Audio News for September 9, 2011

by | Sep 9, 2011 | Audio News

Dolby Technologies Support 2011 Toronto International Film Festival – The Festival (Sept. 8-12) delivers a premium digital experience to filmmakers and festival attendees, using Dolby Digital Cinema, Dolby 3D, Dolby’s Professional Reference Monitor,, and Dolby surround sound solutions, among other encoding and decoding solutions.  Their 3D technology uses a full-spectrum color filter providing realistic color reproduction and extremely sharp images in theaters with environmentally-friendly passive reusable 3D glasses.  Dolby has shipped over 8300 of their 3D systems to exhibitor partners in more than 80 countries. Dolby Surround 7.1 provides four surround zones to better orchestrate audio channels for both 2D and 3D movies. The added Back Surround Left and Back Surround Right channels allow panning 360 degrees around the theater. Currently, over 2100 screens worldwide are equipped with Dolby Surround 7.1.  3D selections at the Festival include The Flying Machine, A Monster in Paris, Pina, Twist, and ORA.
Demo of Thought-Controlled TV – At the IFA electronics fair in Berlin a Chinese company, Haier, showed “the world’s first brain-computer interface technology SmartTV.”  It allows users to interact with apps on the TV using biofeedback. Its MindReader headset detects human brainwave patterns which reveal a person’s mental state, and then translates the monitored brainwaves into digital signals that the TV can recognize. The brain-controlled TV apps allow users to develop control over their concentration and relaxation abilities thru entertainment applications. The system is powered by NeuroSky ThinkGear technology, which comes from a Silicon Valley-based bio sensor company offering wearable, embedded system level sensors that interpret brainwaves and other bio-signals for human-to-machine interface technology.
Integra Launches Multichannel Audio Trio at CEDIA – A new preamp-processor and two high-end AV receivers offer DTS Neo:X post-processing and 4K video upscaling, plus a greater selection of Internet music services, and the ability to be controlled from mobile Apple and Android wireless devices. The DHS-80.3 preamp-processor, DTR-80.3 and DTR-70.3 AV receivers are all 9.2-channel THX Ultra2 Plus certified components. Neo:X allows up to 11.1 channels. Users can add front-height and image-widening front-wide speakers to a 5.1 system, or front-wide and surround-back speakers. Dolby ProLogic IIz also adds front-height channel outputs from stereo or multichannel inputs. Another included option is Audyssey DSX post-processing, which also adds front-height channels plus a pair of image-widening left-right speakers. The IDT VidaVHD1900 video processor can enhance both streaming video and 1080p upscaling of analog video sources. Qdeo processing upscales 1080p video to 4K, the new higher-resolution standard.  Internet audio services include Spotify, Aupeo, Last.fm, Pandora, Mediafly, Napster, Rhapsody, vTuner and Sirius XM Internet Radio. The two receivers are rated at 9×145 watts and 9x135watts into 8 ohms. All three include Dolby Volume, to give a consistent volume level not only from TV but also when switching among connected sources.
Sony Personal 3D/HD Viewer – Sony offered at the IFA Berlin show their head-mounted HD/3D TV personal display, the HMZ-T1.  The wearer sees an enhanced 3D image that appears to be displayed on a 150-inch screen, using miniature 720p OLED screens with a high contrast ratio and fast refresh rates. The viewer is said to have a more natural 3D video experience due to complete freedom from crosstalk, since each eye has its own display.  The viewer also does 2D material and is ideal for video game play.  Virtual 5.1-channel surround is delivered thru Sony’s proprietary signal processing technology.

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