French broadcaster TDF is now offering content in Dolby’s AC-4 audio standard on its experimental UHD DTT channels.
The next-gen audio is available to viewers in Paris, Nantes and Toulouse.
The integration of the Dolby AC-4 audio format enables TDF to transport different audio configurations in the same stream (stereo , 5.1, immersive audio). The trial aims to test DTT signals that will be similar to those that will be broadcast once UHD goes mainstream.
“This experimental phase allows us to give viewers a glimpse of what tomorrow’s television will be like, with a previously umatched image and sound quality,” said Anaïs Libolt, head of broadcast and home entertainment at Dolby France.
“Sound is a critical component in the entertainment experience of viewers. Thanks to this partnership, when audiovisual content is encoded in Dolby AC-4, the television will be able to reproduce it to its maximum capacity, and it will also be possible to initiate an improvement in the intelligibility of the dialogue. This step foreshadows what the audio quality will be on our televisions in the near future.”
