Dolby E the Solution As Broadcasters And Producers Prepare For Widespread Adoption Of DTV And Multichannel Audio
Showtime Networks, Walt Disney Company And Sony Pictures Among The First To Purchase Dolby E Systems
Dolby Laboratories, the world leader in multichannel sound, announced that numerous digital television (DTV) broadcasters and program producers, local television affiliates, and post-production facilities have purchased the company's Dolby E Encoder Model DP571 and Dolby E Decoder Model DP572 in preparation for the widespread adoption of DTV and multichannel audio. Walt Disney Company, Sony Pictures, Viacom's Showtime Networks, Pacific Ocean Post and HD VISION (mobile HD production truck joint venture of WRAL Digital, DTV Resources and HD VISION) were among the first to purchase the new Dolby E system since it began shipping in September, 1999. ""With an influx of DTV programming on the horizon, many companies are gearing up for the broadcasts with the installation of Dolby E,"" said Tom Daily, Dolby's Marketing Manager, Broadcast Audio. ""It is the only technology available today that provides the DTV multichannel audio distribution solution."" Dolby E is a professional coding technology that permits the distribution of multichannel surround sound through broadcast facilities far more conveniently and economically than previously possible. Though consumers will never receive a Dolby E signal, its availability is already increasing the amount of 5.1-channel digital audio in homes via Dolby Digital broadcasts. Dolby Digital is accepted as the standard in multichannel audio around the world, now used on both standard and high-definition digital TV (SDTV and HDTV), digital cable systems, Digital Versatile Disc (DVD), and Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS) systems. Last July, Dolby Digital was recognized as an accepted audio transmission format for Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB). Dolby Digital is also the world's leading digital film format. Robert Tarsio, Director of Engineering at Viacom's Showtime Networks, notes, ""Without Dolby E, it would be almost impossible to provide multichannel programming for viewers."" Dolby E allows up to eight discrete channels of high-quality audio to be distributed via an existing AES/EBU audio pair, or on two tracks of a digital VTR. As a result, many DTV facilities only need to add simple, economical Dolby E encoder and decoder units to handle multichannel audio, eliminating the need to radically overhaul their audio infrastructure with new equipment and wiring necessary for broadcasting multichannel audio in the new DTV formats. ""Installing the Dolby E system was a snap,"" said Steve Thompson, managing director at Pacific Ocean Post Sound. ""The encoders and decoders easily fit into our existing infrastructure."" In addition, unlike other digital audio technologies, Dolby E can survive multiple decode/encode cycles without quality degradation. Its audio frames match video frames, enabling seamless editing and switching in the digital domain, thereby avoiding mutes, glitches, or restrictions. Another bonus is that Dolby E allows metadata to be carried through the interim production and distribution stages before the audio is coded in Dolby Digital for final DTV transmission. About Dolby Laboratories Dolby Laboratories is the developer of signal processing systems used worldwide in applications that include motion-picture sound, consumer entertainment products and media, broadcasting, and music recording. Based in San Francisco with European headquarters in England, the privately held company also has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, and Tokyo.