Dolby® Pulse: the Ideal HE-AAC Codec for Broadcast

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Dolby® Pulse: The Ideal HE-AAC Codec for Broadcast

Dolby® Pulse combines the efficiency of sound, regardless of the broadcast format. Dolby Pulse High Efficiency AAC (HE-AAC) audio Dolby Pulse will be fully supported by Features and Benefits coding with Dolby’s proven quality and upstream Dolby products and technologies. broadcast expertise. Available in 2009, Feature: For broadcasters with significant Dolby Pulse will assure you of compatibility • Metadata support bandwidth constraints, Dolby Pulse throughout your next-generation • Superior Coding Technologies provides the capability to broadcast stereo broadcast chain. implementation of HE-AAC and 5.1-channel audio at the lowest • Dolby name Worldwide, standards organizations are bandwidth rates while maintaining high • High efficiency increasingly specifying HE-AAC in addition audio quality. Because it includes Dolby to Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus metadata, Dolby Pulse is the one HE-AAC Benefits: for use in televisions and set-top boxes. solution that eliminates the need for a • Ensures that programs can be understood throughout the Part of the MPEG-4 standard, HE-AAC stereo simulcast with a 5.1 broadcast, broadcast chain offers high-quality multichannel sound further reducing bandwidth. • Ensures that consumers receive at low bit rates, making it ideal for Alone among the variety of available what the content creator bandwidth-constrained applications. intended HE-AAC implementations, Dolby Pulse • Higher audio quality However, HE-AAC is an open standard assures broadcasters that their content • Proven compatibility with all and broadcasters can choose from will deliver a reliable, consistent experience areas of the broadcast chain several options. The challenge will be on every consumer device. Listeners will • Proven high testing standards to implement the right HE-AAC solution, receive programming exactly as the content • High-quality stereo and one that combines operational creators intended. In addition, Dolby 5.1-channel audio at the transparency with efficiency Pulse provides complete operational lowest data rates and compatibility. transparency to the broadcaster, saving time and effort. Dolby makes the choice easy: Dolby Pulse. The Dolby Pulse system uses the optimum- Dolby Pulse will also help manufacturers efficiency HE-AAC core originally created meet the requirements for HE-AAC in HD by Coding Technologies and adds true receivers, as specified by major European Dolby metadata capability. The metadata standards bodies including EICTA, the parameters match those in Dolby Digital, French and Spanish HD forums, and so that broadcasters and program makers NorDig. can be confident about how their mix will Complete Broadcast Solutions We recommend Dolby Digital Plus— Over the next five to ten years, broadcast available now—for broadcasters who want: content will be a mix of legacy MPEG and • Some bandwidth savings over Dolby Dolby Digital codecs, together with Digital. Dolby Digital Plus provides next-generation HE-AAC and Dolby Digital a multichannel audio signal from Plus. Dolby has a long history of developing 256 kbps. innovative technologies for each step of broadcast production and delivery. • To offer even better sound on their HD We provide the best solution for every services than on their existing broadcast situation to ensure maximum 5.1-channel SD services. Dolby Digital efficiency, consistency, and compatibility. Plus delivers advanced quality levels Dolby Pulse joins Dolby Digital and Dolby at slightly higher data rates. Digital Plus in offering complete solutions • To add more channels to existing for today and for the future. Dolby Digital services or platforms. Real-World Recommendations • To migrate to 7.1-channel audio We recommend Dolby Pulse, which will within the next two years. be available in 2009, for broadcasters • Complete metadata support and who want: full compatibility with existing • The best bandwidth savings. Dolby home theaters. Pulse provides a multichannel audio In regions with no Dolby Digital services signal as low as 160 kbps. yet on-air, Dolby Pulse provides operators • To author one audio bitstream for both with an extremely bandwidth efficient traditional (TV, set-top box) and format for audio transmission today. nontraditional (mobile, PC, Internet) It will also be compatible with future broadcast devices. enhancements that Dolby is developing to fully enable 5.1 audio support. • To start high-efficiency stereo broadcasts using HE-AAC now and Our technologies, such as Dolby Digital, switch to fully 5.1-capable Dolby Pulse deliver high audio quality while enhancing when it becomes available in 2009. operational efficiency and ensuring compatibility for broadcasters and consumers alike. We plan to implement Dolby Pulse in all areas of the broadcast chain: hardware, OEM products, and licensed encoder and decoder products.

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 8QJ England T 44-1793-842100 F 44-1793-842101 100 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94103-4813 USA T 415-558-0200 F 415-863-1373 dolby.com