Dolby Laboratories has confirmed that it has signed a deal with Microsoft to provide Dolby Digital Plus for the audio for Windows 8 on tablets and PCs.
Dolby officials said the addition of Dolby Digital Plus enables the playback of Dolby-encoded content across a growing number of devices.
And the 3 May announcement underscores the role that Dolby Digital Plus plays in delivering high-quality sound for online entertainment services and personal media applications.
“Dolby’s goal is to deliver the best possible entertainment experience, wherever content is delivered through broadcast, broadband, or wireless networks,” said Ramzi Haidamus, executive vice president, sales and marketing at Dolby, in a statement. “We are pleased to be working with Microsoft to address the growing demand for high-definition content delivered across a broad range of services and devices. Widespread availability of Dolby Digital Plus on Windows 8 will enable more people to enjoy cinematic sound anytime, anywhere, and on any device.”
Developers will be enabled to deliver immersive experiences and cinematic sound through Windows 8 APIs in desktop and Metro-style apps, including those developed for x86 and ARM architectures, Dolby said. Dolby Digital Plus 5.1-channel decoding and Dolby Digital two-channel encoding will be supported in all PCs and tablets licensed to run Windows 8, Windows 8 Pro, and Windows RT editions.
Dolby said Dolby Digital Plus is used in more than 640 million devices and is a standard for high-quality audio on many types of products, including smartphones, tablets, PCs, connected TVs, Blu-ray Disc players, and game consoles.
Microsoft has used Dolby encoding since the shipment of Windows Vista in 2007. However, in August of 2008 Dolby warned investors that Windows 8 might not feature Dolby technology.
That warning sent Dolby’s stock down 18 percent. So today’s announcement is good news for Dolby investors.
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