BY QEOROE PETERSEN-

Dolby Laboratories at 40
Defining Standards in Audio and Beyond
ithout a cioubt, the besi-known name in audio is Dolby. It seems to be everywhere, from automobile sound, boom boxes and DVDs to broadcast programming anci cinema marquees. Company founder Ray Dolby has lived and breathed audio since his earliest years. While in high school, he worked at Ampex, first doing mimdane chores such as copying alignment tapes for the company's new 200A tape recorder, and later signed on full-lime as part of the team that developed the first pro vitieo recorder. After earning his B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Stanford in 19^7, he did postgraduate work at Cambridge, receiving a Ph.D. in Physics in 1961, followed by two more years t>f advanced studies. Dolby then spent two years working for IINFSCO in India, during which time he considered ways t)f applying his thesis findings (<.)n means of improving X-rays for clearer images) to noise-reduction methods for audio.
THE EARLY DAYS

iioth from partnering wiih content makers and providing solutions to licen.sees represents about 70 percent of the company's revenue.
BIG SOUND, BIG SCREEN

In 1965. he started l>olby Laboratories to develop systems for reducing the backgrou ntl noise inherent in tape recording. The c<3mpany's first product was the A301, which debuted in 1966 and provided one channel of A-type noise reduction. This sophisticated audio compression/ expansion system dramatically reduced background hiss inherent in pro recorders without discernible side effects. The effect of Dolby noise reduction on the audio communityconsumer and prowas profound. It opened the possibilities of narrow-gauge/low-speed recording on formats such as cassette tape and pro video recorders; home VCRs would follow later. Bui on the pro audio side, Dolby noise reduction helped fuel the fire of a multitrack recording revolution. The demand for Dolby noise rcduciion led the company to develop licensing agreements with manufaclurers of consumer products beginning in 196S. This formation of Dolby's licensing division was a stroke of financial genius. Today, Dolby maintains licensing liaison offices throughotit the world, anti licensing

The 1950s brought occasional film releases using f<nir tracks of stereo .sound on magnetically siriped film stockmostly for limited firsi-mn engagements in larger cities. Unfortunately, these stereo film releases were rare, as mag-striped prints were fragile and expensive and dlsiribuiors had to maintain inventories of mono and siereo prints. Everything changed in 1976 wiih A Star Is Born, the first film released with a Dolby Stereo optical soundtrack with surround. The fonnat used phase matrixing to store four channels (L/R/C/S^ onto a 2-channel format, which, in this case, was two closely spaced optical tracks on a standard 35iiim film. The lieauty of the system was compatibility: A 35mm Dolby Stereo film could be played anywhere, whether in a non-Dolby mono drive-in or in a theater upgraded with Dolby cinema dectxjers and a 4-channel playback system. And, with no appreciable cost increase in manufacturing stereo prints, film studios were receptive to the idea. In 1977, the success of blockbusters such as Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind helped push exhibitors into upgrading lo the new format. The tens of thousands of Dolby Stereo tracks encoded onto Beta/VIIS HiFi video releases laid the groundwork lor a revolution in home thealer, fueled by the arrival of Dolby i'ro Logic-equipped multichannel components in the years to come. Unveiled in 1986, Dolby .SR (Spectral Recording) combined both the fixed- and sliding-band technologies invented for the earlier noi.se-reduction systems. The result was expanded analog dynamic range performance that rivaled the best pro digital recorders, which extended the life of analog recorders. Dolby SR also ushered in a new state-ol-the-art analog optical film soundtrack, which is used on the vast majority ol' rdea.se.sincluding those that al.s<i have digital soundtracksfor backup and compatibility. Dolby began getting involved with

Ray Dolby, circa 1966, vmrking on a Model A301 noise-redvcfion unit

digital bit-rate reduction in 19H4 wiih the debut of its first digital coding system, Dolby AC-1, which was adopted by a number of direct satellite broadcast and cabie distribution systems. This system was followed by the Dolby AC-2 in 19H9, used in the Dolby Fax system, allowing high-quality, p(Mnt-to-point transfers via ISDN lines for file transfers between distant studio facilities. "Along the same time, digital .sound on Him came out, .so the first implementation for Dolby Digital AC-3 was multichannel film in 1992," says Tom Daily, Dolby's marketing director, professional division. "We took that and evolved it for broadcast and DVD in the early 90s. Dolby Digital continued to evolve with improvements, most recently with Dolby Digital Plus, which adds more channels and supports more data rateshigher and lower."
THE FUTURE AND BEYOND

With the popularity oi DVDs and surnxind sound for films, broadca.st, cable, games and new formats, Dolby's future looks bright. "One thing we've been working on over the past five or 10 yearsand will continue to develop," adds Daily, "are tools for content-creation authoring and video formats and tools for audio production in those areas. Especially with formats like HD DVD and BIti-ray coming out, we want to give authors all the loots and capabilities they need lo add value to these formats." And that fulure is here. For a sneak peek at Dolby Media Producer, Dolby's new software suile for content creation, see page 150 or visit Dolhy online at www. doiby.com.

142 MIX. October 2005 iriviv mixoii/inccom