Archive notice: This article was originally published on January 8, 2010. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Dolby is presenting the latest entertainment devices with advanced audio features, including internet televisions, Blu-ray Disc players, PCs, smartphones and games consoles. Dolby is also introducing the first set-top box with Dolby Volume.
“Great sound brings realism, excitement and emotion to entertainment, whether you are watching a film on your mobile device or streaming it to your television,” said Ramzi Haidamus, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Dolby Laboratories. “We are pleased to demonstrate at CES how Dolby innovations transform the world’s most popular and innovative entertainment products. No matter which device or medium you choose, the Dolby logo guarantees a great audio experience.”
First-class entertainment at home
At stand 9827 in the Central Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center, Dolby is showcasing set-top boxes, televisions and A/V receivers featuring the groundbreaking, premium Dolby Volume audio-processing technology. This function ensures consistent volume across all content sources and creates an excellent listening experience at every volume setting. Devices on display with Dolby Volume include new digital set-top boxes from Motorola, new Toshiba REGZA™ LCD televisions and a wide range of premium A/V receivers and processors.
Dolby is presenting globally available smartphones from LG, including the LG EnV Touch and LG Chocolate Touch, featuring Dolby Mobile. Dolby Mobile provides depth and richness as well as clean, powerful bass, making listening on the move even more compelling and exciting.
$$$$
At the Dolby stand, visitors can see new devices and media supporting high-definition audio with Dolby Digital Plus, including the VUDU film-streaming service. VUDU uses Dolby Digital Plus for 5.1 surround sound on televisions from LG, Mitsubishi, Samsung™, Sanyo, Sharp and Toshiba, as well as Blu-ray Disc players from LG and Vizio. Dolby Digital Plus is a scalable technology designed specifically to meet the evolving requirements of content providers. Dolby Digital Plus has proven more efficient than standard Dolby Digital in broadcast and streaming applications for high-bandwidth entertainment media. Broadcasters can therefore offer more HD films and programmes with spectacular surround sound. Dolby Digital Plus is also an important component of the Blu-ray Disc format and supports primary 7.1-channel audio sources as well as secondary multichannel audio sources.
Leading television and set-top-box manufacturers worldwide use Dolby Digital Plus to provide surround sound for the television of the future. Today, more than 2,000 television models from 19 device manufacturers feature Dolby Digital Plus. These manufacturers include Sony and LG, which are currently announcing new televisions for the European market. Dolby Digital Plus is also supported by more than 50 set-top boxes from 26 manufacturers. France, Italy, England, Spain and Sweden have all adopted Dolby Digital Plus as the audio standard for HDTV services.
Dolby is also presenting Dolby TrueHD, a lossless compression technology developed for disc-based high-definition media that is of major significance for future home-cinema systems. More than 560 Blu-ray Disc film titles from 33 studios feature Dolby TrueHD, including Paramount’s Star Trek, one of the bestsellers of the previous year. Various
original props from 2009’s Star Trek will be displayed at the Dolby stand, including models of the USS Enterprise and the actual captain’s chair used in the film.
$$$$
Dolby is also demonstrating Dolby Pro Logic IIz, a matrix-decoding technology for audio that gives home entertainment a new kind of depth and dimension by using front-height channels in 7.1- or 9.1-channel audio. Dolby Pro Logic IIz was introduced last year in A/V receivers from Denon, Integra, Marantz and Onkyo, and is now also available in selected new Sony A/V receivers. Popular Science magazine named Dolby Pro Logic IIz one of the year’s 100 best innovations and honoured it with the coveted “Best of What’s New” award in the “Home Entertainment” category.
First-class entertainment beyond the living room
Highlights at the Dolby stand include outstanding audio technologies for PCs, smartphones and online games, including Dolby Digital Plus for cinema-quality surround sound with the Windows 7 operating system.
Four of the world’s five leading PC manufacturers support the Dolby PC Entertainment Experience—a range of PC technologies that enables a home-cinema experience with Dolby Home Theater V.3. These manufacturers include Sony, which is announcing new F-series VAIO laptops, and Lenovo, which is presenting the latest Ideapad laptops.
Medion is also presenting new PCs with Dolby Home Theater V.3, including the Medion Touch all-in-one desktop PC. Acer and Lenovo netbooks that use Dolby Headphone to provide surround sound through any headphones will also be displayed at the Dolby stand.
Finally, another Dolby highlight is Dolby Axon, a voice-communication technology for surround-sound voice chat in online games. Dolby Axon delivers a clearer, more realistic and more compelling gaming experience.
The Dolby Axon Desktop Client makes speech clearer, while the standalone chat application developed for
online gamers receives improved surround sound. Speech is not only more intelligible; the desktop client also features an easy-to-use graphical interface through which users can interact in visual chat rooms. The Dolby Axon Desktop Client received a 2010 International CES Innovations Design and Engineering Award.
