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BD-Live Hopes to Connect Viewers to Movies AND People

Thu Nov 05, 2009 at 04:00 PM ET
Tags: BD-Live, Industry Trends, Blu-con, Michael S. Palmer (all tags) By Michael S. Palmer

Reps from Walt Disney, Sony, Universal, and Fox gathered for a panel at this year’s Blu-Con 2.0 to discuss the present and future of BD-Live.

Currently, 4 million Blu-rays connect to BD-Live every month. 50% of users return to the various portals (1984-esque tangent: Sony remembers your player’s I.P. address, and thus knows if you repeatedly access digital content. Big Brother knows where you are at all times!).

I’ve always wondered why BD-Live features have been so lackluster. Apparently, the challenge here is education. Studios and retailers are already educating the consumer on alien terms like HDTV, HDMI, 1080p, 7.1 and Blu-ray. Creating a brand new social experience for BD-Live and having to educate the consumer even further is an uphill battle on top of an uphill battle. Which is why the current strategy for studios is to build upon technology and habits that already exist (via iPhone apps, and partnerships with popular websites like Facebook and IMDB.com). To them, BD-Live should be not only an extension / augmentation of the movie, but also of the consumer’s life.

Here’s a run down of strategies / features by studio:

How can they make it easy, dynamic, and interactive?

Their first BD-Live title was ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ and since then they’ve had the ‘Hannah Montanna’ movie tied to Radio Disney, and the recent ‘Snow White’ features include “living menus” that change appearance according to the time and local weather, as well as the ability to receive a phone call from a Disney princess.

‘Lost - Season 5’ will feature “Lost University” (http://www.lostuniversity.org/). LU, with its Polar Bear mascot, is a Blu-ray/BD-Live exclusive, and gives Lost’s rabid fan base a chance to not only learn about the show, but also to study the themes and mythology built into the Lost universe. Disney hopes that ‘Lost’ fans who have yet to go Blu will buy Blu-ray players in order to participate.

SONY: Every release since April of 2008 has featured BD-Live (and of course, it should, given that their parent company invented Blu-ray). Initially, the BD-Live link was to a portal for additional content downloads and a chance to fill out surveys to let Sony know how they’re doing. Snore.

Recently, however, Sony’s focus has been two-fold. 1) The chance to edit clips from the movies (as seen on ‘Step Brothers,’ ‘Year One,’ and the upcoming ‘Snatch’) and post them on Facebook. And 2) “MovieIQ,” which is a live interactive database about the movie’s cast, crew, and production. A nifty feature bound for ‘Julie & Julia’ (Dec. 8th) is the ability to choose and email yourself recipes from the movie as it plays.

UNIVERSAL: Admittedly arriving late to the Blu-ray world last year, Universal sees the BD-Live experience as something that should be “simple and sharable.” On their discs, look for “community screenings” (everyone around the country, or world, watches the film at the same time, chatting about it via BD-Live), and integrated Facebook / iPhone applications. Recently, for ‘Fast & Furious’ Universal released a car customizing iPhone app (build a car, and share with your friends online) that has proved popular.

FOX: Sharing similar buzz words as simple and social, Fox introduced “Live Lookup” with ‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ a few months ago. Integrated with IMDB.com, it’s similar to Sony’s “MovieIQ”, but for my money, much more fluid and visual. Frankly, it’s a shame that we have to have two different versions of the same feature, but I guess simplifying would involve too many lawyers.

Fox is also looking to get into community screenings, citing the desire to “elevate catalogue titles to event status.” Seems like in addition to dressing up, throwing props, and singing along to the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’, the first rule of the ‘Fight Club’ Blu-ray will be to not talk about the fact that everyone’s supposed to show up to watch the flick at the same time.

WARNER was not in this panel, but they are very excited to host global community screenings for ‘Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince’ (Dec. 7th).

It’s clear, despite all efforts, that BD-Live has a way to go. Studios are researching their little hearts out to give us features like “Live Lookup,” and attempting to integrate their products into the arenas we already occupy. “Lost University” seems like a good start, but is admittedly only for die-hard fans. In the not-too-distant future, we could see e-commerce (the ability to buy products literally used in, or as seen in, the movie), editing movies in real time and inserting them into the film, putting your voice / likeness into the movies, or features akin to Google maps (posting/tagging user generated clips online that tie into filming locations).

Perhaps in addition to developing and selling their movies, bold new filmmakers will also create exciting opportunities for interactivity in watching their movies, which is usually very passive (except for popcorn consumption). Or maybe it’ll be you, dear readers, with the next kick ass idea. What do you want from BD-Live? What’s a “gotta have it” toy you’d love at your fingertips as your favorite flick unfurls in glorious high def?

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Blu-ray Brings a Smile to Martin Scorsese's Face!

Wed Nov 04, 2009 at 07:00 PM ET
Tags: Blu-con, Michael S. Palmer, Industry Trends (all tags) By Michael S. Palmer

For this year’s Blu-Con 2.0, the keynote speaker was heralded master filmmaker and movie fan extraordinaire Martin Scorsese.

As an avid cinephile, restorer, and collector, he remembers the days when the only way to “own a movie” was through the poster. One could go to revival houses, of course, but after years of use and abuse, prints were scratched, faded, and even missing scenes.

Then came the videotape. The first chance to build a film collection for the home, but VHS was a very limited technology. DVDs were one step better. A boon to the cause of restoration. Yet even DVDs were troubling, with the squabble over aspect ratios (full screen vs. wide screen).

And now, Blu-ray disc. To Mr. Scorsese, despite the fact that the cinema going experience can never be fully recreated, Blu-ray is the closest home theatre has ever gotten. It marks the very best quality picture and sound. Visual clarity is so strong; it’s all encompassing, almost 3D. As for the audio, he recently remarked while mixing ‘Shine a Light’ that he was excited to know that what he and his team mixed, would transfer exactly to the home.

When asked what he thought about the ability to alter classic titles for Blu-ray release, (such as removing production wires from special effects, or remixing mono soundtracks into 5.1 stereo surround) Mr. Scorsese said that one must preserve the vision of the filmmaker, through elements such as correct aspect ratio, color, and sound.

In his own experience, when Mr. Scorsese originally released ‘Taxi Driver’ (which isn’t out on Blu-ray yet), the technology at the time limited him to a mono track, but Bernard Herman had recorded his haunting score in stereo (just like Warner Home Video did with the 'Wizard of Oz' in 2005). Returning to those elements isn’t a desecration of the original exhibition, but a chance for the filmmaker to use technology that was unavailable to them when they were making their movies. He wanted us to remember that there were actually early versions of stereo 60+ year ago (Walt Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ was the first, exhibited in 1940 in “Fantasound”), used for such classics as ‘A Star is Born’ and ‘Shane.’

Regarding special effects, moderator Grover Crisp (SVP, Asset Management, Film Restoration & Digital Mastering, Sony Pictures Entertainment) spoke with Scorsese about the recent 4K restoration of ‘Dr. Strangelove.’ There were strings in some shots of the planes. Sony left the strings in for the studio’s master so they would always have them, but for the Blu-ray release removed the them, as the medium is so clear, on today’s larger television, the strings would have been distracting. Something Stanley Kubrick never wanted his audiences to see. As a fascinating anecdote, Mr. Scorsese said in the early 1990s Kubrick was self-preserving ‘Dr. Strangelove’ using a 35mm still camera, photographing it frame-by-frame. Scorsese chuckled, and then admitted that he wasn’t sure if Kubrick ever concluded this project.

Peter Bogdanovich said there are, “no old movies, just ones you haven’t seen.” And it’s through Blu-ray that Scorsese finds this especially true. Blu-ray has the ability to extend the life of film, in that it presents and preserves all the elements that make this visual medium feel like film (grain, texture, color etc). He said with previous home entertainment formats, audiences might not have been able to tell you exactly why a movie wasn’t as good as it was in the theater. Yet subconsciously they could feel it when clarity, color, and quality were lost.

When asked about his favorite Blu-ray movie, Mr. Scorsese didn’t want to pick just one, but admitted that every time he fires up John Ford’s ‘The Searchers,’ even just to check it out, he can’t turn it off. It still holds up, it’s very moving, and there’s beauty in the landscape and the nature of the faces.

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Blu-ray Players Getting Cheaper - $49 Black Friday Deal Not Out of the Question

Tue Oct 27, 2009 at 04:00 PM ET
Tags: Industry Trends (all tags)

The price of Blu-ray players has decreased significantly since last year, with even brands like Panasonic and Samsung getting in the sub $200 range. Analysts say that a $49 Black Friday deal isn’t out of the question.

In response to the question of holiday sale prices, “It’s conceivable we could see a $49 Blu-ray player on Black Friday” says Ross Rubin of the NPD. “Anything is possible.”

The NPD Group is one of the organizations that tracks pricing and sales data for consumer electronics in the retail environment. Their recent analysis shows a sharp increase in the number of lower priced Blu-ray players on the market. In between January to August of 2008, not a single sub $200 Blu-ray player was on the market, but in the same month range of 2009, 14% of all Blu-ray players cost less than two bills.

Interestingly, there were fewer players in the $200-$299 range in 2009 than in the previous year, but more in the $300-$399 range. This data supports the idea of a further polarized market, with low end gear on one side, high end gear on the other, and not too much in between.

Ross adds that one of the main features that seems to be selling Blu-ray players is streaming services, and that it’s no longer common to see big sales for players that don’t offer audio or video streaming.

Source: Video Business

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Redbox Tests Disc Sales Through Kiosks

Tue Oct 20, 2009 at 01:00 PM ET
Tags: Redbox, Industry Trends, High-Def Retailing (all tags)

In a move that’s a bit less appealing than their ever popular $1 rental kiosks, Redbox has announced DVD sales kiosks.

Clad in black rather than the iconic red, the new “Vidigo” kiosks will test consumer desire to make full DVD and Blu-ray purchases through kiosks. While no definitive information exists on Blu-ray pricing, DVDs will run between $19.95 and $20.95.

Current Vidigo kiosks are essentially Redbox kiosks colored black, but the new kiosks will be designed with space in mind, and will be smaller and slimmer. The new space saving design was created with the hope that Vidigo kiosks will be featured in convenience stores rather than large retail locations.

These ‘sell through’ kiosks would be in direct competition with stores that already sell DVDs, but certainly appeal to studios like Fox and Warner who have less than favorable opinions of the Redbox rental kiosks.

Source: Video Business

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Budget Brand Manufacturer Funai Adds CinemaNow

Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 05:00 PM ET
Tags: Funai, Industry Trends (all tags)

Funai, makers of a wide variety of budget line home theater products, are adding CinemaNow to their new products.

The name Funai might not be entirely familiar to most, though the brands they produce products for certainly are. Those lower end brands Wal-mart carries like Emerson and Sylvania? That’s Funai. Looking at a new Philips or Magnavox? You’re looking at Funai. Best Buy’s Insignia brand? You guessed it: Funai.

In order to up their competitiveness this holiday season and address “the emerging market demand for direct access to Internet movie downloads from connected devices,” Funai will be adding access to Sonic’s CinemaNow movie service.

Mark Ely, VP of strategy for Sonic is understandably optimistic about the agreement. “It certainly does bring us a much broader reach into the marketplace,” he quips. While CinemaNow is already available through some LG Blu-ray players, the inclusion of the service into these widely carried brands could translate into big numbers for CinemaNow.

Source: Video Business

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Paramount DVDs and Blu-rays Coming Too Fast For Theater Owners

Mon Oct 19, 2009 at 11:00 AM ET
Tags: Paramount, Industry Trends (all tags)

While a quick turnaround for Blu-ray and DVD releases may please consumers, theater owners are calling foul.

Paramount has sparked the ire of the North Association of Theater Owners (NATO) with the incredibly quick release of a pair of films to home video. The release dates in question involve 'The Goods,' starring Jeremy Piven, and 'G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra' starring a lot of people who should have known better.

Falling only 88 days after the theatrical release, these movies beat the 129 day industry average by over a full month. When considering that 'G.I Joe' in particular had a fairly long tail, this window seems even shorter. The worry from NATO of course, is that these quick releases will mean a decrease in theater revenue.

Ellis Jacob of Cineplex believes that consumers will be less likely to see movies at the theater if availability increases. “We at Cineplex have invested a lot of money in our theaters and in new technology such as 3D,” he says. “So when something like this happens, it creates an issue with people from the standpoint of entertainment choices. If a guest of ours knows a movie is going to be on DVD in less than 90 days, then they know that if they miss it they can catch it on DVD not too much later.”

NATO president John Fithian took a less diplomatic tact, saying “Our members are ballistic. We don't know what Paramount is up to, but it's highly objectionable.”

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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BluFocus Approved as Blu-ray Testing Center

Fri Oct 16, 2009 at 10:00 AM ET
Tags: Industry Trends (all tags)

The BluFocus testing facility has been approved as the first and only Blu-ray Disc Association approved testing center in the US.

Already a comprehensive testing center for compatibility, verification and THX certification, BluFocus can add Blu-ray testing to the list. BluFocus has been officially approved by the BDA for the testing of Movie Player Verification as well as for BD-ROM Audio Visual Content, and is pending approval to officially test BD-ROM PC Application Software.

"Our goal since inception has been to promote the Blu-ray format and ensure its success by offering testing and advisory services to all those creating Blu-ray products,” stated Paulette E. Pantoja, CEO and founder of BluFocus. “To be officially recognized and approved by the BDA is a compliment to our hard work and dedication to this format.”

Compatibility and functionality are the aim of BluFocus, and though the BDA approval is new, you’ve likely experienced their work before. If you had what BluFocus calls “a seamless, issue-free customer experience” with discs like 'The Dark Knight,' you have BluFocus to thank.

Source: Press Release

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Oppo Drops DVD to Focus on Blu-Ray

Thu Oct 15, 2009 at 03:30 PM ET
Tags: Oppo, Industry Trends (all tags)

Quite possibly the internet’s favorite brand, Oppo, is setting up in the UK to expand its Blu-ray business, which will be the main focus going forward.

In a recent conversation with British home theater site Home Cinema Choice, a spokesman for Oppo revealed a bit about the company’s plans for the future. In a matter of a few months, Oppo plans to set up a base in the UK to expand the business of Blu-ray.

As far as DVD goes, that time is over for Oppo according to spokesperson Pan Min. “We have sold out of DVD players and there are no more to come,” he states. “The DVD business is over for us. We are committed to Blu-ray.”

Min also talks a bit about why the brand is so beloved. “We may be a very small company, but where we are different from the likes of Denon and Sony is that we listen to our customers. Feedback is really important.”

Source: Home Cinema Choice

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Anti-Kiosk Advertising Coming This Fall

Wed Oct 14, 2009 at 01:00 PM ET
Tags: Industry Trends, High-Def Retailing (all tags)

The Video Buyers Group really doesn’t care for kiosks, and they’re not shy about saying so.

In 1,700 stores across the country, advertisements will be featured stressing the value of the video rental store.

Rental kiosks are big business, and traditional brick and mortar stores see that as a direct threat. They’re not the only ones though, studios and distributors also seem to have a problem with dollar a day style rental kiosks, stressing that such pricing devalues the product.

Ted Engen, president of the Video Buyers Group (VBG) states that “This program underscores the advantage that traditional rentailers have. We have talked to Family Video, and they are joining efforts with us. We all want to [spread the message] to consumers that one dollar rentals are devaluing our industry.” Family Video, not currently a part of the VBG, has pledged its support to the program, and will be inserting this marketing campaign into 550 stores country wide.

He also draws a comparison in pricing between a video rental and a bottle of soda, implying that two hours of entertainment should cost significantly more than a carbonated beverage.

Titles such as 'Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs' and 'Orphan' are expected to be featured on upcoming posters, as these will be the first titles held back from Red Box by Fox and Warner Bros.

Source: Video Business

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Dolby Brings the Surround Sound Experience to…EVERYTHING!

Tue Oct 13, 2009 at 04:15 PM ET
Tags: 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.

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