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San Francisco, July 29, 2005—Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB), announced today that the Advanced Television Systems Committee, Inc. (ATSC), approved a revision to the A/52A Standard (entitled A/52B) that incorporates Dolby® Digital Plus into an ATSC Standard. The ATSC membership vote was completed on June 14, and the Standard was published July 26. Additionally, in a subsequent membership vote completed on July 27, the ATSC approved a revision of the ATSC Digital Television Standard that specifies Dolby Digital Plus as the high-efficiency audio coding system to be used for robust mode transmission of E-VSB.
In December 2002, the ATSC released a request for information seeking new advanced video and audio coding technology. The committee sought to apply more efficient codecs to the newly developed E-VSB enhanced transmission technology that allows delivery of a reduced data rate signal with substantially improved receivability. Dolby Laboratories submitted its Dolby Digital Plus codec for consideration at that time.
In April 2004, the ATSC elevated Dolby Digital Plus to Candidate Standard status as part of its work on the development of the E-VSB robust mode. Candidate Standard stage is an explicit call for implementation and technical feedback that precedes the technology's official inclusion in an ATSC Standard.
Dolby Digital Plus is a sophisticated and versatile audio codec based on Dolby Digital and is designed specifically to adapt to the changing demands of future audio delivery, video delivery, and audio storage systems. Due to its enhanced efficiency, it can offer extremely high-quality audio while reducing the size of the overall program package. Dolby Digital Plus decoders will maintain backward compatibility with the existing Dolby Digital 5.1-channel home theater systems in use today.
About the ATSC
The Advanced Television Systems Committee, Inc., is an international, non-profit organization developing voluntary standards for digital television. The ATSC has approximately 140 member organizations representing the broadcast, broadcast equipment, motion picture, consumer electronics, computer, cable, satellite, and semiconductor industries.
The new standard document entitled A/52 B is published on the ATSC website, www.atsc.org. Within the document, the ATSC refers to Dolby Digital Plus as "Enhanced-AC-3" or "E-AC-3."
About Dolby Laboratories
Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) develops and delivers products and technologies that make the entertainment experience more realistic and immersive. For four decades Dolby has been at the forefront of defining high-quality audio and surround sound in cinema, broadcast, home audio systems, cars, DVDs, headphones, games, televisions, and personal computers. Based in San Francisco with European headquarters in England, the company has entertainment industry liaison offices in New York and Los Angeles, and licensing liaison offices in London, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong, and Tokyo. For more information about Dolby Laboratories or Dolby technologies, please visit www.dolby.com.
Certain statements in this press release, including statements regarding the capabilities and benefits of Dolby Digital Plus generally, and for the broadcast industry in particular, are "forward-looking statements" that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties, which could cause the forward-looking statements to differ materially from anticipated results, include, without limitation, risks associated with acceptance of and demand for Dolby Digital Plus technologies, generally, and in the broadcast industry in particular; competition risks; risks associated with the development of the markets for surround sound broadcasts; rapid changes in technical requirements for sound entertainment; risks associated with having Dolby technologies adopted as industry standards and having these standards be adopted by government regulators; and other risks detailed in Dolby's Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including its quarterly report on Form 10-Q for its fiscal quarter ended April 1, 2005. Dolby disclaims any obligation to update information contained in these forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
Dolby and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. S05/16493 DLB-F
Media Contact:
Ried McMahon
Dolby Laboratories
415-645-5203
rvm@dolby.com
