ATSC Approves New Enhanced AC-3 Standard

28-Jul-05

The Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has revised its digital audio standard to add enhancements to AC-3 that provide improved performance and flexibility. ìEnhanced AC-3 provides the industry with expanded audio capabilities that can be used for broadcast, cable, satellite, DVD and other applications,î said ATSC President, Mark Richer. ìWe are continuing our tradition of developing specifications for high quality digital audio.îATSC first standardized the AC-3 digital audio system in November of 1994. AC-3 is now widely used in digital television systems around the world. Dolby Laboratories submitted enhanced AC-3 to the ATSC for consideration in response to a Request for Information published in December of 2002. E-AC-3 offers new coding tools that fundamentally improve performance, and new features that allow operation over a wider range of bit-rates and numbers of channels. Of great importance to the industry, E-AC-3 can be converted into AC-3 for playback compatibility on consumerís existing A/V decoders.

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