. For documentation of the underlying WAVE format, see WAVE. |
| Adoption | Recommended as the preferred format for the delivery of music recordings to record companies in the Draft Recommendation for Delivery of Recorded Music Projects developed by the Delivery Specifications Committee of the Producer's and Engineer's Wing of the Recording Academy (National Academy of the Recording Arts and Sciences).Audio format specified in AES31, the Audio Engineering Society's specification for session interchange |
| Licensing and patents | No special issues. |
| Transparency | See LPCM for audio encoding. BWF metadata is human-readable |
| Self-documentation | The Broadcast Audio Extension holds metadata identifying the originator and the date and time of creation. The CART/Audio Delivery Extension to BWF has been proposed to the Audio Engineering Society as an additional metadata chunk. |
| External dependencies | None |
| Technical protection considerations | None |
| Sound | |
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| Fidelity (high audio resolution) | See WAVE_LPCM. |
| Multiple channels | No |
| Functionality beyond normal rendering | No |
| Tag | Value | Note |
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| Filename extension | wav |
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| Internet Media Type | See note. |
See WAVE |
| Magic numbers | See note. |
See WAVE |
| General | |
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| History |
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