As a comparison, Dolby Digital has a limit of 640 Kbps. Add to this the fact that video is increasingly formatted in bandwidth-gobbling high definition picture quality and there is a clear need to offer a digital surround format that requires less bandwidth.ĭD+ has a variable transmission rates ranging from 96 Kbps all the way up to to 6 Mbps. This makes DD+ a very attractive format for online media that has only a limited amount of bandwidth at its disposal to stream. Its key advantage is the ability to deliver better quality sound from smaller data files than Dolby Digital. Just as the MP3 format rose to prominence with music downloads and later streaming, Dolby Digital Plus is a product of the internet age. It’s biggest advantage over the older audio codec involves the compression technique. Like its predecessor, Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital plus is based on the AC-3 lossy bit stream format. After all, why should streamed and online content continue to trail behind older forms of media when it comes to sound quality? Dolby Digital Plus: The perfect surround sound format for new media For the streaming/multi-device online media age, DD+ is quickly becoming the digital surround sound format of choice. This innovative step allows individual websites accessed through the Microsoft Edge browser to be accompanied by surround sound. This includes Microsoft’s successor to Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge.
Many important streaming providers including Netflix, Spotify and HBO stream surround sound in the compressed Dolby Digital Plus format and in May of this year, Microsoft announced that Windows 10 PCs will support Dolby Digital Plus.
It should therefore come as no surprise that this audio technology is gaining in popularity. The increasing use of HDMI cables also places constraints on the storage available for multi-channel soundtracks as much of the bandwidth is taken up with new technologies like 3D and audio return channel.ĭigital surround compression that retained as much as the original PCM recording as possible (basically identical to the studio master) is the order of the day and this is what DD+ offers. It is therefore simply not possible to transmit an entire lossless multichannel soundtrack.
Streaming brought greater convenience than DVDs and Blu-rays as a movie could be instantly selected and enjoyed, but the price for this convenience was bandwidth. However, as streaming began to edge out physical storage formats like Blu-ray discs, a need arose for better sounding compressed formats. Dolby TrueHD is a lossless audio codec capable of storing up to 8 channels for supplying even 7.1 systems with sound.