LAS VEGAS—In a notable effort to improve the quality of audio in OTA broadcasts, Dolby Laboratories and TV Azteca have announced a project to bring Dolby Atmos to free-to-air television in Mexico over ATSC 1.0 transmissions.

The two companies said the distribution of immersive audio within the current ATSC 1.0 transmission standard marks a significant step forward in the evolution of live television and opens the door for other broadcasters to make similar improvements to audio quality of OTA broadcasts.

Those involved in the project said immersive audio has a particularly powerful appeal in live sports events, where sound is an essential part of the emotion. With Dolby Atmos, sound moves above and all around, placing viewers at the center of the action and making every game more thrilling and memorable, Dolby said.

“Our work with TV Azteca represents a decisive step in bringing immersive experiences to mass audiences in Mexico,” said Pankaj Kedia, vice president of Americas, commercial partnerships at Dolby Laboratories. “Imagine watching a game from your living room and hearing where every cheer in the stands comes from, the sound of the ball, and the voice of the commentator moving around you. That is what Dolby Atmos makes possible today in Mexico.”

Pedro Manuel Carmona Ortiz, CTO of TV Azteca added that “this project with Dolby Laboratories marks a technological milestone, as well as a turning point for the industry, which would not have been possible without the support and collaboration of our strategic partners in this journey.”

In addition to Dolby, those include Imagine Communications and Ateme, a global provider in video compression and distribution solutions.

“We are collaborating with Dolby to demonstrate that innovation in audio can transform free-to-air television,” added Pedro Carmona Ortiz. “Our goal is to bring people closer to the real emotion of every story, with a quality that was previously reserved for premium environments.”

The announcement was made in Las Vegas, during the 2026 NAB Show, where Dolby, Imagine and Ateme are exhibiting.

SAN FRANCISCO—People around the world are looking to enhance their entertainment experiences at home as many seek to maintain a connection with family and friends by sharing those experiences via technology as a workaround of orders that limit personal social interaction due to COVID-19, according to a new research from Wakefield Research conducted for Dolby Laboratories.

The survey found 86% of respondents, among the 5,000 people polled from the United States, China, India and France, engaged in activities like talking on the phone (45%), texting (44%), video chatting (43%) and having live chats (41%) while streaming the same entertainment. [The total adds up to more than 86% because some respondents used more than one method.]

Eighty-seven percent of those who engaged virtually in a shared experience noted this was the first time they ever did so, the survey shows.

“Despite all of the challenges of this past year, this study has illustrated the power of entertainment in bringing us together with those that are most important to us,” said John Couling, senior vice president, Commercial Partnerships, at Dolby Laboratories.

The survey also gave TV broadcasters considering launching NextGen TV service a reason to take heart. It found consumers are willing to pay more for enhanced picture or sound quality. A total of 82% of respondents plan to buy a new device in the next six months to upgrade their viewing experience, it found. 

Sixty-four percent report they are planning to upgrade their living room entertainment experience with the purchase of a new TV, soundbar, home theater speakers, receiver or streaming device. By generation, 73% of millennials plan to upgrade the living room experience, 68% of Gen Xers, 58% of Gen Zers and 50% of baby boomers, the survey found.

The survey also revealed that despite the proliferation of devices upon which to consume entertainment, TV still plays a huge role among older generations, especially in the U.S., where 65% of baby boomers say TV is their primary entertainment device. In France, 52% of baby boomers consider TV to be their No. 1 entertainment device. 

Spending on content over the past six months is also growing, the survey revealed. Gen Zers and millennials around the world are increasing what they spend on content, with U.S. millennials increasing spending by 38%. Taking a longer view, 97% of respondents from India say they increased spending on content of the past year, while 94% of respondents in China, 72% in the U.S. and 55% in France report the same, the survey found.

A total of 64% say they upgraded to a premium content service within the past six months. Reasons cited include using entertainment as a way to relax (62%), the social experience of watching with others (44%) and escapism from current events (33%), the survey found.

Wakefield Research conducted the quantitative research study between Oct. 1-16, 2020, among nationally representative adults 18 years old or older. Two thousand were surveyed in China and 1,000 each in France, India and the United States with quotas in each market to ensure accurate representation of adults 18-plus years old.

More information is available from Dolby Laboratories.

Crum is “a big thinker” about media optimization and the communications environment with years of detailed technology experience. From ITU and CTA standardization efforts and work on ATSC consumer efforts to HDR imaging and immersive technology innovation, she has helped develop new consumer experiences.   

Crum enjoys examining topics such as “creative intent” and the “human technology connection” leveraging her background as a neuroscientist and technologist.  

“As a technology company, we are about delivering creative tools that allow artists, developers and producers to tell the human stories they want to convey in the richest ways possible,” she said. “The methods we can use to do that are rapidly changing with the proliferation of on-device and in-home sensors paired with machine learning and AI.”  

At Dolby, Crum has spent the last decade integrating neuroscience and data science into algorithm development, technology strategy and redefining immersive experiences. At Stanford, she harnesses immersive environments, like gaming, AR and VR, to impact neuroplasticity and learning.

“Ray Dolby understood the importance of modeling human perception in building technology,” Crum said, and her career arc fits that framework. She worked in broadcast as a technical engineer and on-air presenter at a local NPR station in Iowa. With advanced degrees in experimental psychology and neuroscience, she was research faculty in biomedical engineering before joining Dolby — all, she says, “to better understand human experience.”

“Personalization is key to our future,” Crum believes. “It’s an important part of ATSC 3.0, [which includes] formats that support personalization. Our environments, bodies, devices and engagement are all dynamic when we experience content. Personalization is key to bringing these together to improve experiences for each of us.”

Crum has co-authored 10 patent families connected to about three dozen patents, is a board member of CTA and has served on DARPA’s Defense Science Research Council.

 “If you’re too comfortable or confident, you’re probably not paying attention. Check yourself,” she advised. “Be comfortable being the only one who believes. Then spend your time as your own worst critic. It’s empowering.”

WATERLOO, Ontario—Dolby Laboratories has approved SSIMWAVE’s SSIMPLUS Viewer Experience monitoring product for its ability to decode Dolby Vision-enabled content, SSIMWAVE has announced.

Dolby’s certification of the monitoring solution follows extensive testing. SSIMPLUS monitoring assists users in delivering HDR content as intended. The product optimizes technology decisions across the delivery chain and offers a SSIMPLUS Viewer Score that measures preservation of creative intent by comparing encoded content to its source, the company said.

By monitoring quality across the distribution ecosystem, SSIMWAVE enables media companies to identify and resolve quality issues as relates to Dolby Vision content.

“Dolby Vision is one of the most common standards used by the industry to deliver HDR content as intended,” said Dr. Abdul Rehman, CEO and co-founder of SSIMWAVE. “As video experience becomes more and more important as a differentiator, content owners, delivery and service providers are demanding independent verification that their viewers are receiving the video quality they expect and deserve.”

SSIMWAVE will showcase the ability of SSIMPLUS to measure the Dolby Vision HDR Viewer Experience and how it can detect banding impairments in VOD content using Dolby Vision during its Virtual Demo Days in June. 

More information about SSIMWAVE’s Virtual Demo Days is available online. More information about the company is available on its website.  

LAS VEGAS—Dolby Laboratories is making the most of the CES 2020 stage, highlighting new features for its Dolby Vision immersive entertainment technology, the Dolby Vision IQ.

Dolby Vision IQ extends the benefits of Dolby Vision beyond HDR by optimizing picture quality experiences for viewers in any room. Using Dolby Vision dynamic metadata and the ambient light sensors inside the TV, Dolby Vision IQ detects how bright or dark a room is and displays every detail of the content to match. It can also inform the TV what is being watched so when the channel is switched, the TV will modify its settings appropriately.

Dolby Laboratories is also highlighting its Dolby Atmos sound technology at CES, specifically how it is being used in the music industry.

LONDON—There is some symmetry between IBC and the recipient for its International Honor for Excellence award. As the annual convention celebrates its 50th anniversary it is recognizing 50 years of sound innovation from Dolby Laboratories.

In 1967, when IBC first began, Ray Dolby developed the Dolby A-Type Audio Noise Reduction system, which would become a de facto standard. Dolby would also introduce the Dolby B consumer cassette format.

Dolby’s influence would spread to movies, providing improvements to cinema audio with films like “A Clockwork Orange,” “Star Wars” and “Batman Returns,” as well as many others. It would offer further advancements with Dolby Digital for TV and DVDs, and in 2012 introduced Dolby Atmos, object-based audio that can place individual sounds anywhere in a three-dimensional space.

“Dolby’s great achievements in changing the soundtrack of all our lives, over 50 years, cannot be underestimated, and I am delighted that Dolby is the recipient of the IBC 2017 International Honor for Excellence,” said Michael Crimp, CEO of IBC.

IBC had previously honored Ray Dolby in 2000 with the John Tucker Award, which was the predecessor of the International Honor for Excellence.

Craig Todd, senior vice president and CTO of Dolby Labs, will receive the award during the IBC 2017 Awards Ceremony on Sept. 17 at 6:30 p.m. in the RAI Auditorium, which is appropriately equipped with Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos technology.

SAN FRANCISCO—Dolby Laboratories and MStar Semiconduct have announced a collaboration to deliver a Dolby Vision 4K UHD system-on-a-chip for HDR TVs in 2016.

“As early adopters of Dolby Vision, MStar has collaborated with Dolby for the past two years to optimize the HDR engine with MStar’s expertise in display technologies, which will enable the delivery of Dolby Vision to a broader range of TVs,” said Sean Lin, general manager, TV business unit, MStar.

Dolby Vision is designed to augment the fidelity of UHD and HD video signals for OTT online streaming, VoD, broadcast, UHD Blu-ray, and gaming applications. The Dolby Vision VS10 universal HDR playback system supports dual- and single-layer Dolby Vision streams and other HDR profiles based on the SMPTE ST 2084 standard. This takes advantage of peak brightness, local contrast, and wide color gamut. MStar will integrate the Dolby Vision VS10 with its 4K UHD SoCs to support the delivery of HDR iamges.

MStar is a provider of Application Specific ICs with a focus on consumer electronic products and communication applications based in Taiwan. Dolby Labs develops audio, video and voice technologies for mobile devices, cinema and at home; they are located in San Francisco.