At IBC2010, Dolby Laboratories demonstrated HDTV-compatible audio description services enabled via Dolby Digital Plus. The Dolby solution allows visually impaired viewers to enjoy HDTV surround-sound programming with optional audio descriptive tracks.
Using STMicroelectronics’ advanced STi7108 single-chip set-top box solution, the demonstration showed how Dolby Digital Plus can enable the main surround soundtrack and an additional commentary track to be carried together as a single, bandwidth-efficient bit stream.
In receivers where audio description is required, these tracks can be mixed to create an uncompromised surround soundtrack for visually impaired viewers. The demonstration highlighted the latest-generation Dolby Multistream Decoder implementation for broadcast receivers and other media devices.
