Dolby Explained

Dolby Laboratories, Inc.
Type:Public
Founded: in London, England
Founder:Ray Dolby
Location City:Civic Center, San Francisco, California
Location Country:U.S.
Locations:30+ (2014)
Area Served:Worldwide
Products:see Technologies
Services:Dolby Cinema
Revenue: (2022)
Operating Income: US$207 million (2022)
Net Income: US$184 million (2022)
Assets: US$2.69 billion (2022)
Equity: US$2.25 billion (2022)
Num Employees:2,336 (2022)
Footnotes:[1] [2] [3]

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (often shortened to Dolby Labs and known simply as Dolby) is a British-American technology corporation specializing in audio noise reduction, audio encoding/compression, spatial audio, and HDR imaging. Dolby licenses its technologies to consumer electronics manufacturers.[4]

History

Dolby Labs was founded by Ray Dolby (1933–2013) in London, England, in 1965.[5] In the same year, he invented the Dolby Noise Reduction system, a form of audio signal processing for reducing the background hissing sound on cassette tape recordings.[6] His first U.S. patent on the technology was filed in 1969, four years later. The method was first used by Decca Records in the UK.[7] After this, other companies began purchasing Dolby’s A301 technology, which was the professional noise reduction system used in recording, motion picture, broadcasting stations and communications networks.[8] These companies include BBC, Pye, IBC, CBS Studios, RCA, and Granada.[9]

He moved the company headquarters to the United States (San Francisco, California) in 1976.[10] The first product Dolby Labs produced was the Dolby 301 unit which incorporated Type A Dolby Noise Reduction, a compander-based noise reduction system. These units were intended for use in professional recording studios.

Dolby was persuaded by Henry Kloss of KLH to manufacture a consumer version of his noise reduction. Dolby worked more on companding systems and introduced Type B in 1968.

Dolby also sought to improve film sound. As the corporation's history explains:

Upon investigation, Dolby found that many of the limitations in optical sound stemmed directly from its significantly high background noise. To filter this noise, the high-frequency response of theatre playback systems was deliberately curtailed… To make matters worse, to increase dialogue intelligibility over such systems, sound mixers were recording soundtracks with so much high-frequency pre-emphasis that high distortion resulted.

The first film with Dolby sound was A Clockwork Orange (1971). The company was approached by Stanley Kubrick, who wanted to use Dolby’s noise reduction system to facilitate the film’s extensive mixing.[11] The film went on to use Dolby noise reduction on all pre-mixes and masters, but a conventional optical soundtrack on release prints. Callan (1974) was the first film with a Dolby-encoded optical soundtrack.[12] In 1975, Dolby released Dolby Stereo, which included a noise reduction system in addition to more audio channels (Dolby Stereo could actually contain additional center and surround channels matrixed from the left and right). The first film with a Dolby-encoded stereo optical soundtrack was Lisztomania (1975), although this only used an LCR (Left-Center-Right) encoding technique. The first true LCRS (Left-Center-Right-Surround) soundtrack was encoded on the movie A Star Is Born in 1976. In less than ten years, 6,000 cinemas worldwide were equipped to use Dolby Stereo sound. Dolby reworked the system slightly for home use and introduced Dolby Surround, which only extracted a surround channel, and the more impressive Dolby Pro Logic, which was the domestic equivalent of the theatrical Dolby Stereo.[13]

Dolby developed a digital surround sound compression scheme for the cinema. Dolby Stereo Digital (now simply called Dolby Digital) was first featured on the 1992 film Batman Returns. Introduced to the home theater market as Dolby AC-3 with the 1995 laserdisc release of Clear and Present Danger, the format did not become widespread in the consumer market, partly because of extra hardware that was necessary to make use of it, until it was adopted as part of the DVD specification. Dolby Digital is now found in the HDTV (ATSC) standard of the United States, DVD players, and many satellite-TV and cable-TV receivers.Dolby developed a digital surround sound compression scheme for the TV series The Simpsons.

On February 17, 2005, the company became public, offering its shares on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol DLB. On March 15, 2005, Dolby celebrated its 40th anniversary at the ShoWest 2005 Festival in San Francisco.

On January 8, 2007, Dolby announced the arrival of Dolby Volume at the International Consumer Electronics Show.[14]

On June 18, 2010, Dolby introduced Dolby Surround 7.1, and set up theaters worldwide with 7.1 surround speaker setups to deliver theatrical 7.1 surround sound. The first film to be released with this format was Pixar's Toy Story 3 which was later followed by fifty releases using the format. About 80% of films released are now mixed in Dolby Surround 7.1 by default.

In April 2012, Dolby introduced its Dolby Atmos, a new cinematic technology adding overhead sound, first applied in Pixar's motion picture Brave.[15] In July 2014, Dolby Laboratories announced plans to bring Atmos to home theater. The first television show to use the technology on disc was Game of Thrones.

On February 24, 2014, Dolby acquired Doremi Labs for $92.5 million in cash plus an additional $20 million in contingent consideration that may be earned over a four-year period.[16]

In May 2015, Dolby reopened Vine Theatre as a 70-seat showcase theater, known as Dolby @ Vine or Dolby Screening Room Hollywood Vine.[17] [18] [19]

In May 2019, Dolby added Dolby Atmos to hundreds of newer songs in the music industry.[20]

In May 2020, Dolby launched a developer platform, Dolby.io, aimed at providing developers self-service access to Dolby technologies through public APIs. It allows any person, organization, small and big, to integrate in their websites, apps, games, etc. features such as media enhancements and transcoding, spatial audio, high-quality video communication and low-latency streaming.[21]

Technologies

Analog audio noise reduction

Audio encoding/compression

Audio processing

Video processing

Digital cinema

Live sound

Over the years Dolby has introduced several surround sound systems. Their differences are explained below.

Dolby matrix surround systems

Decoder Encoder YearDescription Channels
Dolby StereoDolby MP Matrix 1975 Cinema use with optical technology. Uses Dolby A for noise reduction. 4:2 encoded for 35mm film and 2:4 decoded back to 4.0 by Dolby Stereo Processor. Discrete Magnetic 6-Track variant for 70mm.FL FR with C and MonoSurround matrixed
" 1982 Consumer Variant of Dolby Stereo. Original Decoder utilized a simple passive L-R Circuit with Delay and Phantom Center for 3-Channel Decoding. FL FR and MonoSurround matrixed
Dolby Stereo SRDolby MP Matrix 1986 Addition of Dolby SR Noise Reduction to Dolby Stereo for Enhanced Fidelity and Dynamic Range. FL FR with C and MonoSurround matrixed
Dolby Pro Logic" 1986 Modern
1987
Reference Active Matrix 2:4 Decoder (Cat No. 150) for Dolby Stereo and Dolby Surround. Accurately Decodes Lt/Rt to Recover the LCRS 4.0 Surround. FL FR with C and MonoSurround matrixed
N/A 2000 Upmixes non-Encoded Stereo to Surround 5.1. Can also be used to decode Dolby Surround for 5.1 Playback. Consumer Decoders often include specific Movie, Music, or Game modes. FL FR C SL SR SUB
N/A 2002 Extension to PLII. Enhancement of either Stereo, Dolby Surround, Dolby Digital 5.1 to 6.1 or 7.1. Decodes Dolby Digital EX to 6.1 or 7.1. Retains Movie, Music, or Game modes in Consumer Products. FL FR C SL SR SUB Left Back and Right Back
Dolby Pro Logic IIzN/A 2009 Extension to PLIIx. Decodes Stereo, Dolby Surround or Discrete 5.1/6.1/7.1 to 7.1 Height or Full 9.1 with the addition of Front Height Channels. Last Pro Logic Branded Decoder from Dolby.L, C, R, Lss, Rss (side surrounds), Lrs, Rrs (rear surrounds), LFE, Lvh and Rvh
Dolby Surround (2014)N/A 2014 Dolby reintroduced the Dolby Surround terminology in 2014. The term now refers to a new frequency-domain decoder/upmixer. Dolby Surround is a complete replacement for Pro Logic; it takes in stereo (discrete or matrixed), 5.1 and 7.1 inputs to play over a wide range of output configurations including those with height channels.

Dolby discrete surround systems

Format Core Codec YearDescription Channels
Dolby DigitalAC-3 1986 Modern
1992 Film
1995 Laser Disc
Discrete channel encoder/decoder. Stereo output can be generated from the 5 program channels using Pro Logic encoding. This allows systems that are limited to stereo output to carry surround sound. L R C Ls Rs LFE
Dolby Digital Surround EXAC-3 1999 6.1 or 7.1 Surround via Matrix Encoding of Ls/Rs Channels in 5.1. Remains backwards compatible with standard 5.1 digital. L R C Ls Rs LFE.
Matrix decoding can derive Cs (mono surround) or Lrs, Rrs (stereo surrounds) from the Ls and Rs signals
Dolby TrueHDMLP 2006 Lossless compression codec; supports 44.1 kHz to 192 kHz sampling frequency up to 24-bit word length; supports variable data rate up to 18 Mbit/s; maximum channel support is 16 channels as presently deployed. Higher bitrate than Dolby Digital Plus. Blu-ray Disc channel support up to eight channels of 96 kHz/24-bit audio; six channels (5.1) up to 192 kHz/24-bit; and two- to six-channel support up to 192 kHz/24-bit maximum bit rate up to the maximum of 18 Mbit/s.
Dolby Digital PlusEnhanced AC-3 2006 Lossy compression codec; 48 kHz sampling frequency, 20-bit word length; supports data rates of 32 kbit/s – 6 Mbit/s, scalable, including 768 kbit/s – 1.5 Mbit/s on high-definition optical discs, typically, and 256 kbit/s for broadcast and online. 1.0- to 7.1-channel support for current media applications; extensible to 16 channels; discrete. Backward compatible with Dolby Digital through S/PDIF connection up to 640 kbit/s. Supports Dolby Metadata. L R C Lss Rss LFE Lrs Rrs
Dolby Surround 7.1N/A 2010 New sound format for cinema soundtracks that adds two additional surround channels.L, C, R, Lss, Rss (side surrounds), Lrs, Rrs (rear surrounds), LFE
Dolby AtmosCinema: SSLAC. Consumer: Dolby Digital Plus-JOC, MLP, AC-4. 2012 Expands on existing surround sound formats by adding top surround channels and audio objects. Each audio object consists of a mono audio signal plus metadata that describes the sound location, size, and other rendering control parameters. An object renderer is used to convert the audio objects to output channel signals. The use of audio objects allows a sound to be described independently of any specific loudspeaker configuration. For cinema distribution, all audio is losslessly encoded as PCM or SSLAC (Samplerate Scalable Lossless Audio Coding).Cinema soundtrack channels:
L, R, C, LFE, Lss, Rss (side surrounds), Lrs, Rrs (rear surrounds), Lts, Rts (top surrounds). Note: the number and intended location of _output_ channels is defined at playback based on the available loudspeakers.

See also

Notes and References

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  2. Web site: Dolby Laboratories – Sound Technology, Imaging Technology, Voice Technology . Audistry.com . 2012-04-26 . August 21, 2009 . https://web.archive.org/web/20090821161434/http://www.audistry.com/ . dead .
  3. Web site: ViaLicensing . ViaLicensing . 2012-04-26.
  4. Web site: Understanding the differences between domestic, international, and global companies.
  5. Book: Welch . Rosanne . Technical Innovation in American History: An Encyclopedia of Science and Technology [3 volumes] . Lamphier . Peg A. . ABC-CLIO . 2019 . 978-1-61069-094-2 . Santa Barbara, CA . 47 . en.
  6. Book: Billboard . Dolby System's Acceptance Builds Insurmountable Lead . Nielsen Business Media, Inc. . 1971 . New York . 23 . en.
  7. News: Ray Dolby obituary: Inventor whose noise-reduction technology transformed sound reproduction . Williamson . Marcus . Marcus Williamson . 13 September 2013. The Independent.
  8. November 27, 1971 . Dolby System's Acceptance Builds Insurmountable Lead . Billboard . 63 . 48 . 23.
  9. Book: Mukharji, Aroop . Diplomas and Diplomacy: The History of the Marshall Scholarship . Palgrave Macmillan . 2016 . 978-1-137-59428-0 . New York . 122 . en.
  10. Web site: 50 Years of Innovation – Dolby History . Dolby Laboratories . September 14, 2017.
  11. Book: Beck, Jay . Designing Sound: Audiovisual Aesthetics in 1970s American Cinema . Rutgers University Press . 2016 . 978-0-8135-6413-5 . New Brunswick, New Jersey . 166 . en.
  12. Book: Sergi, Gianluca. The Dolby Era: Film Sound in Contemporary Hollywood. 46. Manchester University Press. 2004. 0719070678.
  13. Web site: Star Wars and the Explosion of Dolby Stereo - Tested.com. Tested.
  14. Web site: Dolby to turn volume down on loud commercials . Jacqui Cheng . 18 January 2007 . Ars Technica.
  15. News: Pixar's Brave to debut new Dolby Atmos sound system . . BBC News . 25 April 2012 . 2012-04-26.
  16. Web site: Dolby Signs Agreement to Acquire Doremi Labs . Dolby.com . 2014-02-24 . 2014-02-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140315081110/http://investor.dolby.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=827738 . March 15, 2014 . dead .
  17. Web site: July 17, 2024 . Vine Theatre . cinematreasures.org . en.
  18. Web site: July 17, 2024 . Hollywood Boulevard Entertainment District . Mike Hume . historictheatrephotos.com . en.
  19. Web site: July 17, 2024 . Dolby screening room Hollywood Vine . Dolby Laboratories, Inc. . en.
  20. Universal Music Group Looks to the Future of Sound Mixing With Dolby Atmos . . 23 May 2019 . Chris Eggersten . https://web.archive.org/web/20220406230707/https://www.billboard.com/pro/universal-music-group-dolby-atmos-sound-mixing/ . 6 April 2022.
  21. Web site: Dolby launches Dolby.io, its new self-service developer platform . 12 May 2020 . Frederic Lardinois.
  22. Web site: Dolby Advanced Audio v2. www.dolby.com.
  23. Web site: Dolby Digital EX . Dolby.com . 2012-04-26 . October 10, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111010045840/http://www.dolby.com/consumer/understand/playback/dolby-digital-ex.html . dead .
  24. Web site: Dolby Digital Live . Dolby.com . 2012-04-26 . October 10, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111010051951/http://www.dolby.com/consumer/understand/playback/dolby-digital-live.html . dead .
  25. Web site: Dolby Pulse - combining the merits of Dolby Digital and HE-AAC . 2008-12-10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20100601182754/http://www.ebu.ch/en/technical/trev/trev_2008-Q3_dolby-pulse.pdf . 2010-06-01 . dead .
  26. Web site: Dolby Headphone with 5.1 Surround Sound Stereo . Dolby.com . 2012-04-26 . October 10, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111010061748/http://www.dolby.com/consumer/understand/enhancement/dolby-headphone.html . dead .
  27. Web site: Dolby Laboratories - Sound Technology, Imaging Technology, Voice Technology . Audistry.com . 2012-04-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070829024715/http://www.audistry.com/files/audistry_technicalwhitepaper.pdf . 2007-08-29 . dead .
  28. Web site: Dolby Volume . Dolby.com . 2012-04-26 . June 23, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110623122830/http://www.dolby.com/consumer/understand/volume/dolby-volume.html . dead .
  29. Web site: Dolby Voice Overview . Dolby.com . December 12, 2019 . en.
  30. Web site: Dolby Debuts New Video Technologies at International CES 2008 . Dolby press release . 2008-03-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080417163550/http://investor.dolby.com/ReleaseDetail.cfm?ReleaseID=284934 . 2008-04-17 . dead .
  31. Book: An Introduction to Dolby Vision . Dolby Vision . 2016 . Dolby Laboratories .
  32. News: HPA Tech Retreat 2014 – Day 4 . Adam Wilt . DV Info Net . 2014-02-20 . 2014-11-05.
  33. News: ST 2084:2014 . . 2015-09-21.
  34. News: HDR Special Report: SMPTE Standards Director: No HDR Format War, Yet . Chris Tribbey . MESA . 2015-07-10 . 2015-09-21 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150913044219/http://mesalliance.org/blog/me-daily/2015/07/10/smpte-standards-director-no-hdr-format-war-yet/ . 2015-09-13 . dead .
  35. News: Colorist Stephen Nakamura on Grading Tomorrowland in HDR . Bryant Frazer . studiodaily . 2015-06-09 . 2015-09-21 . September 13, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150913064202/http://www.studiodaily.com/2015/06/colorist-stephen-nakamura-grading-tomorrowland-dolby-vision/ . dead .
  36. News: What Makes a TV HDR-Compatible? The CEA Sets Guidelines . Big Picture Big Sound . Rachel Cericola . 2015-08-27 . 2015-09-21.
  37. Web site: High Dynamic Range and Wide Color Gamut (Windows). msdn.microsoft.com.
  38. Web site: Dolby Vision . Dolby Laboratories . 2016-08-24 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150221015948/http://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-vision/dolby-vision-white-paper.pdf . 2015-02-21 . dead .
  39. News: SMPTE ST 2094 and Dynamic Metadata . . 2017-01-25 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170202043518/https://www.smpte.org/sites/default/files/2017-01-12-ST-2094-Borg-V2-Handout.pdf . 2017-02-02 . dead .
  40. News: Ultra HD Blu-ray arrives March 2016; here's everything we know . Caleb Denison . Digital Trends . 2016-01-28 . 2016-07-27.
  41. News: Hands On First Look: Samsung UBD-K8500 Ultra HD Blu-ray Player . Michael S. Palmer . High-Def Digest . 2016-02-10 . 2016-07-27.
  42. Web site: Dolby Vision . Dolby.com . 2012-04-26 . April 18, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150418071106/http://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-vision.html . dead .
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  44. Web site: January 2020. Becky Roberts 22. Dolby Vision IQ: everything you need to know. 2020-08-19. whathifi. en.
  45. News: ICtCp Dolby White Paper . Dolby . 2016-04-20 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160508234602/http://www.dolby.com/us/en/technologies/dolby-vision/ICtCp-white-paper.pdf . 2016-05-08 . live .
  46. News: Encoding Color Difference Signals for High Dynamic Range and Wide Gamut Imagery . Jan Froehlich . Timo Kunkel . Robin Atkins . Jaclyn Pytlarz . Scott Daly . Andreas Schilling . Bernd Eberhardt . Society for Imaging Sciences and Technology . 2015-10-18 . 2016-08-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20160828212330/https://www.hdm-stuttgart.de/~froehlichj/ICaCb/CIC23_Jan-Froehlich_ColorDifferenceEncoding.pdf . 2016-08-28 . live .
  47. Web site: Dolby Digital Cinema . Dolby.com . 2012-04-26 . October 10, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20111010062735/http://www.dolby.com/consumer/understand/cinema/dolby-digital-cinema.html . dead .
  48. Web site: Dolby Surround 7.1 . Dolby.com . 2020-11-11.
  49. http://www.dolby.com/consumer/technology/dolby-3d.html Dolby 3D Movie Technology
  50. http://www.dolby.com/us/en/professional/technology/cinema/dolby-atmos.html Content Creators, Distributors, Exhibitors: Introducing Dolby Atmos™
  51. http://www.dolby.com/us/en/platforms/dolby-cinema.html Dolby Cinema the Total Cinema Experience
  52. Web site: Dolby Lake Processor . 2012-04-26 . https://web.archive.org/web/20081121173425/http://www.dolby.com/uploadedFiles/zz-_Shared_Assets/English_PDFs/Professional/dolby-lake-processor-operating-specifications.pdf . 2008-11-21 . dead .
  53. Web site: About Lake.