It may be hard to believe but DTS is celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2013 and from the sound of it, the best is yet to come from the leader in high-definition audio solutions and audio enhancement technologies. DTS announced this morning that its DTS-HD codec has been selected by Paramount Pictures as a surround sound format for the studio's UltraViolet (UV) Common File Format (CFF) catalog.
UltraViolet is barely two years old (it is still in soft launch mode, apparently) but with more than 12 million activated accounts and 9,100 film titles, the format seems to be really taking off. Industry projections have UltraViolet hitting 65 million activated accounts by 2018 so it should come as no surprise that Paramount and DTS are teaming up to offer the Paramount Pictures film catalog; beginning in the second half of 2013, exclusively in DTS-HD surround sound.
The Paramount films in CFF will be available as digital downloads via UltraViolet but consumers will not be able to stream the content. The other minor fly in the ointment is the absence of playback options that can handle CFF at this time, but according to DTS Chariman/CEO, jon Kirchner, "over the next six to nine months a range of consumer devices will support UltraViolet's CFF for video downloads. The devices will include PCS, Macs, Android and iOS mobile devices, set-top boxes, Blu-ray players, and TV."
Another advantage of CFF-titles is that consumers will be able to move or copy UltraViolet film and television content from one smart device to the other without having to download the title all over again.
"A good movie experience leaves a lasting impression on people," said Amy Reinhard, executive vice president and general manager, Paramount Domestic Home Media Distribution. "By marrying our robust content library with DTS' advanced surround sound technology, we can deliver a memorable cinematic surround sound experience for our customers at home, or on any UltraViolet-compatible connected device."
UltraViolet is currently supported by most of the major Hollywood studios and has quickly become the cloud-based service of choice for conusmers who wish to watch their favorite films (which they have already purcahsed on Blu-ray) on their portable smart devices.
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