In an effort to provide flexible solutions for new European HDTV Broadcasting specifications and next-generation broadcast service, Dolby Laboratories has announced the new Dolby Multi-stream Decoder, a licensable multi-format audio decoding technology that supports Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby Pulse in a single package for next generation HDTVs and set top boxes.

The new decoder, also known as the Dolby MS10 Multistream Decoder, decodes both Dolby Digital Plus and HE AAC audio and therefore can assist manufacturers in meeting new MPEG-04 terrestrial receiver specifications in several European countries, including Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Norway (HE AAC only with transcoder), Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. It also enables new audio mixing options to enhance presentation for viewers with vision impairments, as required or recommended in several European countries, including Sweden and the UK.

Other key benefits of the Dolby Multistream Decoder include:

• Full compatibility with Dolby metadata and consumers’ existing DVD home cinema systems with all Dolby and HE AAC transmission formats
• Full multichannel support (transcoder) for Dolby Pulse in addition to Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus decoding and conversion—one Dolby Digital output for all input formats
• Support for audio description services delivered “receiver-mix” style using two simultaneous instances of Dolby Pulse, Dolby Digital, or Dolby Digital Plus decoders, respectively—all for the price of a single decoder instance
• Support for multiprogram Dolby Digital Plus streams (main and associated audio delivered in the same audio stream)
• Ability to decode AAC, HE AAC v.1, and HE AAC v.2 bitstreams

Dolby MS10 Multistream Decoder implementation and system kits are available starting today

(Source) Press