dolby
Regulars
Giz Explains: Dolby, DTS and Home Theatre Audio Codec Confusion
4:00AM Matt Buchanan | You actually know what some of the crazy doodles on the side of an HDTV means when it comes to video–720p, 1080i, 1080p. Congrats, you’re ahead of most people, like my mother. But do you understand the alphabet soup of audio, the confounding constellation of logos on your Blu-ray player’s box? While there are basically two rival home-theatre audio encoders–Dolby and DTS–they each have several different quality levels and options for different scenarios. Yeah, it’s a lot to keep up with, and it annoys us too. So we asked Dolby and DTS to put down their guns for a sec and help us sort it out. More »
Home
Emperor Workstation Belongs in the Death Star, My Office
8:15PM Gizmodo US Edition | Behold the Greatest Workstation of All Time: the Emperor. I mean, come on, anything that looks like it can control a turbolaser battery or fire a giant anti-matter death ray must be the greatest workstation of all time, period. But according to Patrick Laflamme Duval—business developer for manufacturer Novelquest—the name is not a Star Wars nod, but a reference to the emperor scorpion’s tail: More »
Screens
Dolby Volume: Solving the Problem of Annoyingly Loud TV Content
11:13PM Wilson Rothman | Toshiba TVs (in Japan) will be the first to feature good old Dubbly’s newest technology, Dolby Volume, a smart system aimed at leveling off eardrum-shattering sources and content—hopefully eradicating the twin evils of loud-arse TV commercials and poorly-mastered MP3s. Here’s how it works: More »
Screens
SIM2, Dolby’s High Dynamic Range TV: For Quality A-Team Viewing
10:41PM Gizmodo US Edition | Hey kids! Mr. T here, tellin’ you that watching too much TV is bad for you. But if you’re stuck inside, maybe you’re sick with a cold or something, then this new TV by Dolby and SIM2 Multimedia might be good. It’s got some cool local-dimming LED technology —1,838 of the suckas— that dynamically adjust backlighting for the best picture. They say it’s got infinite contrast ratio: no shit! Guess that’s the High Dynamic Range part. Has 1920 x 1080 pixels, 46-inch screen and is designed by an Italian-sounding guy. Giorgio Revoldini. Say What? You want to buy it? It’s a protoype, sucka. [7 Gadgets] More »
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10:51AM Nick Broughall | So many people forget that there’s much more to Hi-Def than just picture quality. The ability to listen to the movie’s soundtrack in lossless 7.1 surround sound is just as important, unless you happen to be slightly deaf, I guess.
So now that Blu-ray has trounced HD DVD, expect to see more surround sound packages like this one from Pioneer. As part of the LX range of products, which includes the best plasma TV ever, the HTP-LX70 is designed to compliment Pioneer’s top tier products.
It will decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD codecs hassle-free, and thanks to its three HDMI inputs, will scale video to 1080p on its way to your TV. Each of the speakers pumps out 50W, and the unit is also compatible with Pioneer’s iPod dock.
The setup will set you back $2,999, which isn’t bad considering it gives you pretty much everything you need to enjoy lossless surround sound. Now all you need is a full-profile Blu-ray player to go with it.
[Pioneer]
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Pioneer Makes Full HD Surround Sound Easy-ish
10:51AM Nick Broughall | So many people forget that there’s much more to Hi-Def than just picture quality. The ability to listen to the movie’s soundtrack in lossless 7.1 surround sound is just as important, unless you happen to be slightly deaf, I guess.
So now that Blu-ray has trounced HD DVD, expect to see more surround sound packages like this one from Pioneer. As part of the LX range of products, which includes the best plasma TV ever, the HTP-LX70 is designed to compliment Pioneer’s top tier products.
It will decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD codecs hassle-free, and thanks to its three HDMI inputs, will scale video to 1080p on its way to your TV. Each of the speakers pumps out 50W, and the unit is also compatible with Pioneer’s iPod dock.
The setup will set you back $2,999, which isn’t bad considering it gives you pretty much everything you need to enjoy lossless surround sound. Now all you need is a full-profile Blu-ray player to go with it.
[Pioneer]
More »
Entertainment
Yamaha’s Flagship YSP-4000 Soundbar…In My House (Verdict: Sounds Great, Hard to Place)
10:07AM Brian Lam | In Yamaha’s CEDIA booth, their flagship surround sound bar, was audio magnificence amidst the din. In my house, the sound was big and lively, but I ran into some problems, too. More »
Yamaha YSP-500 the Littlest Sound Beam Surround System
8:07AM Brian Lam | I love the YSP series soundbars from Yamaha, but two points: their prices, and fact that you can’t table mount em without blocking the bottom part of a flat panel. The Japan-only YSP-500 has only 18 individual sound beam drivers as opposed to 42 in the YSP-4000. It’s also only 24-inches long, will fit easily under a TV and costs only $647. It support “Dolby digital, DTS, Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS Neo:6″ and as Paul Strauss notes, you need a sub to really get the most out of this soundbar. Unfortunately, there’s no mention of HDMI inputs. If YSP wants to go mainstream, Yamaha should bring this setup here. [Technabob] More »
Ears-On Yamaha’s Flagship YSP-4000 Surround Sound Bar (Verdict: Ultra-Discreet Sound Beams)
6:52AM Brian Lam | I’ve had the pleasure of testing out the fourth-generation Yamaha surround sound bar, the YSP-4000. You know, the box that sits under a TV and projects 5 discreet beams of audio using Cold War direction Sonar steering from Submarines. This generation has had its trapezoid shaped array turned into a more of a hexagon, and the chassis is more rigid. There are HDMI inputs, and upscalers for analogue content. And there are DSP modes for stereo music sources that did not exist before. Does the fake surround work? Hell yes, better than ever. More »
Gadgets
Hype Sheet: Dolby Creates Some Buzz
2:15AM Brendan I. Koerner | The Pitch Everyone who’s been wondering what Jerry Seinfeld’s been up to—other than cashing syndication checks the size of Tonga’s GDP—need wonder no more: Judging by this promo, he’s voicing the protagonist in DreamWorks Animation’s forthcoming Bee Movie. (And how nice of him to find work for Patrick “Puddy” Warburton, who plays the audio engineer.) In this 30-second snippet, Jerry’s bee mightily flaps his wings into a studio microphone, blasting Puddy through a concrete wall and into the ladies loo. How can such a tiny insect achieve such mighty volume? Why, thanks to Dolbee—er, Dolby—Digital technology, as the kick-out logo informs us. Cute, but why is the already ubiquitous Dolby Labs straining to reach the grade-school demographic? More »
