DolbyÆ Digital Audio For Digital Television - Worldwide

DolbyÆ Laboratories, the world leader in multichannel sound technology, highlighted a new area of interest for postproduction companies at the 108th Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention.""With audio heading inevitably from stereo towards surround and 5.1 presentation, digital TV broadcasters are eyeing the large pool of feature films as their first port of call for 5.1 content,"" said Tony Spath, Marketing Director, Technology for Dolby Laboratories. ""For audio post studios, DTV will open up a whole new outlet for their 5.1 work. In addition to audio sweetening on six-track film masters, demand for 5.1 audio on sport and drama is bound to follow."" The new Dolby E delivery format - debuted in its European version at AES, Paris - allows a multichannel audio mix to be put on the video tape, along with the picture and audio metadata. ""This single format for program delivery, distribution, and play-out is the logical link between post facilities and broadcast. It gives 5.1 audio providers the medium their customers can use directly, just like they deliver stereo audio today,"" Spath continued.Dolby Digital is fast becoming the accepted audio format for digital television in an increasing number of countries worldwide. Already the audio standard for ATSC digital TV broadcasts in the United States, Canada, Taiwan, and South Korea, Dolby Digital has now been adopted by various DVB broadcasters in Europe and Asia.Responding quickly to the DVB Project's decision in July to recognize Dolby Digital as an accepted audio transmission format for new and existing DVB applications, German satellite broadcaster ProSieben began transmitting feature films with 5.1-channel Dolby Digital audio on September 18, 1999. In October 1999, Paris-based digital satellite broadcaster TPS la TÈlÈvision Par Satellite successfully transmitted film trailers with Dolby Digital 5.1 multichannel soundtracks, via Eutelsat Hot Bird 4. French broadcaster TF1 hosted the demonstration in their auditorium, as part of the 2nd International Multichannel Sound Forum held in Paris.Australia and Singapore have both opted for Dolby Digital audio. For technical and commercial reasons, both countries broadly agreed that they would present the best service to their audiences. Bruce Robertson, Chair of the Federation of Australian Commercial TV stations said simply, ""We believe that using Dolby Digital audio encoding will help provide Australia with the best available HDTV service."" Roland Tan, Primary Audio Expert on the Singapore DTV committee said, ""We felt that (Dolby Digital) is the more established technology."" He continued by citing market acceptance of the technology by IC, system and consumer product manufacturers, as well as the general public. In Australia, a demonstration broadcast with 5.1-channel Dolby Digital audio was transmitted from TCN9 during the Australian SMPTE show in July 1999.Dolby Digital: The De Facto Worldwide StandardDolby Digital, which debuted in movie theatres in 1992, provides up to five full-range sound channels plus a sixth channel for low-frequency effects. It is the most popular digital film sound format, currently installed in over 25,000 cinemas worldwide, and is the de facto standard for multichannel audio around the world. It is 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. It has been recognized as an accepted audio transmission format for Digital Video Broadcasting (DVB).About Dolby LaboratoriesDolby 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.