Dolby Digital Cinema Forges Industry First with Dual JPEG 2000 and MPEG Support

Dolby Digital Cinema Forges Industry First with Dual JPEG 2000 and MPEG Support

Dolby� Digital Cinema System Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE: DLB) announced today its enhanced Dolby� Digital Cinema system with support for both JPEG 2000 and MPEG (MPEG-2) file formats. Hailed as an industry first, the Dolby Digital Cinema system allows exhibitors to play back future JPEG 2000?encoded content while fulfilling the current need to present movies and alternative content in the MPEG format. “Dolby has a long history of working closely with exhibitors and studios on innovations that are practical for today but also enable them to effectively compete in tomorrow’s marketplace,” said Tim Partridge, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Professional Division, Dolby Laboratories. “The industry is clearly moving to JPEG 2000. As it transitions, it is critical that the exhibition community has the flexibility to present content in both formats from one system without needing additional resources.” In addition to playing feature presentations in both JPEG 2000 and MPEG formats, the enhanced Dolby Digital Cinema will enable exhibitors to present alternative content?such as prerecorded concerts and sporting events, preshow advertising, and more?from the same system. The enhanced Dolby Digital Cinema system will be on display at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas, March 13?16, 2006. Dolby will ship samples of the enhanced system this quarter and will upgrade all current installations with new dual-format support by the end of 2006. The Dolby Digital Cinema system enabled for JPEG 2000 meets the requirements of Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC (DCI) specifications. DCI was formed by the major film studios to help guide the creation of a standard digital cinema architecture. With guidance from DCI, the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (SMPTE) is working to establish standards that all distributors, studios, and vendors can adopt in the rollout of digital cinema presentation systems. The SMPTE is expected to publish standards beginning in Spring 2006. The Dolby Digital Cinema system is specifically engineered for real-world cinema installations and offers superb picture quality, reliability, and user-friendly operation. Dolby Digital Cinema systems are currently installed on more than 130 screens in eight countries worldwide. More than 25 digital movies have been presented using Dolby Digital Cinema in select locations around the world, including recent and current presentations of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe; Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; Glory Road; Annapolis; Casanova; and Chicken Little in digital 3-D.