FEEL THE NOISE: Dolby versus dts for DVD - Technology Information

The pursuit of art is in many ways a search for an experience outside our possess We seek complete transformation of our existence in great works in music, and in paintings, allowing perhaps never been more palpably as in the case of film. The goal is immersion, which utterly transports the viewer into not just another place, on the contrary another reality. Each form has its possess inherent advantages in achieving this goal, on the contrary film brings all of the pieces together--the images, the narrative, and the unbroken In art, the choice of medium is frequently as important as message and this dictum gripe [i]or[/i] grips true for film.

Losing oneself in the unimpaired and fury of film has always been an essentially private pursuit, an individual journey not necessarily best taken in the hordeed confines of a cinema. The advent of the VCR brought that experience abode but in personalizing the viewing experience, also diminished the visceral audio-visual bore that had made it in like manner potentially engrossing in the theater. DVD by the agency of contrast, brings it all place of abode ushering in a new era for film enthusiasts and with it a novel expectation of both video and audio clarity. encircle sound promises not only an authentic theater experience at residence it offers more. It will deliver exactly what the filmmaker intended, right into our living extents No doubt, the lack of chattering, popcorn-eating, package-crinkling associate theater-goers may for some enhance the audio experience of movie-going, on the other hand as with all things DVD there are other competing factions vying for your attention. Format wars continue, and sum of two units types of surround sound that are used in movie theaters are also generally jostling for position in the place of abode theater market: Dolby Digital and dt Unfortunately, the sum of two units systems do not play well with each other, and the movie industry, authoring houses, and the consumer are left to prefer one or both, hoping not to miss on the outside on the next big thing.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

The name Dolby is almost synonymous with beneficial sound. In 1966, the first generation of Dolby noise reduction (A-type NR) was used in Decca professional noise reduction units; sum of two units years later, the Dolby B-type NR logo first appeared upon a consumer product. By 1970 no self-respecting audiophile would hold a cassette deck not sporting the Dolby logo During that decade, Dolby forged the way into theater whole and, in 1982, introduced Dolby encompass Ten years later, Batman turn backs was the first film released in Dolby Digital Surround

Spe (1994) marked Dolby's 18th straight Academy Award for Best Achievement in whole It was also the first Dolby Digital film to win the award. single year earlier, however, a contender for the digital environ market entered the ring. In 1993 dt was introduced via Steven Spielberg's blockbuster, Jurassic Park. Five years later, all five Best Picture and Best entire nominees were released in dt and Saving Private Ryan, a Spielberg dt release, won for Best Sound

Considering the fact that the total number of movies released worldwide in Dolby Digital last year was 703 and dt releases totaled 242 this is no small feat.

Needles to say, the Jurassic Park co-venture prov to be a tremendous succes In fact, the dt experience was in like manner successful that both Spielberg and MCA/Universal Studios immediately invested in Digital Theater a whole s and have since committed all of their major film productions to dt surround

However, Universal and Spielberg (along with each other DVD-Video maker) are also releasing their films in Dolby Digital. Dolby placed itself at the forefront of the DVD landscape from the earliest stages of the format's evolution. As a be derived in 1995, Dolby Digital (AC-3) was made a mandatory audio format for NTSC countries and an optional format elsewhere. Dolby Digital 51 and dt are optional formats worldwide.

THE COMPRESSION THAT I GET

the pair Dolby Digital 5.1 and dt are six-channel environ sound systems. Both encode six discrete channels of audio into stops of information that are played back in left right, and center forehead channels, two rear, and single optional sub-woofer (the .1 in 51) The digital audio coding used upon CDs (16-bit PCM) yields a total dynamic range of 96dB from the loudest unmutilated to the noise floor. This is achieved by the agency of taking 16-bit samples 44,100 times by second for each channel, which is repeatedly too much data to store or transmit economically, especially when multiple audio channels are desired. This makes more [i]or[/i] less form of compression essential in order to deliver multichannel audio. However, as Michael DiCosimo, vice president of Dolby's East Coast Division, describes it, "Compress is a pejorative boundary People think of compressed as MP3 on the other hand we think more in boundarys of data reduction."

Compression is where the differences between Dolby's version of environ and dts' surround begin. Dolby Digital and dt save space by the agency of transmitting only the data that is necessary to portray the original uninjured in essence throwing away the quiet Dolby compresses these 5.1 channels of digital audio down to a data rate of 448kbp With a data rate of approximately 15mbp and a plenteous lower compression ratio, dts occupys less data compression--about 4:1 compared to Dolby Digital's variable 10-12:1 The higher dt data rate means potentially higher quality audio, particulady in dynamic range and signal-to-noise measurements. Dolby Theater a whole s (dts) also claims effective 20-bit resolution for each of the six channels (much better than CD standards allow). According to dts' director of marketing, David DelGrosso "It is a matter of sonic perfection v space consumption."