| BLU-RAY NEWS TAGGED "DOLBY" | Receive Blu-ray News via RSS |  |
HDD Demos Dolby Atmos and Dolby TrueHD Advanced 96K Upsampling
Mon May 21, 2012 at 03:05 PM ETTags: Dolby, Michael S. Palmer, Industry Trends (all tags)
By Michael S. Palmer
Before we get to the good stuff, the SEC, FCC, NCAA, or some governing body says the following disclosure is manditory. NOTE: this article exists because Dolby Laboratories bought me a round trip airfare to San Francisco, housed me in a hotel I probably couldn't (or wouldn't) afford normally, and stuffed me silly with meals and beverages of adult and/or caffeinated varieties. Take that for whatever value you apply, but at the end of the day, I'm just a guy -- probably a lot like you -- who loves home cinema and was fortunate enough to see what the pros are cooking up for our next generation theatrical and home theatre auditory experiences.
Second disclosure. I've been to Dolby Laboratories three times now. It's terribly depressing. Sorry, that's not true; these trips have been the most explosive audio experiences I've ever had, whether sitting in Mix Room A, which features seven Pelonis Signature Series Model 110P 2-way Passive Reference Monitors and a Velodyne Model DD-15BG Subwoofer, or the Dolby Cinema Lab, which is completely isolated from the rest of the building and set up for 26.3 surround sound. No, the depressing part about Dolby is returning home, flipping on my consumer surround sound system (Denon powering 7.1 KEF iQs), and realizing it all sucks-to-my-asthmar compared to the sonic bliss my spoiled ears had grown accustomed over the previous couple days.
Oh well, such is life.
Fidelity Forum 2.0 was a two day event with over 20 journalists and bloggers from a variety of sound hobbies. Everything from the guy who bled for the San Francisco Symphony and high-resolution stereo audiophile recordings, to guys like me who wants his action blockbuster Blu-rays to be swirling infernos of percussive chaos. HDD's own resident technical guru, Josh Zyber, also attended and, from what I understand, is writing up a couple articles as well. For our purposes here, consider this piece a general introduction and mini-review of what I experienced. In layman's terms, "on a scale of awesome to lame, how much should I get it up?" Josh will attempt to go more in depth with the technology itself.
Dolby TrueHD Advanced 96K Upsampling
 |
Day one was dedicated to Dolby TrueHD Advanced 96K Upsampling, which has just been announced to the public. From my minimal experience getting to know the Dolby culture, it's evident how much Laboratory best describes this company. Their engineers and neuroscientists and craftsmen of all types seem to be driven by one simple question:
How can we make an audio experience better?
In our first demo, the question was, how can we improve Dolby TrueHD? But the challenge was where to make the change. They can't upgrade Blu-ray itself because the BDA (Blu-ray Disc Association) has strict product specs. You could put new chips or software into Blu-ray players or AV Receivers, but that could be terribly expensive for the consumer or processor heavy on the gear itself.
Then it hit them, what if the key to improving Dolby TrueHD was at the encoding level? What if there was an improvement that not only fits TrueHD's current capabilities -- up to eight full-range channels of 96 kHz/24-bit audio and six full-range channels of 192 kHz/24-bit audio -- but also works with gear consumers already have sitting on shelves and in closets?
I'm probably about to butcher this explanation, in terms of the science, but when sound is digitally recorded at 48 kHz, artifacts are introduced into the sound files. One of these is called Pre-Ringing; think of it like digital noise that shows up a millisecond before the real sound, and is most commonly found in things with fast attack rates -- drums, gunfire, explosions, glass breaking, etc. At 96 kHz, this phenomenon is apparently minimized.
What's important to remember here is that most (if not all) television and theatrical motion picture audio is recorded at 48 kHz. Because multi-track soundtracks are so complicated, and because source materials are recorded in many places, upgrading the mixing process to 96K would take a lot more gear and storage. But what if the professional sound designers could keep their current workflow, but still produce a better product?
Because TrueHD can natively handle 96K, Dolby thought if they could upsample finished audio from 48K to 96K, there would be a noticeable fidelity upgrade. But, again, what's the best way to make this happen? Sure, some AV Receivers have DACs (digital to analog converters) capable of such upsampling, but in a 7.1 mix, it requires a lot of horsepower. Also, up-resolution algorithms introduce their own flaws, which can only be fixed with expensive "apodizing" filters. How expensive? Consider Meridian Audio's 808.2 Signature Reference CD Player. It does everything we're talking about here…for $16,000.
Dolby realized that the only way for them to increase the fidelity of soundtracks and reduce digital artifacts while not making it more expensive for movie studios or consumers is after the mix, but before the TrueHD encoding process. So Dolby licensed Meridian's apodizing filter technology and cooked it into the latest version of their professional encoding software. This means we're about get all the benefit of 96K recordings from 48K source material without having to change anything in our systems (assuming your AVR is capable of doing 96K digital to analog conversions).
Okay, I've butchered the behind-the-scenes long enough. The most important questions are, does this really matter to the average consumer (the will I care quotient)?
 |
To be honest, I was pretty skeptical. I can tell when someone's playing a low res .mp3 file on a nice home or car audio system because it sounds tinny and harsh, but Blu-ray sounds awesome as is. 48K has to be good enough, right?
To be fair, 48K is good enough and will most likely remain a standard for most Blu-ray presentations. But when you hear 96K, you might just hope studios encoding in TrueHD will click literally one button, in the encoding software bundle, and instantly upgrade all their Blu-ray soundtracks. Is it change-the-world dramatic? Not always. Sometimes the difference is subtle. And, it affected each listener a little different.
As a demo, Dolby played back-to-back recordings at 96K and 48K straight out of ProTools so there would be no difference in volume levels between the demos. We sampled scenes from 'The Lost Bladesmen', 'The Dark Knight', 'Kung Fu Panda', 'Flowers of War' and a couple music selection. To be very clear, the only demo currently slated to appear with Advanced 96K Upsampling is 'Flowers of War'; the other clips were for test purposes only, courtesy of the various studios.
To my ears, because I'm an action-junkie, 'The Dark Knight' scenes had the most impressive improvements. We heard the scenes where Batman HALO jumps into a Hong Kong skyscraper as well as Batman riding the Batpod (I mean to say motorcycle, whatever that's called) through the mall, an alley, and racing towards the Joker in the 18-wheeler (though sadly, the clip ended before it flipped). What I felt and heard, as we jumped back and forth between 96K and 48K, was akin to listening to the sound in a large room with lots of echoing surfaces, and then listening in a smaller room that had been professional calibrated. The 96K material sounded warmer and precise. Gunshots and shattering glass seemed more lifelike and realistic. At 48K, those sound were still pretty excellent (the speakers for this demo looked very expensive), but those percussive, explosive moments had much more noticeable harshness and edge to them.
As long as the studios don't charge a crazy-premium over standard Blu-rays -- they shouldn't because it doesn't cost extra, save for a little more encoding time -- I personally cannot wait to pick up Advanced 96K Upsampling Blu-ray titles.
In terms of what's available now, you can currently pick up 'San Francisco Symphony at 100' as well as the Joe Satriani concert film 'Saturated: Live in Montreal'. Also, as I said a moment ago, the Asian market release of Christian Bales 'The Flowers of War' (from Best * Original Production Limited) is slated to release this summer in the format; I'm not sure about the North American Blu-ray. To tell whether or not a title has this technology, look for the special gold badging, which will appear as a circular sticker (pictured), a gold bar along the lower portion of the Blu-ray's front cover, or as a technical specification on the Blu-ray's back cover.
For more information, be on the lookout for Josh's blog posts, read this detailed .pdf from Dolby, or check out these two videos. First, we have a short piece on the ' San Francisco Symphony at 100' Blu-ray Disc:
San Francisco Symphony at 100 Blu-ray Disc In Dolby TrueHD with advanced 96K Upsampling from Dolby Laboratories on Vimeo.
And, here's the full 45 minute Saturated Panel from Fidelity Forum 2.0:
Saturated: Live in Montreal Panel from Dolby Laboratories on Vimeo.
Dolby Atmos
 |
On day two of Fidelity Forum 2.0, we finally heard the technology I've been most excited about: Dolby Atmos. Atmos was announced a couple weeks ago and, if you don't know what I'm talking about, have a look at this short video explaining the technology:
As I said above, we went into the Dolby Cinema Lab for this, which is set up for 26.3 surround sound, including six speakers on each side (two of which are full range), five rear speakers, and six overheads. The Atmos logo trailer was mixed at Dolby Burbank in a 38.1 speaker array, the Atmos launch demo took place in Las Vegas in a 47.3 configuration, and Skywalker Sound just built a new Atmos-capable mixing stage in a 41.3 setup.
 |
Sounds complicated, right? Atmos actually begins with a 9.1 based configuration (the current Dolby 7.1 format plus stereo height channels), which sound designers will mix in a familiar workflow. However, what makes Atmos amazing is that it includes "object" mixing. Meaning, any individual sound effect or music clip can pan anywhere in a 180-degree hemisphere. The Atmos cinema processor -- which can be configured for any professional theatre -- will place that object discretely in as few or as many speakers as the filmmakers intend. What's particularly impressive is how scalable it all is for any venue. In terms of technical requirements, Dolby suggests a pair of height channel speakers for every pair of side channel speakers, full range surrounds because of added LFE capabilities, and individual speaker amplification (this allows for more discrete placement).
So how does it sound?
We were fortunate enough to demo the Atmos logo trailer (created by Erik Aadahl, best known for his sound work on 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon'), four sound only clips, the climax of 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes', and a secret clip about which I may not write despite it being the presentation highlight. Overall, when I first heard 7.1, I felt as though I had been sucked forward towards the screen. With Atmos, it sounds like you're literally in the world of the movie; the height channels are a big part of this, but the precision with which bullets ping and helicopters fly is impressive and perhaps the most lifelike I've ever encountered. But remember, all of these demos was designed to call attention to the new format; like anything, Atmos can be as aggressive or subtle as needed.
The Atmos logo sounds like a cross between the THX and 'Transformers'. It has a wide dynamic range with heart-stopping base and an incredibly immersive surround experience. The four sound-only clips were fun as well. A thunder and rain sequence was akin to sitting in a covered porch during a summer storm; I could hear the individual drops of rain hitting the ground, while others dripped off a roof. It was incredibly realistic. Next, they panned a song 360-degrees around the room, first in 5.1, and later in Atmos. The 5.1 had gaps, uneven levels, and bled across multiple speakers at a time. In Atmos, a single voice traveled in an exact line.
Then, Dolby took two conversations from 'The Dark Knight' and played them at the same time on the same side of the auditorium. In 5.1, you couldn't understand anything. In 7.1, things were clearer, but the conversations sounded on top of one another. In Atmos, it was like sitting at a restaurant and isolating two other tables conversing around you.
The last sound-only demo was originally created for Vodaphone commercials in the U.K. It began on a in-flight jetliner. After a terrifying crash sequence, a man swims to safety and encounters cannibals on a jungle island. While not as good as 'The Grey' plane crash, this was also incredibly immersive. Fellow passengers opening overhead bins sounded like they were doing so above you. In a moment where we were bobbing up and down under the water, you could hear the water rising up around you and receding. It was pretty cool.
'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' wasn't my favorite demo, but the sequence where the gorillas leaps into the crashing helicopter was pretty good. Perhaps in its current form a little too chaotic and not as discrete as the other clips, especially the finale that followed, which was perfect.
When properly mixed, Atmos is an unmatched force in theatrical motion picture sound capability, but when and where will you get to hear it?
Dolby just went over to Skywalker Sound to do a "test-mix" on Disney/Pixar's 'Brave'. If all goes well, Atmos will debut on 15 screens in the US when 'Brave' hits cinemas on June 22. Though the official list hasn't been released (look for that in the next couple weeks), these select cinemas will all be in major cities. AMC's "ETX" auditoriums, which already have built-in height channels, are likely conversion candidates.
Again, this is mostly a test. Atmos doesn't officially debut until next year, when Dolby is planning to run a "Road to 1000" campaign in hopes they'll have 1,000 Atmos screens by the summer of 2013. In the meantime, they plan to work with Hollywood's top filmmakers to mix the biggest movies in the format for next year.
To learn more about Atmos, here's the Launch Event and Panel:
Dolby Atmos Launch Event & Industry Panel from Dolby Laboratories on Vimeo.
Fidelity Forum 2.0 Wrap Up
 |
Visiting the Laboratory is an aural treat. Despite the amazing demos, my favorite part was probably the visit to Mixing Room A, where we sampled the B.O.B. (featuring Halley Williams) song Airplanes and the Owl City song Fireflies in 7.1. Not only was the equipment drool-worthy (sorry about the puddle, fellas) and the room perfectly tuned, but we were able to isolate vocals and other track elements and learn how mutli-channel audio is mixed. Fascinating.
As for the other technology explored, Dolby TrueHD Advanced 96K Upsampling is a fun new home theatre improvement. I could hear it and I look forward to hearing as many movie soundtracks in the format as possible. Since I've already got the gear, why not, right? I suppose the only potential downside is the inevitable studio double-dip release, but that would probably happen anyway. Dolby Atmos won't be in our homes anytime soon, but as a theatrical experience, I'm eagerly waiting for 'Brave' and whatever follows.
Will either change the movies forever? For some, yes; for others, no. But at the end of the day, what's most important is Dolby, and many other companies out there, won't settle for what's "good enough."
Because they always need to make it better.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
Dolby Announces 96k Upsampling for Better Blu-ray Audio
Fri May 18, 2012 at 10:00 AM ETTags: Dolby, Dolby TrueHD (all tags)
Dolby says their upsampling and filter process will also clean up artifacts like preringing.
You may have guessed, but here on High-Def Digest, we like our Blu-rays. All that video and audio quality packed onto a tiny disc is a pretty sweet setup, and it's about to get sweeter, thanks to the folks over at Dolby.
The company has created a new upsampling technique that allows for even better sound from your Blu-ray discs. Dolby accomplishes this by taking the upsampling that's often done by ultra-high end products and instead baking that into the disc from the beginning. By improving the audio before encoding, Dolby says that it's passing on the best possible sound on to users and minimizing the effect of artifacts along the way.
If you have a Blu-ray player or Receiver that's compatible with Dolby TrueHD, you won't have to do a thing to enjoy the new tech – no new hardware or software is required.
Dolby says that several authoring houses and other facilities are already on board including Deluxe Digital Studios and Technicolor.
Source: Dolby (PDF)
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
Dolby Announces 96k Upsampling for Better Blu-ray Audio
Fri May 18, 2012 at 10:00 AM ETTags: Dolby, Dolby TrueHD (all tags)
Dolby says their upsampling and filter process will also clean up artifacts like preringing.
You may have guessed, but here on High-Def Digest, we like our Blu-rays. All that video and audio quality packed onto a tiny disc is a pretty sweet setup, and it's about to get sweeter, thanks to the folks over at Dolby.
The company has created a new upsampling technique that allows for even better sound from your Blu-ray discs. Dolby accomplishes this by taking the upsampling that's often done by ultra-high end products and instead baking that into the disc from the beginning. By improving the audio before encoding, Dolby says that it's passing on the best possible sound on to users and minimizing the effect of artifacts along the way.
If you have a Blu-ray player or Receiver that's compatible with Dolby TrueHD, you won't have to do a thing to enjoy the new tech – no new hardware or software is required.
Dolby says that several authoring houses and other facilities are already on board including Deluxe Digital Studios and Technicolor.
Source: Dolby (PDF)
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
High-Def Digest Chats with Dolby About 7.1 and 9.1 Surround
Wed Aug 18, 2010 at 03:00 PM ETTags: Dexter, Dolby, Michael S. Palmer (all tags)
By Michael S. Palmer
Dolby Laboratories was on hand last Saturday night at the 'Dexter Season 4' Blu-ray premier to talk multi-channel surround sound.
Here's a quick round up of what's available now in your local cinema, and for your home theater.
 |
Dolby 7.1 Surround
In an odd reversal of home theater helping to improve theatrical exhibition, Dolby reps explained their new Dolby 7.1 Surround system, which rolled out at cinemas earlier this summer in conjunction with the release of 'Toy Story 3.' Blu-ray and Dolby TrueHD have been capable of delivering 7.1 in the home since 2006, but 8-channel sound in the cinema utilizing four discrete rear channels is surprisingly brand new. Yes, Sony's SDDS is an 8-channel format and has been in select theaters since 1993, but SDDS has five front channels, and only two rears just like Dolby Digital and DTS. Have a look the next time you're at the movies. There may be upwards of 15 to 20 speakers around you at your local megaplex, but it's still only two channels, Left Surround and Right Surround.
At present, most films (and now TV shows like 'Dexter') are mixed for a 5.1 theatrical, broadcast, and home entertainment releases. According to Dolby, despite some Blu-rays featuring 7.1 soundtracks, what 7.1 owners have been experiencing thus far is more akin to an expanded 5.1 mix; similar to the results of using products like Dolby Pro Logic IIx or IIz. Meaning, the four rear channels aren't quite as specific, or discrete, as they can or should be; the two extra channels are simply extrapolated, or split from the original two channel rears and encoded discretely for the Blu-ray.
Dolby 7.1 Surround came about when Disney/Pixar was preparing 'Toy Story 3'. They approached Dolby because they wanted to ensure theatrical surround sound was keeping up with visual technological advances like 3D and digital projection. The trick was to create a significant, immersive upgrade without needing time-consuming and cost-prohibitive construction. With Dolby 7.1 Surround, cinema goers get two new channels (in addition to the standard Front Right, Center, Front Left, Left Surround, and Right Surround): Back Surround Left and Back Surround Right. Exhibitors, depending on the age of their surround sound processors, simply need a firmware upgrade and to change a few wires.
'Toy Story 3' is the first theatrical movie to use the new 7.1 format -- the first movie designed and mixed with 7.1 in mind from the gournd up -- and therefore, when it comes home on November 2, 'Toy Story 3' will be the first true 7.1 Blu-ray release (not adjusted after the fact for home video, and only ironically available via a 7.1 DTS-MA track).
Dolby is currently working with theater chains to retrofit existing cinemas with the new format. Click here to find out where you can experience Dolby 7.1 Surround in your area. Let us know in the forums if you saw 'Toy Story 3' in an upgraded theater with the above embedded trailer and tell us what you think.
Dolby Pro Logic IIz
 |
We spoke about Pro Logic IIx and IIz with Dolby last year, but it was fun to brush up on the subject again. For those who don't recall, Dolby Pro Logic IIx takes any stereo or 5.1 mix and upgrades it to 7.1 (Left, Center, Right, LFE, Left Surround, Back Surround Left, Right Surround, Back Surround Right).
Pro Logic IIz has a more interesting and complex pedigree. As described above both theatrically and in the home entertainment platform, 7.1 is an immersive sound environment, and will only become better as more and more films are mixed with that native capability. However, for many home theater fans, we're already pushing the limits of room logistics, and what our wives or girlfriends will tolerate in a decorative sense. The challenge for Dolby became how could they give an added value experience to all listeners, without adding another mandatory 100 feet of speaker cable to the back of the room (I'm of course paraphrasing and simplifying here).
To confront this challenge, they built the newest Pro Logic, IIz. One of Popular Science's "Best of What's New 2009", IIz is a 7.1 or optional 9.1 surround sound experience. In "7.1 Height" mode, home theater enthusiasts are able to take a 5.1 mix and add two more front "height" channels, a pair of satellite speakers, which should be placed at least a meter above the front channels at a 45 degree angle to give extra width. When getting a stereo, 5.1, or even 7.1 native source, IIz extracts "ambient sound and certain amorphous effects such as rain or wind" and directs them to these front height speakers. Dolby recommends Atlantic Technology (1400 SR-z, or other) for these height channels, and says one of the best demos for IIz is the rain in the opening moments of 'Ratatouille.'
With a 7.1 Pro Logic IIz AV receiver, customers have two options in how to run their system: 1) as a 5.1 plus the two height channels, or 2) as a traditional 7.1 system (four rear channels) without engaging the height channels.
 |
But wait, there's more! Available on more advanced (read: more expensive) AVRs equipped with IIz is a drool-inducing 9.1 surround sound. This is the traditional 7.1 Surround Sound (four rear channels) plus the two height channels. Dolby is also hoping to expand IIz into the video gaming world; while it already works with any 5.1 input, including of course Dolby Digital Live, they're hoping that game developers can add in these ambient sounds, such as helicopters buzzing over head, to really place players into their gaming universes.
As a format, Dolby Pro Logic IIz has a different set of skills for every listener out there. Personally, I can't wait to try it out myself. If anyone already has IIz and height speakers running, please drop us a line in the forums and tell us what you think. IIz is available on many new AVRs from Denon, Onkyo, Sony, and Marantz. Click here for a quick Pro Logic IIz demo.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
High-Def Digest Chats With Dexter's Emmy Nominated Sound Team
Wed Aug 18, 2010 at 09:00 AM ETTags: Michael. S. Palmer, Dolby, Dexter (all tags)
By Michael S. Palmer
 |
As part of High-Def Digest's ongoing coverage of Dolby's partnership with Paramount Home Entertainment for the August 17 'Dexter Season 4' Blu-ray release, we sat down with the show's own Elmo Ponsdomenech, a five-time Emmy and Cinema Audio Society nominee, and Kevin Roache, a first-time Emmy nominee and Cinema Audio Society nominee. As Sound Re-Recording Mixers for some of television's more cinematic and/or sound intensive shows, Elmo and Kevin's credits include not only 'Dexter', but also 'True Blood,' 'How to Make It in America,' 'Ugly Betty,' 'Monk,' 'Eastbound & Down,' 'Swingtown,' and 'Sleeper Cell,' among many others.
Elmo and Kevin are honored to be nominated for an Emmy; 'Dexter' has been very good to them (this is Elmo's second series nomination), providing a chance to do feature-quality work in a television environment, thanks to broadcast and home entertainment surround sound capabilities. But first and foremost, these two humble craftsmen wanted to shine the light on the entire 'Dexter' audio team, lead by Sound Supervisor Fred Judkins. It seems in the evolutionary chain of a television soundtrack, Re-Recording Mixers Elmo and Kevin are the last stop on the factory line made up of an army of sound artisans.
 |
So how does it work, how does a soundtrack develop from actors in a film studio to a Dolby TrueHD 5.1 immersive experience? For those outside of Los Angeles, Elmo and Kevin were gracious enough to share a simplified outline of the process, and then what it is they do to finish it up:
First, on set and/or location craftsman like the Production Sound Mixer and Boom operators (who hold the actual microphones) record the actors live. Next, as the editors, directors, and producers cut together the episode, choosing specific shots from many takes, the Dialogue Editor separates every line of dialogue from those takes -- the idea being that if every line of dialogue, piece of music, or sound effect is a separate entity, it gives the audio team more control to create a unique or subjective environment. Think of subjective sound as a way to get into a character's mind, or like a knife PLUNGING into Dexter's plastic-wrapped victims. The truth is we don't hear these sounds at significant volume in the real world, but in a cinematic environment, they create an emotional response, which serves the story.
While the dialogue is getting chopped, a Sound Effects Editor arranges for Foley and ADR sessions. Foley is a process where sounds are recorded to a live playback of the entire show; it is done for anything a human body touches. ADR (automatic dialogue replacement) is a process where an actor re-records his or her dialogue, trying to mimic the on set performance. This is done in order to overcome production sound challenges, which can include any unwanted noise, from a plane overhead to the film camera itself.
With each separate sound effect or piece of dialogue sweetened using technology such as Dolby's Noise Reduction, it's now time for Re-Recording Mixers like Elmo and Kevin. In a Pro Tools digital environment, Elmo and Kevin typically oversee 8 Foley tracks, 40 sound effects tracks (these are pre-recorded libraries covering both "hard effects" like gun shots or tires squealing, and "background effects" which are your general environment noises), 24 dialogue tracks, and 16 music tracks. All together, nearly 90 separate tracks – nearly 90 separate recordings -- running together, orchestrated or "mixed" at various volumes to bring you your surround sound experience.
What Kevin and Elmo then do is share these final mixing duties, with Kevin handling sound effects, and Elmo taking on music and dialogue before bringing every element together. These are the guys that decide when your subwoofer shakes your house, when music swirls and envelopes, or when bullets fly out of the back right of your living room and zoom across into the far left front channel.
 |
This final mix, this sound environment creation, involves a process called "masking." Television shows or feature films feel most real when the actual on set sounds are replaced -- masked -- by something wholly fictitious. While the aforementioned Production Mixers are very good, and get very tight sound, there are issues with things like "room tone." Take Dexter's apartment for example. It has fairly small rooms, and is filled with furniture. We all have experience with these environments; we know how they sound. Only 'Dexter' is not filmed in a real apartment, but rather the large open-air space of a Hollywood stage, which sounds completely different. Enter "masking," where Kevin builds the world of Dexter's apartment from many source: its small-room "tone" or resonance, a computer whirring, a refrigerator, seagulls and tourists outside, the nearby ocean, and some air, all combined at subtle levels to accent a more natural feeling and hide the off-sounding original recordings.
These elements combine not only to create realistic environments, but most important of all, to service the story being told. And the stunning part is they only have two days to do it (on Dexter; for the more sound-intensive 'True Blood', Elmo and Kevin have four short days).
Time is their antagonist, their constant challenge, but Kevin and Elmo love what they do, their best days ending with the delivery of a cinema quality soundscape for the small screen. One that meets not only the producers' creative wishes, but also Elmo and Kevin's own self-imposed high standards. After finishing, they deliver both a six channel mix (which is later encoded into 5.1 Dolby Digital for broadcast, and 5.1 Dolby TrueHD for Blu-ray) as well as a Dolby LTRT (Dolby ProLogic II) stereo version. The goal is to give audiences with different home speaker configurations (TV speakers, sound bar, satellites, floor standing, book shelf, 2.0, 2.1, 5.1, etc) a very similar experience, a complete experience. Yet, similar does not mean equal as Elmo said, "the only thing that separates the home audience from the full effect of the studio experience is how good your equipment is. It's all there for listeners now."
Sure, we know what the PR campaigns advertise (with 100 percent lossless encoding, Dolby TrueHD is "bit-for-bit identical to the studio master"), but here's your testimony not from some random reviewer on a blog or even a print journalist, but from the actual guys who made said studio master. And when they go home at the end of the day, Elmo and Kevin are proud to pop in a Blu-ray of their own shows, and hear or share their work with no degradation. And to that I say, huzzah for ear candy!
But we must remember one important thing, fellow high-def junkies: Kevin and Elmo may work in a fancy Hollywood recording studio, they may know how to economically and emotionally combine upwards of 90 digital sound elements to deliver a television show in six discrete channels , but they're consumer-enthusiasts just like you and me. They're fans, fans who also have families and budgets, which is why at home they run gear anyone can buy, and coincidentally near identical setups thanks to going to the store at the same time: a Samsung DLP 50" HDTVs, 5.1 Infinity Speakers (Elmo says 7.1 isn't necessary for most home environments), an Onkyo receiver, and a Sony Blu-ray player (Elmo's is dedicated, Kevin's is a PS3).
It's a fandom they bring to their work every day; one where they are more than happy to provide ear-tickling aggressive or active mixes for clients. In the case of 'True Blood', Elmo said Kevin is great at flying stuff around the speakers. He also likes to add Easter egg type elements (something they know they'll enjoy as fans) such a surprise surround sound pan, or what they together called a "house shaker" (heavy on the LFE) because it gets him excited as an artist, and as a consumer. They also like to stay very true to camera perspectives and angles, supporting the action on screen, as long as they support the dramatics. It doesn't matter how many gadgets they have or surround mixing capabilities, if a choice goes against story, it detracts from the whole experience. And Elmo and Kevin's job -- in stunning surround -- is always to enhance what you hear and sometimes, what you don't.
 |
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
High-Def Digest Attends The 'Dexter Season 4' Blu-ray Premiere in Miami Beach Hosted by Dolby and Jose Cuervo
Tue Aug 17, 2010 at 05:00 PM ETTags: Dexter, Dolby, Michael S. Palmer (all tags)
High-Def Digest's Michael S. Palmer was lucky enough to attend the 'Dexter Season 4' Blu-ray Premiere this past weekend in Miami Beach. Here are the details!
The National Hotel, Miami Beach. August 14, 2010.
It was a dark Saturday night, stifling and humid. Tensions thick as the crowd gathered. Nobody knew what to expect, really -- not then at least -- but I can tell you, dear reader, I can promise you this small truth. When the body was discovered floating across the pool, its chest wound fresh and blossoming crimson, there was only one thing on each witness' mind:
Murder!
 |
Well, that, or the question of what tequila-based cocktail to order next.
 |
Saturday night was a evening for all things 'Dexter', as Dolby and Jose Cuervo joined forces to celebrate the August 17 release of 'Dexter Season 4' on Blu-ray, featuring 1080p HD video and a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD soundtrack.
 |
High-Def Digest was amazingly lucky to score an invite to the Showtime/Paramount Home Entertainment event, where the Dexter logo was an ice sculpture, and even the drinks were murder-most-foul themed, featuring the Killer Margarita and Blood Spatter Martini.
 |
Sadly, neither series star Michael C. Hall nor his recent nemesis John Lithgow (Trinity) were in attendance. But on hand for the festivities were 'Dexter' cast members C.S. Lee (who plays Vince Masuka), David Zayas (Angel Batista), and the very lively Lauren Vélez (Lt. Maria Laguerta). Ms. Vélez hit the dance floor early, inviting the crowd to join her, including this rhythmically challenged writer -- not wishing an immediate and guaranteed public embarrassment, I promptly ran the other way…
 |
Where I was able to watch 'Dexter Season 4' in Dolby's demo area. And thank goodness High-Def Digest was there. Lives may have been lost, marriages ruined, the world destroyed if some nerd (cough, me, cough) hadn't notice an error with the television's aspect ratio:
 |
Note the above letterboxing and black bars (whoops, who hasn't pressed the wrong button in a TV menu before?). The good news is the show's original 16x9 aspect ratio is preserved on the Blu-ray, and my quick thinking averted disaster. I expect the President to be calling me shortly to congratulate me and present me with a Congressional Medal of Honor.
Silliness aside, it was a grand evening, clearly embracing this evocative show's quirky tones. Click here to see more pictures of the party, courtesy of Dolby's Flickr account (cough, there's a girl wrapped in saran wrap, cough). 'Dexter Season 4' on Blu-ray Disc is out August 17, and 'Dexter Season 5' premiers Sunday, September 26 on Showtime.
 |
UPDATE: Just spoke with Paramount Home Entertainment regarding international releases. 'Dexter Season 4' will also be coming out on Blu-ray (and DVD) on Nov 29 in the UK, and Nov 4 in Australia. At this time, there is no word on other territories, or about Seasons 1 - 3. Cheers.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
Dolby Brings the Surround Sound Experience to…EVERYTHING!
Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 04:15 PM ETTags: Dolby, Industry Trends, Michael S. Palmer (all tags)
High-Def Digest's man in the field attends a Dolby Laboratories shindig in Los Angeles and leaves mighty impressed!
By Michael S. Palmer
Dolby Laboratories came to Los Angeles last week to demo, discuss, and display their current and emerging technologies. Keep in mind this wasn’t a specially designed lab. It was a few rooms in a hotel suite. Lots of glass. Wooden floors. Odd angles. About as far from sound-perfect as you can get. Just like my apartment, or your house. Yet Dolby sound soared.
As a company that’s existed since 1965, it’s too easy to think of Dolby as that logo, quietly stamped onto computers, audio receivers, music / video playback devices, and Blu-ray / DVD discs. Too easy to forget that Dolby and its employees, through a need to innovate and enhance consumer content, are continuously raising the bar of audio reproduction.
But what’s the difference between all their different brand names? How are they going to enrich my home entertainment experience?
That’s really the question, isn’t it? Content providers must give us access to their entertainment on every conceivable platform because the modern world is somehow both insanely connected, yet desperately segmented: Cine and audiophiles strive for home theatre perfection. Gamers compete and interact with others in a global environment. Tweens, Teens, and Twenty-somethings absorb digital content exclusively on phones and PCs. And our parents… well, they still don’t even know how to program the VCR (P.S. - What’s a “V-C-R?”).
Enter Dolby stage right. With a convenient set of products (based on Mensa-level mathematic algorithms) to help everyone get the fullest audio experience possible. Any where. Any time. On any platform.
[Author’s note: Now I know full well, some of you are already screaming, “what about DTS???” Feel free to continue the endless “which one is better” debate all you want. Our purpose here is simply to let you know what Dolby has to offer now (and in the near future). Cheers.]
For Traditional Home Theatre Enthusiasts
 |
The king of Dolby’s formats remains TrueHD. Nothing new on this. But for those not in the know, TrueHD is lossless audio that gives you a bit-for-bit reproduction of the original studio matter, in 8 channels (7.1 if you will). A.K.A., exactly how the filmmaker, or music producer heard it, and intended it to sound.
 |
Next up is Dolby Digital Plus, which was designed for times where there isn’t enough bandwidth for lossless audio. Dolby Digital Plus is capable of 7.1 surround sound, versus the 5.1 of standard Dolby Digital. It also has a wider bit rate, up to 1.5 Mbps.
You might be wondering, if we have Blu-ray, why would we ever want anything less than TrueHD? Well, Dolby Digital Plus was used for some HD-DVDs because of the limited room available on those discs, but currently Dolby has teamed with services like Vudu to stream surround sound online.
 |
Vudu has movie rentals available in SD (480p, requiring an internet connection speed of 1 Mbps – check with your Internet service provider if you don’t know what you have), HD (720p, requiring 2.25 Mbps), and HDX (1080p, requiring 4.5 Mbps). Using a networked Blu-ray player (in our case the LG BD390), we checked out HDX scenes from ’X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ and ’Fast & Furious’ featuring 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus audio. Truthfully, Blu-ray may want to watch out, because on a 52-inch Toshiba LCD (model # 52XV645U), this HDX streaming was excellent, and easy to use. Pause, fast-forward, and rewind to any clip, and after a short buffer, the movie would play. High Def is absolutely the future regardless of format, and here’s a potentially legitimate successor – given enough bandwidth to match / include lossless audio – to Blu-ray’s resolution kingdom. Is there more compression / a lower bit rate on video streaming compared to what we have now in Blu? Of course. But much like the size of hard drives, Internet connection speeds are only going to increase and get less expensive over time. And to my picky-eye, the video looked sharp, clear, and unlike most streaming, which can be filled with blocks and banding. Anyone else out there using Vudu? Hit up the comments section to give your review; this was my first experience.
 |
In order to keep up with the success of 5.1 Dolby Digital, Dolby developed Pro Logic II. To create 5.1 channels of audio out of any stereo source. Pro Logic’s newest incarnations are IIx and IIz. IIx has been around for a while, and its purpose is not only to up-convert stereo, but also full 5.1 mixes into 6.1 or 7.1 surround sound (if you have enough speakers). IIz takes surround one-step further, and allows up to 9.1 channels of audio. As shone above, in addition to 5.1 speakers at ear level (or 7.1 if you already have that), Pro Logic IIz adds two speakers above the front left and right speakers. This vertical component finds “nondirectional” ambience in movies and music, such as rain, to increase spaciousness and add dimension. This wasn’t on hand to demo, but it seems like a fantastic idea that fully supports my home theatre addictions check out Sound & Vision’s first look here. I can’t wait to try it out for myself (cough-sneeze-hint-HINT, Dolby). And the coolest thing about Pro Logic IIx or IIz? It’s compatible with any source. For example, my Playstation 3 decodes all audio, from Dolby Digital to DTS-MA, and sends it over to my receiver as PCM. I can then, using IIx tell my receiver to add the extra two channels (or four, using IIz).
 |
What the helpful Dolby reps were able to point out is that music, movies, and television are mixed for what’s called “reference level.” The perfect volume at which to hear everything in their soundscapes. However, reference level is quite loud. And in normal situations, when one turns down the volume of their receivers, bass drops out and surround channels are less perceivable. To make up for the inability to always listen to content at deafening “reference levels”, Dolby created Dolby Volume (with much thanks from neighbors around the world). Volume allows you to listen to audio quietly, but still experience your content as it was meant to be heard. Crisp surround, and accurate bass depth at any level. Dolby Volume also stabilizes sound inputs. Hate it when the commercials come on (thanks to football season, even DVR connoisseurs are watching advertisements), and you have to grab the remote to lower the sound? Dolby Volume keeps your TV at one constant level, regardless of what’s thrown at it, whether it’s cable, Blu-ray, or even Internet streaming and downloads. One level. All sources.
For Laptop Owners (and Dorm Room Dwellers)
 |
Oddly enough, I left the home theatre section of the tour, and was introduced to a product called Dolby Home Theater, which is available on Sony, HP, and Toshiba laptops / desktop PCs. With heavily compressed content downloaded onto on PCs, Dolby Home Theater’s job is to upgrade your computer into capable source of quality audio (Have you ever actually listened to your laptop’s built-in speakers? Rubbish!). Dolby Home Theater adds in lost high and low frequencies (common to MP3s) and improves the experience of using headphones, or even connecting your PC to a full surround sound system. My demo was ’Top Gun,’ downloaded off iTunes in SD. In Dolby Home Theater, wearing only headphones, the geniuses at Dolby, using Pro Logic IIx technology, tricked my brain into thinking I was watching a movie in 5.1. It was stunning.
For Mobile Phones Addicts
 |
The surprise of the day, in regards to quality, was in the mobile department. Dolby reps informed me that stereo music is mixed with the idea that you hear both speakers in both ears at the same time. It’s that overlap, and distance from the speakers that gives it a three dimensional, stereophonic feel. But, when we listen to (highly compressed digital) music, and we separate the channels by putting one in each ear, we’re not hearing the music properly. Using suite of sound options built into the audio playback of a phone (in this case, the LG enV Touch), I listen to Radiohead both with Dolby Mobile on, and off. And the difference was startling. With no Dolby, the music felt like it was in the center of my brain, and though it was accurate, it was flat. With Dolby Mobile activated, it literally seamed as though I wasn’t wearing headphones at all, but rather sitting in a room, enjoying full sized speakers. Truly excellent. Also, I was able to demo a movie on a Nokia phone. Though ’House of Flying Daggers’ should never be seen on a 2” screen, I was again amazed as to how I could hear full surround out of stereo headphones.
For Gamers
 |
Three words: Best. For. Last. I’ll openly admit to loving video games, yet I’m a terrible player. If Dolby Mobile was the biggest “quality not expected” surprise of the day, Dolby Digital Live and Dolby Axon are revolutionary and spellbinding.
First, Dolby Digital Live is already in use on many games (this room was outfitted with a PS3 and a fresh copy of “Batman: Arkham Asylum”). The way it works is that your favorite games have thousands of mono or stereo sounds files ready to fire on cue. The game also knows where you are in its universe. Mapping your position (where you stand, which direction you’re looking, your environment, etc), Dolby Digital Live mixes a 5.1 surround sound experience instantly and on the fly to immerse you in the action.
Dolby’s next thought was, okay, so these games sound fantastic, but what about online gaming? What is the next step?
Both consoles and PCs allow gamers to chat with teammates and enemies alike. Dolby next wants to mix players’ voices into full surround sound. Think about it. You’re playing Halo, and you not only hear your enemy stalking you from behind (from your left rear speaker), but also that he’s talking to his team, which answers (from the right rear). Having surround sound not only becomes immersive and exciting, but it’s also an advantage (well, until everyone gets surround sound at which point it’ll just be one of many gaming obstacles).
The challenge is that this audio, taken from low quality / various volume microphones, doesn’t measure up to professionally recorded files already in the game. Dolby AXON steps in to take all the audio from every person playing, whether it’s a handful or few hundred, send it to the host server, equalize it, and instantly send back a surround sound mix.
But what if it’s not just about the sound exhibiting the gaming? What if sound is plot? What if sound is strategy? For instance, take a “proximity mine.” Step too close and it explodes. In an unreleased, in-house Dolby demo, your proximity mine also has a speaker on it. Drop your trap, hide in safety and talk into your microphone to draw out enemies, whose own surround sound systems have told them where you should be. Or what if, as another example, you could leave behind a “bug” to hear conversations far away from where you’re playing? And, that these bugs would retain the environment’s ambience (perhaps a muffled sound if you were listening through a door)?
The future of gaming, for Dolby, for you and I, isn’t just sound serving the game, but sound, and surround sound, becoming an inseparable part of playing the game. This is simply revolutionary, and makes gaming even more life-like.
Well, that’s all, folks. An hour with Dolby, and tons of products for each and every one of us, in almost all aspects of audio-based entertainment. Everyone knows Dolby does surround sound well, but they’re growing beyond expectations. Evolving. A fascinating, dynamic company, unwilling to rest on their laurels, and instead, charging boldly into the future.
See what people are saying about this story in our forums area, or check out other recent discussions.
» High-Def Digest home page
