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Dolby® Digital Plus extends the capabilities of Dolby Digital, optimizing sound quality and efficiency for a richer, more compelling audio experience.

Delivers scalable sound, optimizing quality and efficiency for the available bandwidth

Supports a wide range of existing and emerging home theater, broadcast, streamed content, and mobile applications

Provides up to 7.1 channels of surround sound for a more involving experience and dramatic special effects

Includes compatibility with millions of existing playback systems

Dolby Digital Plus is a versatile digital audio coding technology that extends the capabilities of Dolby Digital. Dolby Digital Plus delivers up to 7.1 channels of surround sound, with scalable sound delivery and a wide range of bit rates ensuring optimized sound quality and efficiency for the available bandwidth. These advances are just a few reasons why Dolby Digital Plus delivers a more enveloping audio experience for existing and emerging applications, including new digital broadcast TV formats, Internet-delivered audio, and high-definition video discs.

Dolby Digital Plus for Broadcast

By delivering increased efficiency that enables lower bit rates, support for up to 7.1 channels, and advanced services like bitstream mixing, Dolby Digital Plus gives broadcasters the flexibility they need to create a high-quality audio experience for existing and next-generation applications. Read more about Dolby Digital Plus for broadcast applications.

Dolby Digital Plus also supports secondary audio applications for interactive BonusView™ and BD-Live™ content on Blu-ray Disc™.

Why Dolby

With more channels, less compression, and higher bit rates, Dolby Digital Plus helps content producers differentiate their products by delivering a sound experience that some reviewers have described as being “virtually transparent” to the original source.

Delivers up to 7.1 channels of surround sound from Blu-ray Disc players

Enables up to 13.1 channels of dynamic sound to support new and emerging content delivery formats

Supports interactive Blu-ray Disc features: BonusView, an embedded picture-in-picture option that mixes multichannel secondary audio and video content, and BD-Live, which displays content streamed from the Internet

Allows single-cable connection and full application of the A/V receiver’s digital signal processor (DSP) postprocessing and bass management via HDMI™ 1.3 data transport

Includes complete metadata support and backward compatibility with existing home theaters

Channels: 1.0 to 7.1, discrete

Data rate: 32/48 kbps–6 Mbps, scalable

Supports Dolby metadata: Yes

Connections: S/PDIF, HDMI, IEEE 1394

Mixing/streaming capabilities: Yes

Backward compatibility: Yes; S/PDIF to legacy A/V receivers

Dolby Metadata Parameters

Professional metadata parameters are only carried in the Dolby E bitstream and are used to configure a downstream decoder. Consumer parameters are carried in the Dolby E, Dolby Digital Plus, and Dolby Digital bitstreams, and are used by the consumer’s decoder.

Extended bitstream information parameters are in italics.

Metadata Parameter
Professional
Consumer
Program configuration
x
 
Program description text
x
 
Dialogue level  
x
Channel mode  
x
LFE channel  
x
Bitstream mode  
x
Line mode compression  
x
RF mode compression  
x
RF overmodulation protection  
x
Center downmix level  
x
Surround downmix level  
x
Dolby Surround mode  
x
Audio production information  
x
Mix level  
x
Room type  
x
Copyright bit  
x
Original bitstream  
x
Preferred stereo downmix
 
x
Lt/Rt Center downmix level
 
x
Lt/Rt surround downmix level
 
x
Lo/Ro Center downmix level
 
x
Lo/Ro surround downmix level
 
x
Dolby Surround EX mode
 
x
A/D converter type
 
x
DC filter
x
 
Lowpass filter
x
 
LFE lowpass filter
x
 
Surround 3 dB attenuation
x
 
Surround phase shift
x
 

 

Special Parameters

There are other professional parameters included in the Dolby E bitstream that are not under direct user control, such as timecode and pitch shift.

Dolby Digital Plus

Dolby Digital Plus is a highly sophisticated and versatile audio codec based on Dolby Digital and designed specifically to adapt to the changing demands of future audio, video delivery, and audio storage systems while simultaneously retaining backward compatibility with the existing Dolby Digital 5.1-channel home theater systems in use today.



 
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