Dolby introduces volume fix

Dolby Volume technology will first be built into flat-panel television sets and will process digital audio signals to dynamically raise and lower levels, the company said. Incoming PCM audio is processed "psycho-acoustically" and PCM audio is exported. According to Dolby engineers, Dolby Volume will work with all audio signals and won't care about bitrates or sampling rates. In addition, the processing does not impact the audio signal.

The technology was showed off in a listening room in the MGM Hotel Conference Center. Various pre-recorded television clips were played back to simulate the channel changing habits of an average viewer. At first, engineers demonstrated the clips with Dolby Audio turned off. The result was the typical "riding of the volume controls" or constant fiddling of the volume to raise or lower voices or annoying commercials.