Items of interest and recent work
Ecma TC26 met virtually on August 09-12, 2021 in conjunction with other IT equipment noise standards committees (ITIC TC6, ANSI S12 WG3, and ISO/TC43/SC1/WG23).
The ECMA-74 18th edition was published in June 2021 with revised operating conditions for computer equipment, new sound pressure level operator positions for rack-mountable units and rack-enclosed systems, and shortened Annexes D, F, G, and new Annex H pointing to ECMA-418.
A draft ECMA-74 19th edition, which contains revisions to printer measurement and categorization, was submitted for General Assembly approval in December, 2021.
Future revisions to ECMA-74 will address equipment whose noise changes with temperature, for example due to cooling loads. Proposed ECMA-74 revisions include broadening the allowable ambient temperature range beyond 21 C to 25 C and broadening the range of permitted meteorological corrections. Submission to GA in June 2022 is envisioned.
ECMA-109 will be revised to include instructions and examples for cases of multiple operator positions or both operator and bystander positions for declared sound pressure level. TC26 decided to declare sound power level in dB (decibel) instead of B (bel) as prescribed in previous editions. Submission to GA in June 2022 is envisioned.
ECMA 418-1 will be revised to remove small errors, and terms and definitions omitted in the 1st edition will be included. A revision to ECMA-418-2 will include a new fluctuation strength metric based on the hearing model of the standard. Submission of revised ECMA-418-1 and -2 to GA in June 2022 is planned.
Task Group TG1 on noise and vibration measurement of small air-moving devices will focus on vibration measurement, noise emission measurement for predicting noise emission, and tonality perception of small air moving devices. The work to redefine small and micro-fans and develop total tone-to-noise ratio and prominence ratio metrics was paused but is expected to resume.
Task Group TG2 on noise measurement of MFDs and related product categories prepared the changes to printer measurement and categorization in ECMA-74 that was submitted to the GA for approval in December 2021.
Task Group TG3 on psychoacoustics standards for IT and CE equipment is preparing a fluctuation strength procedure based on the work of Dr. Becker and Dr. Sottek, which is planned be part of the revision to ECMA-418-2 expected for submission to the GA in June 2022. Dr. Becker presented a paper at INTER-NOISE 2021 in August on the application of the ECMA-418-2 standard. Several examples in the paper show how these parameters can be used for sound engineering and how to interpret the results.
TC26 plans to form a new Task Group TG4 which will address noise measurement of rack-mounted equipment in response to advancing technology and use models. Definition of measurement operating modes will be a focus of TG4. The title and work scope of the TG4 remain to be defined.
Virtual working meetings for task groups TG1 (air moving devices) and TG4 (rack equipment) are anticipated.
TC26 maintains liaison with ISO TC43/SC1/WG23 (IT noise) and ISO TC43/SC1/WG28 (Noise emission from all types of equipment). Through these liaisons, TC26 is able to influence ISO standards that affect IT product noise measurements. TC26 also maintains liaisons with
TC26 intends to submit new editions of ECMA-74 20th edition, ECMA-109 11th edition, and the 2nd edition of ECMA-418 Parts 1 and 2 to the GA in June 2022.
The next face-to-face meeting of Ecma TC26 is scheduled for June 15-16, 2022 in Lexington, KY, USA immediately following NOISE-CON 2022. However, due to COVID-19 travel concerns and restrictions as the date nears, it is possible the meeting will once again be conducted virtually or in a hybrid format.
Please find below 2 video clips made during the TC26 meeting in Portland (23-24 July 2011); the first one is an interview of Dr. Robert Lotz (former TC26 Chair) and the second one is an interview of Dr. E. K. Dunens (former TC26 Chair).