News

Dolby Technologies Featured in Wide Range of Products (21/1/2004)

At 2004 International CES, Dolby Laboratories' premiere audio technologies are featured in a wide range of new products in the consumer electronics, personal computer, automobile, and game industries.

"As a leader in sound entertainment, Dolby consistently develops new and exciting technologies that enrich the entertainment experience in a variety of listening environments. To date, Dolby technologies have been integrated into more than 1.4 billion products worldwide. Dolby technologies are successful not just because of their innovative nature, but also because consumers can experience them in products found around the world," said Ron Vitale, Director, Consumer Marketing, Dolby Laboratories.

The following highlights describe Dolby's successes that will be featured at the International CES show.

Dolby Pro Logic II and Dolby Pro Logic IIx

Dolby(r) Pro Logic(r) II and Dolby Pro Logic IIx technologies bring the full cinema surround sound experience to the home theater. Dolby Pro Logic II has become the standard for matrix surround technology, providing five full-bandwidth channels of surround sound playback from home theater and in-car entertainment devices. Dolby Pro Logic II unlocks directional cues in stereo (two-channel) audio content and processes them into independent five-channel surround sound. Dolby Pro Logic IIx expands upon Dolby Pro Logic II by providing up to 7.1 channels of audio to the listener.

Dolby Pro Logic II

- Dolby Pro Logic II is now featured in four car models: the Volvo XC90, Volvo S40, Volvo V50, and the Aston Martin DB9. The Volvo XC90 will be displayed in Dolby's International CES booth.

- Dolby Pro Logic II can also be found in new aftermarket car products from such manufacturers as Alpine, Eclipse, and Kenwood.

- According to retail data from the NPD Group, 80 percent of top selling titles this holiday season featured Dolby Pro Logic II technology, including Nintendo's Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Electronic Art's Medal of Honor: Rising Sun, and Square Enix's Final Fantasy X-2. Dolby Pro Logic II is featured on the Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo GameCube, and in well over 100 game titles.

- Content encoded in Dolby Pro Logic II is also being broadcast over the air. ABC, Fox, and CBS have already added Dolby Pro Logic II encoding to their stereo feeds for professional football broadcasts, and the CMA Awards Program in November 2003 was also broadcast in Dolby Pro Logic II.

- More than eight million receivers incorporating Dolby Pro Logic II have been sold since the format's introduction in 2000.

Dolby Pro Logic IIx

- Introduced in September 2003, Dolby Pro Logic IIx technology has been adopted by more than 14 manufacturers and will be featured in more than 25 products this year. Companies displaying new products at CES featuring Dolby Pro Logic IIx include Arcam, Denon, Fosgate Audionics, Marantz, Meridian, Onkyo, Pioneer, TAG McLaren, Yamaha, and many more.

Dolby Headphone

Dolby Headphone technology allows users to listen to music, watch movies, or play video games with the dramatic surround effects of a 5.1-channel soundtrack, through any set of headphones.

- At CES, Delphi and Kenwood will be demonstrating the first automobile rear-seat entertainment DVD-Video implementations of Dolby Headphone.

- Dolby Headphone technology can be found in new hardware products from Denon, Harman Kardon, Philips, and Pioneer as well as in PCs made by Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, Sharp, and Sony.

- Dolby Headphone technology is featured in software DVD players from CyberLink, InterVideo, and Nvidia.

Dolby Virtual Speaker

Dolby Virtual Speaker technology simulates a highly realistic 5.1-speaker surround sound listening environment from as few as two speakers.

- At International CES, Dolby Virtual Speaker will be featured in new hardware products from Denon and Harman Kardon.

- Dolby Virtual Speaker is also integrated in software DVD players from CyberLink and InterVideo.

- Personal computers from Fujitsu, Hitachi, NEC, Sharp, and Sony include Dolby Virtual Speaker technology.

Dolby Digital Stereo Creator

Dolby Digital Stereo Creator technology enables consumers to create the highest quality DVDs from original content such as home movies. Dolby Digital Stereo Creator optimizes the available recording space and the production quality of recordable DVD-Video media, enabling users to store up to 25 percent more content on a disc than is possible with software.

- Dolby Digital Stereo Creator will be included in new products from InterVideo, MediaStream, Sonic, Sony, and Ulead.

Dolby Digital Recording

Dolby Digital Recording technology is an efficient audio encoding technology used to record stereo audio content onto writeable DVD-Video discs and hard-disk drive (HDD) based personal video recorders (PVRs). Dolby Digital Recording optimizes recording space, making it possible to store more high-quality content on recordable DVD-Video discs and PVRs.

- Dolby Digital Recording technology will be featured in new products from Panasonic, Philips, Pioneer, and Sony.

DVD-A with Meridian Lossless Packing

DVD-Audio, the successor to the compact disc, is the most technically sophisticated audio delivery format developed. DVD-Audio combines the physical properties of DVD with MLP LosslessTM coding from Dolby Laboratories to deliver music with full 5.1-channel surround sound and fidelity that is 500 times better than that of the CD. With MLP Lossless coding, DVD-Audio content, upon playback, is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master tapes, and is reproduced with a warmth and natural timbre not available from compact disc technology.

- Automobiles now offering factory-installed DVD-Audio players include the Toyota Brevis (Japan only) and Acura's 2004 TL (worldwide). The Acura TL will be showcased in Dolby's International CES booth.

- More than 50 products from 20 manufacturers are currently on the market.

- Four models of aftermarket car audio products offer MLP Lossless for DVD-Audio from manufacturers Alpine, Eclipse, Kenwood, and Pioneer. Alpine's F#1 Status technology makes its debut at International CES.

- Approximately 530 DVD-Audio titles have been released worldwide.

- DVD-Audio playback is now offered in consumer electronics, portable electronics, personal computers, and automobiles.

Dolby Digital

Dolby Digital, the versatile audio encoding/decoding technology from Dolby Laboratories, is the sound standard for virtually every new home entertainment and broadcast delivery format around the world. With its ability to deliver mono, stereo, or up to 5.1 channels of superb audio quality, Dolby Digital is a designated standard for DVD worldwide and in North America for digital terrestrial broadcasting, as well as a de facto standard for satellite (DBS) and digital cable systems.

- More than 35 million Dolby Digital 5.1 receivers have been sold.

- More than 48 million Dolby Digital decoders for satellite and television have been sold.

- More than 155 million DVD-Video playback units with Dolby Digital technology have been sold.

- As of December 2003, 36 currently scheduled series and more than 100 scheduled movies are presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 on networks such as ABC, CBS, Fox, HBO, Showtime, STARZ!, and HDNet. A myriad of HD channels also offer Dolby Digital 5.1 to their viewers.

- Dolby Digital is the audio standard on the Microsoft Xbox, and was featured in every top selling game for the Xbox this holiday season, including Take 2 Interactive's Grand Theft Auto: Double Pack.

- More than 14 thousand DVD-Video titles are available.

www.dolby.com