San Francisco and Wootton Bassett, Feb. 14, 2001 -- Dolby Laboratories announced that its new DP570 Multichannel Audio Tool, which facilitates the creation of content with multichannel audio for digital television and DVD, is ready to ship.

The Dolby DP570 Multichannel Audio Tool is a cost-effective, 2-U rackspace unit that greatly simplifies the process of creating Dolby Digital metadata and monitoring multichannel audio. The DP570 interfaces easily with existing audio consoles and workstations, and requires minimal operational effort from the audio professional. The processor also allows the user to hear the effect of metadata in real time, while preparing soundtracks for ultimate delivery as Dolby Digital bitstreams.

"The Model DP570 Multichannel Audio Tool allows program producers to monitor their multichannel programs and easily adjust metadata parameters," explained Tim J. Carroll, Product Manager, Professional Audio. "This all-in-one product allows exciting, high-impact multichannel audio program material to be created simply by the professional."

The DP570 accepts eight channels of audio input and processes it according to metadata values chosen by the program creators, including the values for dynamic range compression, dialogue level (dialnorm), and downmix settings. The units feature both digital and analog outputs, along with a metadata output suitable for connection to a DP569 Dolby Digital encoder or DP571 Dolby E encoder.

The DP570 contains all of the necessary features required to augment or replace the monitor section of an audio console for multichannel mixing. Additional features include:

• Low-latency monitoring of all Dolby Digital and Dolby Surround listening modes without requiring external encoders or decoders
• Eight-channel router for channel reconfiguration of program material delivered with nonstandard track layout
• Fast, accurate measurement and alignment of dialogue level (dialnorm)
• Separate multichannel, stereo, and mono outputs for feeding three sets of monitor speakers
• Custom reference-quality 24-bit digital-to-analog converter modules
• Highly flexible Ethernet, RS-485, and GPI/O control

The DP570 Multichannel Audio Tool will be available for sale at the end of February 2001. It can be purchased directly from Dolby Laboratories in San Francisco or Wootton Bassett, or via local distributors. The US list price of the DP570 is $6,495; the DP570D (a version that ships without the Cat. No. 548 Analog Option Card) lists for $4995.

For further information, please visit www.dolby.com/metadata.

About Dolby Laboratories
Dolby Laboratories is the developer of signal processing systems used worldwide in applications that include motion picture sound, consumer entertainment products and media, broadcasting, and music recording. Based in San Francisco with European headquarters in England, the privately held company also has offices in New York, Los Angeles, Shanghai, Beijing, and Tokyo. For more information about Dolby Laboratories or Dolby technologies, please visit www.dolby.com.


Source: Dolby Labs
Web: www.dolby.com