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Dolby Laboratories Turns 40
Dolby Laboratories, founded by Ray Dolby on 17th May, 1965, has just celebrated its 40th anniversary. The company got its start by introducing Dolby A-type noise reduction, which significantly improved the sound of recorded audio by reducing background noise inherent to professional tape recordings. Forty years later, Dolby has helped define high-quality audio entertainment for billions of consumers. From its roots in professional and cinema audio, Dolby has grown into consumer applications as well. Consumers can now experience theater-quality sound in their own family rooms via home entertainment systems powered by Dolby technologies, solidifying Dolby as one of the most recognizable brand names in the entertainment technology industry.
"We are very proud of our accomplishments over the last 40 years and look forward to driving even more improvements to the consumer experience for years to come," said Bill Jasper, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dolby Laboratories. "Dolby's enthusiasm and dedication to improving audio has made it a pioneer in sound technologies and is largely the reason why the company name is synonymous with high-quality entertainment."
In 1972, Dolby made its foray into the cinema with the introduction of the first Dolby cinema sound product, the Model 364. Dolby continued to develop revolutionary products for the cinema including its first multichannel audio technology, Dolby Stereo. In 1977, the technology was featured in two hit films, Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. After the blockbuster success of these films and the impact of the new audio format on moviegoers, it wasn't long before feature films of all genres were being released with Dolby audio technology. Today, approximately 78,000 Dolby cinema processors have been sold worldwide, enabling theaters to provide a more captivating movie experience.
The success of Dolby's innovative technologies in the cinema was eventually ushered into the home, creating what we know today as the home theater environment. With Dolby Surround, a consumer extension of the Dolby cinema project, and subsequent technologies such as Dolby Pro Logic and Dolby Digital, the company helped to launch the emergence of surround sound systems for the home.
Dolby Digital has become one of the most ubiquitous audio technologies. Dolby Digital is an audio standard for Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) digital broadcast television (DTV), and for high-definition TV (HDTV), digital cable, and digital broadcast satellite (DBS) transmissions. As a result, many of today's TV programs are broadcast in multichannel audio for playback on home theater surround sound systems. Viewers can enjoy TV broadcast programming such as the Super Bowl and popular shows like CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Desperate Housewives, and Lost in enhanced surround sound for ultimate viewing. Tens of millions of Dolby Digital decoders have been sold to date, and virtually every DVD includes a Dolby Digital soundtrack.
Dolby continues to pave the way for audio innovation with recent technology introductions that include Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby Pro Logic IIx, Dolby Digital Stereo Creator, Dolby Digital 5.1 Creator, Dolby Digital Recording, and MLP Lossless. These Dolby technologies are playing an integral role in providing consumers with high-quality entertainment experiences in cinemas, home theaters, PCs, games, and automobiles. Whether it's a next-generation video game console, personal video recorder (PVR), digital camcorder, HDTV, media center PC, or the latest in-car entertainment system, Dolby is helping to enhance the entertainment value.
In addition to its commitment to developing exceptional products and technologies for cinema and consumer applications, Dolby is dedicated to providing the content creation, distribution, and exhibition industries with dedicated support services. These efforts help ensure that professionals can deliver high-quality entertainment experiences to consumers through the use of Dolby technologies.
recently introduced Dolby Digital Cinema, which is being commercially launched in select cinemas worldwide in conjunction with the release of Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith
23rd May 2005
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