Vision - March 2009 - (Page 22) “HDMI connectivity is the wave of the future.” —Jack Shafton patented the integration of a speaker array in a TV and the ability to steer sound beams around a room with a TV-based user interface. Nevertheless, Doherty says he expects more TV makers to ship TVs with speaker arrays this year—possibly including store brand TVs such as Insignia from Best Buy. At CES, THIEL Audio of Lexington, Ky. demonstrated its zöet system (www.thielzoet. com) which uses a unique system of algorithms for perfect synchronization between speakers, out of the box. The HDMI version of the zöet dB1 addresses lossless codes (Dolby True HD, DTS HD-MA and existing Dolby/DTS formats up to the lossless versions). Digitally stored music is supported by Free Lossless Audio Codec. Looking to the Future Also at CES, GenAudio Inc. of Englewood, Colo., debuted a new 4-D audio technology that uses psychoacoustics—tricking the listener’s brain into believing it is hearing a sound effect—to create a “360-degree spherical sound experience.” Called AstoundSound, GenAudio’s technology is the basis for two of the company’s products: AstoundStereo, which adds elevation and depth perception to two-channel audio mixes, and AstoundSurround, which does the same to 5.1- and 7.1-channel surround sound audio mixes. The company is marketing AstoundSound audio production software to the professionals who create movie soundtracks for DVD and Blu-ray discs. And last November it announced the first movie to incorporate an AstoundSurround soundtrack in each format: Hellboy II: The Golden Army, from Universal Studios Home Entertainment. What’s next in evolution of highdefinition audio? For more than 10 years, Holman has been working on a 10.2-channel discrete (not simulated) surround sound codec, which he says could be another 15 years from widespread commercialization. To date, he has produced 25 examples of 10.2-channel surround sound mixes, ranging from spoken word to jazz performances. They have been installed at more than 20 locations, and some of those are permanent installations, including one at Bjorn’s, an audio-video retailer in San Antonio, Tex. Holman describes 7.1-channel surround sound as just an intermediate point for CE, and he adds, “We’re still digesting the 5.1-channel infrastructure,” he says. “Most cable-TV channels haven’t gotten to stereo yet.” But consumers likely won’t mind waiting to get their own 10.2-channel audio systems, and all but the most devoted audiophiles may not choose it anyway. “Speakers can be a hassle, and adding more of them can be a hassle,” says Jeff Talmadge, director of product development and systems integration at Denon Electronics USA in Mahwah, NJ. Seventy-five percent of Denon’s customers use only a 5.1-channel audio system because of room limitations, he notes. For consumers, Doherty declares, it is difficult enough to jump from five to seven and then nine speakers. “Ten is starting to fall on deaf ears.” • “McIntosh wanted to wait for those Dolby and DTS technologies to become solvent.” —Charlie Randall Although mainstream audio-video receivers and Blu-ray players have long offered Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio decoding built in, some of the most exclusive audio equipment brands are only now beginning to offer this. But not every maker of luxury-level audio-video equipment is on board with the trend. At CES, McIntosh Laboratory Inc., launched the MX 150 audio processor, an $11,000 component that is the company’s first such product to work with those codecs. The reason: “McIntosh wanted to wait for those Dolby and DTS technologies to become solvent,” says Charlie Randall, president of the Binghamton, NY, based company. He points to the introduction of the newest HDMI 1.3 interconnect technology as a key factor in their decision to finally move forward with them. And he says McIntosh expects to add a Blu-ray player to its offerings next September. “HDMI connectivity is the wave of the future,” declares Jack Shafton, director of sales and marketing at Paradigm Electronics, Inc., another leading maker of ultra-high-end audio equipment, based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Significantly, he notes, HDMI 1.3 allows an audio proces- sor to decode the Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio bit stream signals into linear PCM, rather than in the Blu-ray player, as before. Paradigm last year introduced its first audio-video processors that decode both codecs— two new high-end models from the company’s Anthem brand are expected to ship soon. In addition, Shafton says, in Blu-ray the CE industry now has “a medium capable of claiming perfect sound” and is “crossing over to the promise of digital music reproduction that we haven’t achieved up to now.” Blu-ray, he says, “has the potential of surpassing any other music source that the consumer has had available”—thanks to the Dolby and DTS 7.1-channel lossless audio codecs that produce “a perfect copy” of the original master recording. Bang & Olufsen is holding back from decoding these 7.1-channel lossless codecs in its products. Not a lot of B&O’s clients have discovered or are asking for this technology, explains Dave Zapfel, product and training manager for North America at Bang & Olufsen America Inc., in Arlington Heights, IL. But B&O stands ready to adapt to market demands when they materialize, he adds. www.ce.org 22 March/April 2009 http://www.thielzoet.com http://www.thielzoet.com http://www.ce.org
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