The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences will distribute shows nominated for Emmy awards in the outstanding sound editing and sound mixing categories on DVD so that judges may hear the shows in their original multichannel broadcast formats.
In addition to enabling Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, shows can be heard in Dolby Surround and in stereo. Previously, the Academy distributed nominated content on VHS cassettes.
“With this move to DVD, the Academy voters will consider the quality of the multichannel mixes the sound editors and mixers have worked so hard to produce,” said Patrick Artiaga, broadcast marketing director at Dolby Laboratories.
Programs presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 that have been nominated for a sound-related category include “The Sopranos,” “Live from Baghdad,” “Meredith Wilson’s The Music Man,” “The 75th Annual Academy Awards,” “The 45th Annual Grammy Awards,” “Alias,” and James Cameron’s “Expedition: Bismarck.”
The Dolby Digital audio format was specified as part of the terrestrial digital television standard. In the past year it’s use has increased on networks such as ABC, CBS, Fox, and PBS. Premium channels such as Discovery HD Theater, HBO, sxHDNet, Showtime, Starz!, and various pay-per-view channels regularly broadcast in Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.
For more information about Dolby 5.1 audio on television, visit: www.dolby.com/tvaudio.
