In Broadcast - July/August 2011 - 44

The Ears Have It:
The brand DTS is synonymous with high-quality audio – for years we have worked to bring superior audio technology to consumers through hundreds of millions of DTS-licensed consumer electronic products. With the ever-changing consumer landscape we have adapted our technology to bring better sound to consumers. In 2010, the worldwide marketplace experienced a huge surge in mobile content consumption fuelled by significant smartphone adoption, 3G availability and unlimited data plans. In fact, according to a 2010 report by comScore*, 36% of mobile Americans and 29% of Europeans browsed the mobile web in December 2010, with mobile browsing and application usage growing in the range of 7% to 9% each year. With mobile content consumption on the rise, thanks in part to tablets, connected consumers are demanding not only better visuals and performance from their devices, but also a better sound experience. The mobile is a very personal device, and so the ability to personalise it and to create something individualised is extremely attractive. Given that the market is converging on a very similar solution – touchscreen control, functionality added through third party apps, video recording capabilities – then the ability to add an immersive sound capability could be a clinching factor that differentiates one device and ultimately the experience from the other. One such recent innovation that brings to consumers an even more immersive 3D environment is DTS Neo:X™, the world’s first 11.1 surround system. Neo:X provides a semi-spherical sound field using an 11.1 speaker configuration adding height/ wide speakers to create a natural, immersive, spacious and lifelike 3D surround soundscape. For example, with Neo:X technology a plane flying over your head, sounds as if it has flown over your head, not through it. Now clearly I am not suggesting you carry 11 speakers around with your mobile phone. But what if it was possible to create that same illusion of three-dimensional sound using headphones? That is the technology we are working on at present. DTS can demonstrate encoding algorithms, which produce a very convincing virtual surround sound field, even with the basic ear buds Apple provides with its iPhone. This is not an idea that we dreamt up: we are working in response to requests from the phone manufacturers, and they are very keenly tracking DTS’ progress. That could be just the start. Phones and tablets have built-in accelerometers, and the associated APIs mean that you can work out not just which way up the phone is being held, but how fast it is being moved and in which direction. If the phone is being rotated or angled, surely the sound should follow it? So apps could include this same immersive audio functionality which is dynamic, responding to the way that the user interacted with it. Gaming is an obvious example, but you could use it to great effect in other apps too, giving companies a new way to build brand awareness and loyalty. Phones are aware of everything about their environment. Augmented reality apps use this to layer localised information onto maps or even live video on the screen. Again, why not use localised sound to enhance the experience? Awareness of the environment means that the phone could make adjustments to the sound, for instance to ensure clarity even

Darragh Ballesty, DTS, Director Of Business Development For Mobile And Consumer Devices

The Drive for Better Sounding Mobile Content
when it is noisy. Actually, DTS already does that with DTS Ultra Mobile™ – now available with the T-Mobile G2x™ with Google™ by LG smartphone. The DTS Ultra Mobile solution includes two innovative audio technologies – DTS Envelo™ and DTS Boost™ – that together offer consumers, at the push of a button, a richer, warmer and more engaging experience when listening to music or playing games on their mobile device. The mobile phone is becoming another important way to consume media, with video applications growing. This boosts revenue for the carrier and satisfies a real need for the consumer, so getting it right is a differentiator for the handset manufacturer. Often the content on the phone is specially designed second screen material: additional scenes for popular soaps, or mobisodes or specially created dramas. These are shot with the same care and technical skill as broadcast content, so it is logical to match the audio quality. The same considerations apply to the tablet: it has the same OS as a phone and the same sorts of apps, but with two distinct benefits. First, it has a bigger screen, so is more engaging, and second it has well separated stereo speakers, so the immersive effect can be created without necessarily wearing headphones. In either case, there are likely to be bandwidth restrictions for content being streamed to the device. Again, research has been carried out (not least by Nokia), with the discovery that you can steal some bitrate from the video and give it to the audio, and the consumer will think it is better quality all round. Remember, good sound makes video look better. Much of the aforementioned technology is deliverable today. The rest is within our grasp. As you can probably tell DTS is passionate about sound, and with the way mobile devices and consumer content consumption is trending, it’s no secret sound quality and functionality matters, making every part of the experience of using the device appear more attractive. *comScore Report: “The 2010 Mobile Year in Review”

“The mobile phone is becoming another important way to consume media.”

DTS passionate about sound even for mobiles

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In Broadcast - July/August 2011

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