Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 7, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Dolby is placing particular emphasis on its Dolby High-Dynamic-Range (HDR) Imaging technologies, which provide dramatically enhanced contrast with expanded brightness and dynamic range in LCD high-definition television displays using LED backlight technology. Dolby is also presenting Dolby Volume audio technology, which solves the problem of volume fluctuations between programs in television and home-entertainment systems to deliver a high-quality audio experience.
Dolby’s latest technologies, exhibited at booth 21419 in the Las Vegas Convention Center, focus on providing breathtaking high-definition picture quality to match the compelling surround-sound experiences delivered by Dolby audio technologies.
Dolby HDR Imaging technologies use the capabilities of LED-based Back Light Units (BLUs) for LCD televisions with LED backlight technology to deliver outstanding contrast combined with clear brightness. This produces picture quality that rivals the real world in depth, detail and color.
LCD television manufacturers that have already implemented LED technology in their products can use Dolby HDR technologies to substantially improve their products’ video quality, greatly enhancing the consumer experience.
Xilinx Inc. has announced that its programmable Virtex-4 SX Field Gate Array (FPGA) chipsets have been approved for Dolby’s HDR innovations. Dolby Volume controls the sound levels of a range of devices and consumer-media formats, giving consumer-electronics manufacturers a simple and elegant option for volume control.
Dolby Driving HD Entertainment
Dolby technologies help define the next generation of high-definition entertainment. Today, 32 Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD players, 31 audio-video receivers and more than 40 studios use Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus or both to power the sound of 378 HD-DVD and Blu-ray Disc titles.
Dolby TrueHD is the ultimate high-definition audio experience, drawing warm, realistic and enveloping sound from Blu-ray Disc and HD-DVD formats. In next-generation high-definition video-disc players and media, Dolby Digital Plus delivers up to 7.1 channels of surround sound with better sound quality than DVDs.
Next-generation television services
At CES, Dolby highlights industry support for Dolby Digital Plus technology in next-generation television products, including three new televisions from Sony, LG Electronics and Philips, as well as Vudu’s film-download service. Dolby is also presenting Dolby Digital Plus chip designs for digital set-top boxes with IC implementations from Broadcom®, ConexantTM and ST Microelectronics.
Based on Dolby Digital (AC-3), Dolby Digital Plus is a scalable technology specifically designed to meet the evolving requirements of content providers. In bandwidth-sensitive broadcasting applications, Dolby Digital Plus has proven to be more efficient than standard Dolby Digital. It enables broadcast operators to deliver more HD films and programming with spectacular surround sound.
Entertainment on the move
Dolby technologies provide rich and engaging experiences for PCs, camcorders, phones, portable media players and vehicles.
At CES, various laptop PCs from Acer, Asus, Lenovo, LG Electronics, MSI and Toshiba are on display using Dolby Home TheaterTM technologies. These laptops are based on the Dolby PC Entertainment Experience initiative, a technology suite that enables PCs to deliver a home-theater experience.
Lenovo will use Dolby Home Theater in its new range of IdeaPad consumer notebook PCs, which will be launched this year.
Dolby Home Theater places listeners in the middle of the on-screen action for a cinema experience at home or on the move. With powerful, advanced digital-signal-processing technologies, Dolby Home Theater lets listeners enjoy music, films and games in a vivid environment using two to six speakers or a pair of headphones.
More than 10 high-definition camcorders from Sony and Panasonic use Dolby Digital 5.1 Creator, enabling users to add Dolby Digital 5.1-channel soundtracks to their home movies.
Dolby Digital Stereo Creator enables users of Microsoft Windows Vista and Windows Vista Home Premium to create high-quality DVDs of home movies with Dolby Digital stereo soundtracks.
Dolby’s booth also presents the 2009 Ford Flex crossover, optionally equipped with premium Sony-branded audio and the first manufacturer-installed Dolby Pro Logic II surround-sound application with Advanced Surround Fader technology. Dolby Pro Logic II creates an engaging surround-sound experience from any stereo (two-channel) film, music, television or game audio source.
Advanced Surround Fader maintains the integrity of the original audio mix at every fader position, from fully forward to fully rearward.
