DirecTV recently added Dolby Digital 5.1 sound to its SD and HD premium movie channels, bringing the number of its Dolby-enabled channels to more than 20.

DirecTV has 10 pay-per-view movie channels, including Starz!, Showtime and HBO channels, and a special event channel with Dolby Digital scheduled on an ad-hoc basis. The company delivers a Dolby Digital multichannel audio feed and an MPEG two-channel (stereo) audio feed for each channel.

The company said the offering was made in order to meet consumer demand for higher-quality sound. To receive programming in Dolby, customers need a Dolby-enabled DirecTV receiver. To date, approximately 10 million U.S. households are equipped with Dolby receivers, and an estimated 3.8 million satellite set-top boxes are able to deliver a Dolby 5.1 audio stream.