Dolby releases enhanced digital system

The company believes that broadcast operators must provide compatibility,consistency and predictability in their systems and that a more comprehensive solution for efficient and full-featured audio is needed in today’s broadcast world. Roland Vlaicu,Director Technical Marketing,Broadcast Business Unit,Dolby said,“Dolby Digital Plus,our latest version of Dolby Digital systems,offers a number of improvements that delivers better Surround Sound and is a future-proof system for the broadcast industry that uses 7.1 Surround Sound.”

Enhancing the capability of Dolby Digital Plus is a step in that direction. This basically means moving away from 5.1 channel speakers to using two extra speakers for an enhanced listening experience. “Dolby 7.1 is a venture in future proofing the broadcast industry. 7.1 incorporates the highest level of encoding and is being developed for broadcast operators,” Vlaicu said and added,“Many customers who have grown accustomed to rich sound in cinemas or on DVDs are looking for similar experiences from their broadcast services. But the high cost of bandwidth is still a limiting factor.” Dolby has already conducted more than 1,000 global installations of Dolby Surround 7.1 since June 2010.

Coincidentally,the development of Dolby 7.1 last year occurred along the same time as Hollywood’s fascination with 3D began to take root. “In Hollywood,3D movies drove the development of 7.1 Surround System. Now,audiences want the same experience in their living rooms as well. That drove the innovation to encode the same technology for DTH service providers and broadcast operators.” After Toy Story 3 became the first movie to be screened with Dolby Surround 7.1,Vlaicu said that local movies would also be developed to enhance their capability from the current Dolby Digital 5.1 channel with a “minor upgrade.” The company’s ultimate aim is to provide a theatre-like experience to home-users.

Dolby India also announced the release of Dolby Surround 7.1 High- Definition digital-based format with Airtel DTH in June this year. “Direct-to-home providers are lucky as they are in direct contact with customers and can receive instantaneous feedback. This is the first innovation with which we’ve entered the Indian market. People will remember it for a long time as the first step towards creating an ecosystem of Dolby Digital Plus services,” Vlaicu said.

While new technology is enabling broadcasters to provide additional services and improve the overall service quality,innovations in the field of content creation are also required to create a complete package in which the viewer can immerse himself. This basically means that broadcasting today will undergo both evolutionary and revolutionary changes. “Any new technology takes times to iron out its snags. Since our technology is embedded within equipments,it takes time and effort to identify gaps and sort them out. Dolby India will train a select group of broadcasters who are keen on upgrading their infrastructure to support Dolby Digital Plus,” Vlaicu said.

When asked if the company has accorded any time-frame for the Dolby Digital Plus ecosystem,Vlaicu seemed guarded. “It usually takes a few years for a product to mature and we’re taking a pragmatic approach to our new service. Right now,we’re seeing tremendous interest and are educating and training the staff here.” Vlaicu said that sporting events usually provide a good trigger to kick-start deployment of new technologies. “The recently-concluded Commonwealth Games saw huge interest from countries like South Africa,UK and Australia for HD feed. Broadcasters usually look for high- level content that can be used inter country without any hassles in formats,” Vlaicu explained. He has pinned hopes for Dolby Digital Plus’ growth on next year’s cricket World Cup to be held in the Indian sub-continent. Future titles scheduled to release with Dolby Surround 7.1 include Disney’s TRON: Legacy,DreamWorks Animation’s Megamind,Twentieth Century Fox’s The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader and Touchstone Pictures’s Gnomeo And Juliet.

priyanko.sarkar@expressindia.com