DTS Scores Broadcasting Deal with aacPlus and Euro1080
By Chris Boylan
DTS moved their CES presence from the back halls to the main floor this year with an impressive display in the Main Hall showcasing DTS technology in its myriad forms. But the booth was popular for more than just their sound at the show: DTS was handing out sampler discs in not one but both next generation HD disc formats: Blu-Ray Disc and HD-DVD.
To highlight the fact that their lossless high definition sound format DTS-HD Master Audio is available on both HD-DVD and BD, DTS distributed a 13-track sampler Blu-Ray Disc and a 3-track sampler HD-DVD disc at the show to any and all attendees. Of course, the real trick now is finding a player that supports this audio format and can pass it to a compatible processor, but this too shall come with time.
DTS handed out free BD and HD-DVD sampler discs at CES this year.
And in more interesting news, DTS announced its recent agreement with European broadcaster
Euro1080. Euro1080, a European HDTV satellite service, has adopted aacPlus/DTS® Surround Sound for new MPEG-4 HDTV transmissions and set-top boxes in Europe.
The broadcaster, which switched from MPEG-2 to the more efficient MPEG-4 transmissions across all of its channels on January 2nd, will deliver aacPlus multi-channel audio over the satellite to consumer's new generation of MPEG-4 set top boxes for HDTV. Once the aacPlus digital signal is received by the set-top box, it is transcoded to DTS Digital Surround, for decoding in DTS-compatible home theater receivers or processors.
The decision to use the aacPlus/DTS combination was driven primarily by bandwidth requirements. To satisfy its multi-lingual customer base, Euro1080 is required to transmit audio concurrently in multiple languages. The aacPlus/DTS combination provided a more efficient, lower bandwidth solution than any other available multi-channel audio codec, while simultaneously maintaining acceptable sound quality in discrete 5.1-channel surround sound and stereo mixes.
According to DTS, the barrier to broadcasters implementing the latest high efficiency aacPlus audio codec for multi-channel HDTV broadcast has been the lack of ability for consumers to decode the surround sound in the home. Working with
Coding Technologies in Europe, DTS has enabled real-time transcoding of the advanced aacPlus MPEG-4 audio codec to DTS Digital Surround in the set-top box, thereby ensuring playback compatibility with current home theater equipment.
It will be interesting to see if DTS can pull off a similar coup in the U.S. with bandwidth-conscious HDTV service providers. Dolby Digital is, of course, the broadcast standard in the ATSC high definition formats used for broadcast HDTV in the U.S., but there's nothing to say that satellite providers need play by these same rules when broadcasting their signals over the airwaves. Since companies like DIRECTV and Dish Network own the satellites, and the receiving equipment (set-top boxes), it would be feasible for one or the other to switch over from Dolby Digital to the aacPlus/DTS combination for digital broadcasts if bandwidth savings are determined to be of primary importance.
Whether this will actually happen remains to be seen, but the European agreement is an encouraging step to fans (and stock-holders) of DTS.
