High-definition multichannel audio technology from the leading company DTS has recently been licensed to 10 major producers of integrated circuits. Among these first ten who rushed into obtaining licenses so the production could start soon are Matsushita Electric, Mediatek and Broadcom Corporation and along with the other 7, they will soon be placing on the market the new chips to go with the new HD DVD and Blu-ray disc players.

The licenses have been granted for DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, each company varying and combining these two in ways which aren't yet public information. Fact is that, besides these two, the manufacturers have also contracted DTS-HD LBR (Low Bit Rate) and/or the DTS encoder. This preoccupation for audio shows the very clear intention of the integrated circuits to embed the latest and mainstream technology in the final products so the audio field won't be "left behind" the video one. It is usual to see the way video advances faster in technology (and this has been happening for many years now) than audio does. Actually, after the 5.1 surround appearance, the DTS and its "ramifications" have represented the biggest leap in sound tech's late history.

Having set the future guidelines in what the DTS-HD and Blu-ray are concerned, the industry is showing signs that things are really moving towards the high-end: DTS Master Audio technology will deliver variable bitrate sound at higher quality specs than the DVD while the DTS High Definition Audio will cover the constant bitrate area, of course with better sound than DVD as well.

Seeing the 10 biggest IC manufacturers turning to the DTS-HD technology creates some sort of warm and nice feeling knowing that soon this audio standards will become fully available in consumer goods, which will soon end up in our homes.