Dolby E Gaining Favor In Postproduction Environments

22-Sep-00

Dolby Laboratories announced that its Dolby E audio coding technology is seeing expanded use in postproduction facilities. Since September 1999, when the first DP571 and DP572 Dolby E codecs shipped, more than 250 units have been delivered. And with broadcasters such as HBO, Showtime, and EchoStar (the DISH network) committed to 5.1 audio, and using Dolby E to facilitate multichannel programming distribution, there is a growing need for this technology at the postproduction stage.According to Tim Carroll, Product Manager, Professional Products, ""Dolby E technology is the perfect solution for networks, broadcasters, and postproduction facilities facing the challenges of producing and distributing multichannel audio. As a result, 5.1-channel digital surround sound is becoming as common with DTV, DBS, and digital cable as it is now with DVD.""Many post houses and studios in North America can now supply their broadcast customers with Dolby E content; among them are:Audio + Video International, Northvale, New Jersey Broadway Video, New York, New York Commercial Recording Studios, Inc., Independence, Ohio IVC, Burbank, California Laser Pacific, Hollywood, California Margarita Mix, Santa Monica, California Pacific Ocean Post Sound, Santa Monica, California Rainmaker, Vancouver, British Columbia Sharpe Sound, Vancouver, British Columbia Universal Studios Digital Mastering, Universal City, California Video West, Salt Lake City, Utah VidFilm Services, Glendale, California Walt Disney Pictures Sound Department, Burbank, California Warner Bros. Video Operations, Burbank, California About Dolby EDesigned to ease the transition from two-channel to multichannel audio, the Dolby E system enables producers and broadcasters to encode up to eight channels of high-quality audio, as well as Dolby Digital metadata, into a single AES pair. This encoded signal can then be routed, switched, and distributed or recorded onto two audio tracks of a digital videotape, audiotape, or server.Designed to accommodate standard broadcast operations, Dolby E can tolerate, without degradation, a minimum of ten tandem encode/decode cycles, which is sometimes required during the postproduction and distribution stages of a digital television program. In addition, Dolby E frame rates match video frame rates, enabling precise video edits without audio glitches, or the need to decode and re-encode.Though consumers will never receive a Dolby E signal, it allows accurate delivery of multichannel audio to the Dolby Digital encoder and is rapidly increasing the amount of Dolby Digital 5.1-channel digital audio in homes via digital television broadcasts.

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