Dolby Laboratories has announced that Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Digital have been selected as optional technologies for China’s recently released national Digital Terrestrial Multimedia Broadcasting (DTMB) Receiver Specification for set-top boxes and TVs, which will go into effect on Nov.1, 2011. With over 388 million TV households, China is the world’s largest single television market.
“We are honored that Dolby Digital Plus has been included in China’s national DTMB Receiver Specification. This is a significant milestone in Dolby’s broadcast business and recognition of Dolby as a leading audio technology provider by the broadcast industry in China,” said Mahesh Sundaram, vice president, Asia Pacific, Dolby Laboratories.
Inclusion in China’s national DTMB Receiver Specification adds to the growing momentum of Dolby Digital Plus in that country’s HD broadcast market. The coding technology has been adopted by Chinese broadcasters such as Shenzhen Media Group, Jinan Cable, and BesTV on terrestrial, cable, and IPTV platforms, respectively. In addition, Chinese integrated circuit (IC) companies such as NationalChip and HiSilicon are incorporating Dolby Digital Plus into their IC solutions for HD set-top box products. More than 50 device makers, including Coship, Changhong, Huawei, Jiuzhou and TCL, have adopted Dolby Digital Plus in their set-top boxes or HDTVs, allowing consumers to enjoy HD audio on their TVs.
Dolby Digital Plus has already been adopted for HDTV services in terrestrial specifications in France, Italy, Sweden, Poland and the United Kingdom, as well as by operators in emerging markets such as India and the Middle East. It is already in use on 11 of China’s 13 HDTV channels.
Dolby Digital Plus delivers cinema-quality audio for a richer surround sound experience over a wide range of bit rates, ensuring optimized sound quality and efficiency for the available bandwidth. It is designed to adapt to the changing demands of future entertainment delivery, while retaining backward compatibility with the existing multichannel home theater systems in use today. Dolby Digital Plus has been included in more than 375 million products worldwide, including TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray Disc players, audio/video receivers and mobile phones.
