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, writes David Fox.
TVP1 is Poland’s most popular terrestrial TV channel and has begun transmissions using Dolby Digital Plus audio for viewers on the DVB-T platform.
While TVP1 was the first channel ever broadcast in the country, it is also one of Poland’s most progressive, having led the way in the transition to digital TV. The adoption of DDP means it is now able to provide terrestrial viewers with 5.1 surround sound programming, as well as enhance existing stereo broadcasts.
“The advantage of Dolby Digital Plus is highly efficient audio coding and the possibility to use the same system for broadcast and multimedia applications,” said Andrzej Bialczyk, TVP Technical Specialist. “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 the system is useful for broadcasters like TVP, allowing them to deliver high quality audio while retaining the ability to decode Dolby Digital broadcast bitstreams for compatibility with existing broadcast services. DDP is also compatible for delivery to a variety of other multimedia platforms, such as mobile phones, tablets, and additional streaming devices.
“Telewizja Polska is a public broadcaster committed to providing the very best digital TV experience for its consumers. We have been working with them for some time as they have been moving towards the introduction of Dolby Digital Plus,” said Andreas Spechtler, Regional VP, EMEA, Dolby Laboratories. “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.”
To date, DDP 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.
