Audio News for July 7, 2007

Double-sided Warner Bros. Hi-Def DVD Delayed – Warner Bros. alleged solution to the current hi-def battle of Blu-ray vs. HD DVD – dubbed Total HD – will not be rolled out late this year as original promised. The first discs – which feature one of the new formats on one side and the other on the opposing side – are now expected in early 2008, according to the studio’s VP of sales and planning. Some industry observers are asking if more expensive discs with both hi-def formats unified on it are really necessary now considering the way Blu-ray has been pulling ahead of HD DVD in sales.

Yet Another Digital Audio Content Protection Technology – Verance Corporation has announced the availability of its audio watermark technology for licensing by makers of Blu-ray and HD DVD players and components. The technology is designed to discourage the use of these emerging formats as a growth platform for piracy.  It becomes part of the content protection solution used on Blu-ray and HD DVD commercial discs which are already AACS-protected. [It should be understood that all DRM (Digital Rights Management) software adds complexities to the proper interfacing and operation of AV components, and double levels of it increase the possibility of problems further.]

Blu-ray Disc Promotion – Seven of the major Hollywood studios and six top consumer electronics manufacturers have announced the launch of the Blu-ray Disc Promotion beginning July 1 thru September 30.  Purchasers of a qualifying Blu-ray player during that period will have their choice of five free Blu-ray discs from a list of 21 popular titles. The Blu-ray technology has become a leader in the hi-def marketplace with support from over 170 companies spanning consumer electronics, computers, music, gaming and movie studios.

Dolby Home Theater Added to Acer Laptops – The Dolby Home Theater suite of audio technologies has been added to the new Acer Aspire PC Notebooks to provide rich surround sound in a variety of playback environments for music, movies and games. The notebooks will support all these technologies: Dolby Digital – Up to 5.1 discrete digital channels of audio; Dolby Digital Live – Converts any audio signal from the PC into Dolby Digital; Dolby Pro Logic II – Creates a 5.1-channel surround experience from any two-channel source; Dolby Headphone – Delivers a surround sound impression from any 5.1 source using any headphones; Dolby Virtual Speaker – Delivers a surround sound impression of a 5.1-channel soundtrack from any pair of stereo-only speakers.