14 DAY TRIAL // Dolby Laboratories is not a proper manufacturer, but that doesn't stop them from rolling out all sorts of new gadgets and audio setups. These setups are showcased to demonstrate some of Dolby's newer concepts regarding the sound. And since the Dolby standards are everywhere, you can be sure that all the new stuff you see in their backyard now, will probably be in your living room after 3 years or so.
The first thing that Dolby showcased at CES this year was True HD and Dolby Digital Plus standards. True HD is a lossless audio format which uses about 18 Mbps of bandwidth and can send up to 13.1 separate audio streams. Dolby Digital Plus uses the same 14 speaker setup but the compression algorithm is lossy. On the other hand the bandwidth goes from a maximum of 6Mbps down to 96Kbps. As far as I can tell, you'll be able to hear the difference only if you use very high-end speaker setups since the human ear is the limiting factor here. Remember the AC3 vs. DTS case, don't you?
By far the most interesting gadget Dolby had to offer this year was the PC Entertainment Experience, a concept that is able to translate the audio sources from 2.0 to 5.1 (yes it works like a software channel expander but the output quality is much better). However, the PCEE is also able to revert a 5.1 audio source to its 2.0 basics too (that's possible but only if you have multi speaker outputs and only two speakers, otherwise it's quite pointless). A 2.0 to 5.1 channel expander with integrated Ipod docking station was also present. Nice addition, especially if you're a fan of Apple's player.