The Xbox Video
Game System from Microsoft to Feature
Groundbreaking Dolby Interactive Content-Encoding
Technology; Dolby and Xbox Set a New Standard for
Gaming Audio
Dolby
Laboratories announced that the Xbox(TM) video
game system from Microsoft will feature the new
Dolby Interactive Content Encoder, a breakthrough
technology that dynamically encodes multichannel
audio into Dolby Digital 5.1.
The
first encoder of its kind, the Dolby Interactive
Content Encoder enables real-time Dolby Digital
encoding in game consoles and allows gamers to
experience explosive, cinematic audio using
high-quality home theater systems. The Xbox, upon
its release in the United States and Japan in the
fall of 2001, will be the first gaming industry
product to feature this technology. Previous
video game systems could utilize Dolby Digital
5.1 only during non-interactive "cut
scene" playback. In contrast, the Dolby
Interactive Content Encoder enables the Xbox to
provide interactive Dolby Digital 5.1 during
actual gameplay, immersing the player in surround
sound when it matters most, while playing the
game.
"Dolby
technologies have an increasing presence in all
gaming platforms and we are pleased to welcome
Microsoft to our growing list of licensees,"
said Richard Hockenbrock, vice president of
licensing operations for Dolby Laboratories.
"Dolby Interactive Content Encoder Streaming
marks the beginning of an exciting era of fully
interactive multichannel audio and is the first
of many exciting new technologies from Dolby
Laboratories."
"We
have chosen to incorporate the Dolby Interactive
Content Encoder into the Xbox format because of
its ability to deliver a superior multichannel
audio experience to the gamer," said J
Allard, General Manager, Xbox Platform.
"We're delighted that the Xbox is the first
gaming platform to be able incorporate real-time
Dolby Digital effects into game play."
The
Dolby Interactive Content Encoder, as used in the
Xbox, achieves superior output for all
multichannel four and 5.1 channel game audio from
Dolby Digital home theater/speaker systems with
low latency-rendering interactive game sound
effects in the same surround sound quality
offered in DVDs. Moreover, the Xbox has a
dedicated digital signaling processing unit
within the Xbox Media Communications Processor,
the chip that houses the Dolby Interactive
Content Encoder technology, enabling the unit to
perform on-the-fly Dolby Digital audio encoding
with no game performance penalty.
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