Micronas Enhances TV Audio With Integrated Next-Generation Dolby Pro Logic II (0221)
Brings Today's Most Natural Sounding Matrix Decoding Technology Into the Home To Deliver A New Kind of Listening Experience
Freiburg, Germany -October 22, 2002- Bridging the TV audio entertainment gap between two-channel audio and the fully-fledged surround sound of 5.1-channel discrete systems, Micronas and Dolby Laboratories announced today that the Dolby Pro Logic® II surround sound decoder is now available with Micronas' highly popular MAS 352yH range of audio co-processors.
"After the great success of Pro Logic II in home cinema and car audio systems, we are glad to bring our technology directly to the TV market with the Micronas TV Audio chipset," said David Fraser, Dolby's marketing manager, consumer electronics. "With Micronas chips it is easy for TV manufacturers to make use of the latest, most thrilling Dolby technologies, integrated in scalable system solutions."
"During our long association with Dolby Laboratories, Micronas have brought multiple Dolby technologies to the TV market," says Stefan Hepp, marketing manager TV Audio & IF at Micronas. "In 1996, Micronas launched its first Pro Logic decoder and in 1999 Micronas integrated the Virtual Dolby Surround System into our TV audio products. Recently, we celebrated the sale of the 10 millionth Virtual Dolby Surround MSP. The integration of Pro Logic II is the next logical step in the Micronas product line-up. The demand of such high-quality features is reflected in the enormous growth rate of surround sound sets available in today's market."
Pro Logic II is the next generation of Dolby Surround Pro Logic decoding technology and represents today's most natural-sounding matrix decoding technology for converting standard two-channel stereo into multi-channel surround sound. It can be incorporated into home cinema and even car sound systems to transform conventional stereo into a new kind of listening experience, via a variety of sound formats including videocassette, TV broadcasts, CD, FM or satellite radio, cassette, MiniDisc and computer games. With its two independent surround channels, Pro Logic II is also a perfect source for virtual surround systems. With virtual surround technology, multi-channel audio is processed by a "virtualizer" to be played back by two loudspeakers only, creating the impression of the full multi-channel listening experience.
The Micronas MAS 352yH family of audio digital signal processors (DSP) can be used as a coprocessor to the Micronas MSP 34xy TV-Audio processor as well as surround sound decoder in home audio and car audio systems. In stereo TV sets, the MSP 34xy has a market share of 60% worldwide, offering all the functionality and in-/outputs required for low- to high-end TV designs in a single chip. To convert mid-range to high-end TVs to a multi-channel home cinema set, a MAS 352yH is placed beside the MSP. Acting as a coprocessor, it converts stereo into multi-channel audio, following the Pro Logic II "rules".
In home audio and car audio systems, the MAS 352yH can be used to extend existing two channel (stereo) designs to multi-channel sets, accepting analog and all important digital audio input formats. Using the MAS 352yH, car audio systems benefit from the built in car features, whereas home audio systems can make best use of the Pro Logic II "music mode".
The architecture of the MSP family plus coprocessor results in a highly scalable solution, allowing TV manufacturers to reduce their development costs dramatically, since mid-range to high-end TVs are all based on one and the same development. The product line-up is realized by simply plugging in different pin-compatible ICs. With this architecture, existing TV designs can be upgraded to support new audio formats and features very easily.