At this year's IFA, Dolby Laboratories, Inc. demonstrated Dolby(R) Volume technology for home audio systems, including audio/video receivers (AVRs), home-theater-in-a-box systems, and stereo audio systems.

Dolby Volume is designed to deliver consistent, high-quality audio experiences from a broad spectrum of input sources and playback devices. By addressing inconsistent volume at the device level, Dolby Volume can deliver outstanding performance and enhance the enjoyment of digital entertainment.

"To get the most out of high-definition entertainment today, you need the right content and outstanding playback devices," said Robin Dyer, Vice President, EMEA, Dolby Laboratories. "To improve the entertainment experience, Dolby Volume is designed to put control in the hands of consumers so that they can enjoy their favorite music and movies without having to constantly check volume levels or reach for the remote control. We're excited about the opportunity to extend the benefits of this technology to people using home audio systems."

Dolby Volume: A New Volume Leveling Solution for Home Audio Systems

First announced at 2007 International CES, Dolby Volume brings a fundamentally new approach to delivering consistent volume levels across a wide variety of channel programming or input sources. This unique technology performs measurement, analysis, and control of volume levels according to a psychoacoustic model based on the characteristics of human hearing. Dolby Volume complements Dolby Digital (AC-3), the de facto standard for surround sound in DVB-based broadcasting, as well as the audio standard for DVD-Video and for DTV broadcasting in North America. Together they provide a comprehensive solution for controlling loudness over a wide range of consumer media formats. Dolby Digital as implemented in digital broadcast, DVD, and next-generation high-definition optical media contains a mechanism for controlling loudness through the digital broadcast chain by the use of audio metadata, specifically the dialogue normalization parameter, which indicates the average program loudness.

While Dolby Volume functionality is enhanced by the presence of dialogue normalization parameters encoded in the audio stream, it also addresses loudness variation issues for program sources other than Dolby Digital, which may include analog television, as well as other audio formats used in some digital television systems.

When integrated into home audio systems, Dolby Volume can provide consumers with a full, consistent, and rich listening experience across a variety of entertainment sources (including broadcast or prepackaged content) and a variety of devices (such as televisions, set-top boxes, game consoles, and DVD players). In addition, it works well at all volume levels, with improved surround intelligibility and ambience even at low volume levels.

Growing Industry Support for Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus

At IFA, Dolby also demonstrated growing industry support and momentum for its next-generation technologies Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD.

In next-generation high-definition video disc players and formats, Dolby Digital Plus delivers up to 7.1 channels of surround sound with better-than-DVD sound quality. Dolby Digital Plus is fully compatible with the tens of millions of existing home theater systems worldwide that feature Dolby Digital technologies. Dolby Digital Plus extends the high audio quality viewers expect with Dolby Digital by providing up to 7.1 channels of captivating surround sound and more. Dolby Digital Plus is a highly flexible audio technology that is engineered to meet the evolving needs of broadcast operators for TV entertainment where bandwidth efficiency is critical.

Dolby TrueHD provides the ultimate high-definition audio experience for next-generation entertainment, delivering warm, realistic, and enveloping sound from the Blu-ray Disc(TM) and HD DVD disc formats. Dolby TrueHD delivers spacious, highly realistic sound effects and wide dynamic range, allowing viewers at home to experience every detail of the original recording for a deeply involving listening experience.

Today, 12 AVRs worldwide use Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Digital Plus to deliver high-definition sound, including products from Denon, Krell, Onkyo, Pioneer, Sherwood Newcastle, and Sony. Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD are currently integrated into 20 HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc devices worldwide, including products from Denon, LG Electronics, Onkyo, Panasonic, Pioneer, RCA, Samsung, Sony, and Toshiba.

The world's leading studios have embraced Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD to enhance the sound of next-generation optical discs. Currently, more than 500 HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc movie titles feature Dolby technologies.