Poland's TVP1 Turns On Dolby Digital Plus For Viewers

Poland's national public broadcaster Telewizja Polska (TVP) has become the first major broadcaster in eastern Europe to implement Dolby Digital Plus audio streams on a national broadcast channel.
TVP1, Poland's most popular terrestrial TV channel, has begun transmissions using Dolby Digital Plus audio for viewers on the DVB-T platform.
While TVP1 is the oldest TV channel in Poland and has the distinction of being the first channel ever broadcast in the country, it is also one of the most progressive, having led the way in the transition to digital TV in the region. The adoption of Dolby Digital Plus means TVP1 is now able to provide terrestrial viewers with 5.1 surround sound programming, as well as enhance existing stereo broadcasts.
Andrzej Bialczyk, Technical Specialist, TVP, said: "The advantage of Dolby Digital Plus is highly efficient audio coding and the possibility to use the same system for broadcast and multimedia applications. Another benefit is that broadcasters can transmit a single mix with associated mono substreams, rather than transmitting multiple mixes. This is an especially useful feature for broadcasting additional services such as audio description."
The performance and flexibility of Dolby Digital Plus is ideal for broadcasters like TVP, allowing them to deliver excellent-quality next-generation audio while retaining the ability to decode Dolby Digital broadcast bitstreams for compatibility with existing broadcast services. Dolby Digital Plus is also compatible for delivery to a variety of other multimedia platforms, such as mobile phones, tablets and additional streaming devices.
Andreas Spechtler, Regional Vice President, EMEA, Dolby Laboratories, said: "Telewizja Polska is a public broadcaster committed to providing the very best digital TV experience for its customers. We have been working with them for some time as they have been moving towards the introduction of Dolby Digital Plus. Dolby Digital Plus audio is already mandated in the Polish digital terrestrial specification and so we are excited that TVP1 has become the first Polish TV channel on air with Dolby Digital Plus, allowing it to lead the way in bringing the cinematic surround sound experience to viewers in Poland."
Dolby Digital Plus is designed to provide consistent and predictable results throughout the broadcast chain to the consumer's television, ensuring an excellent experience for viewers and high-efficiency solution for broadcasters. It is also backward-compatible, so it can deliver high-quality next-generation surround sound to the multichannel home theatre systems in use today.
To date, Dolby Digital Plus has been included in more than 375 million products worldwide, including TVs, set-top boxes, Blu-ray Disc players, audio/video receivers and mobile phones.
(KMcA)