Dolby Digital Plus
Encoding.com is Dolby’s preferred partner for the creation of Adaptive Bitrate content that includes Dolby Digital Plus as an audio source
Dolby Digital Plus Benefits
Up to 7.1 Discrete Channels of High-Fidelity Surround Sound. Because Dolby Digital Plus™ (E-AC-3) is an advanced surround sound audio technology designed for evolving media, you get consistent Dolby cinema-style audio across your content.
Premium Mobile Audio Quality. Dolby audio adds depth and power for realistic sound through your headphones and device speakers. You’ll hear clearly, even in loud and busy environments.
The Sound of HDTV. Dolby Digital Plus is based on core Dolby Digital® technologies, the established standard for cinema, broadcast, and home theater surround sound.
Compare Dolby Digital Plus with Stereo Audio
Dolby Digital Plus Consistent Quality on Every Device
Enjoy vibrant, high-quality surround sound from all your favorite content with Dolby Digital Plus. Whether you’re watching movies, TV shows, online videos, or concerts, Dolby Digital Plus ensures that you’ll always get consistent audio quality.
The Technology Dolby Digital Plus is an audio technology based on Dolby Digital 5.1, the established standard for cinema, broadcast, and home theater surround sound.
Compatibility with Current Equipment Equipment with Dolby Digital Plus will unlock its full feature set, including 5.1- and 7.1-channel capability (depending on the program).If your system includes Dolby Digital, you’ll still get 5.1-channel surround sound, with the highest-quality Dolby Digital signal possible. Because Dolby Digital Plus content is easily converted to a traditional Dolby Digital signal, you are assured of the best performance your equipment is capable of.
Dolby Digital Plus Products and Content You can get the Dolby Digital Plus experience by purchasing home theater equipment, such as A/V receivers, Blu-ray™ players, or TVs with Dolby Digital Plus. You can also experience Dolby Digital Plus on a tablet or smartphone by purchasing one with preinstalled software. Check out the Amazon Kindle Fire tablet with Dolby Digital Plus.Look for content encoded with Dolby Digital Plus; you can decode that amazing surround sound experience with Dolby Digital Plus home theater and mobile products.
You can find Dolby Digital Plus encoded content on Blu-ray Disc and from our partners, such as Netflix®, Vudu®, or Amazon Fire™ TV.
How it Works Based on both psychoacoustic and cognitive models of audio perception, Dolby Digital Plus delivers HD-quality audio for streaming, on-demand, and downloaded content by using some of our most advanced algorithms. Dolby Digital Plus makes it possible to store and transmit high-quality digital sound to deliver the best audio quality possible on many different kinds of devices.
Additional Benefits for Mobile Devices When incorporated into a mobile device, Dolby Digital Plus adds post-processing technologies that dramatically improve your device’s audio capabilities and your whole entertainment experience. Devices with Dolby Digital Plus have been specifically tuned so that even built-in speakers deliver natural, louder, distortion-free sound.
- Download files or streaming videos faster and more reliably.
- Experience surround sound through your headphones or built-in speakers with the Surround Virtualizer.
- Hear every word with the Dialogue Enhancer.
- Keep the volume constant across all content and applications with the Volume Leveler.
- Connect device directly to a home theater for a full surround sound experience with Dolby Digital pass-through.
Dolby Digital Plus Comparison
| wdt_ID | Dolby Digital Plus | HE-AAC | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | High Quality 5.1 Surround Sound at 192 kbps | x | x |
| 2 | Seamless Bit Rate and Channel Configuration Change | x | |
| 3 | High Quality Stereo at 96kbps | x | x |
| 4 | Scalable to Perceptibly Lossless Audio | x | |
| 5 | Broad Consumer Device Penetration | x | |
| 6 | Support for MPEG DASH, HLS, Microsoft Smooth and HDS | x | x |
| 7 | Supported in International Standards | x | x |
| 8 | Consistent Experience Across Devices With Only One Stream | x | |
| 9 | Consistent & Reliable Playback Behavior | x | |
| 10 | Consistent Program Loudness Across all Decoders | x |
Encoding.com Support for Dolby Digital Plus
Encoding.com is Dolby’s preferred partner for the transcoding of Adaptive Bitrate content. We’ve created the code snippets for our use with our mature and well documented API. In addition, sample outputs are available below in every major adaptive format with the dynamic audio of Dolby Digital Plus.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<query>
<userid></userid>
<userkey></userkey>
<action>AddMedia</action>
<source></source>
<format>
<output>advanced_hls</output>
<stream>
<!-- use DD audio codec for this stream -->
<audio_codec>eac3</audio_codec>
</stream>
<stream>
<!-- use Dolby AAC audio codec for this stream -->
<audio_codec>dolby_aac</audio_codec>
</stream>
<!-- Use DMG segmenter for all streams -->
<segmenter>dolby_segmenter</segmenter>
<pack_files>no</pack_files>
<destination></destination>
</format>
</query>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<query>
<userid></userid>
<userkey></userkey>
<action>AddMedia</action>
<source></source>
<format>
<output>mpeg_dash</output>
<!-- use hbbtv Dolby Segmenter profile -->
<dash_profile>hbbtv</dash_profile>
<!-- use DD audio codec for all streams -->
<audio_codec>eac3</audio_codec>
<pack_files>no</pack_files>
<destination></destination>
</format>
</query>
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<query>
<userid></userid>
<userkey></userkey>
<action>AddMedia</action>
<source></source>
<format>
<output>smooth_streaming</output>
<!-- use DD audio codec for all streams -->
<audio_codec>eac3</audio_codec>
<destination></destination>
<!-- Use DMG segmenter -->
<segmenter>dolby_segmenter</segmenter>
<pack_files>no</pack_files>
</format>
</query>
More Sample Outputs
We’ve also included sample outputs for HLS, MSS, and MPEG-DASH, as well as the source MP4 that was used to create them.
Recommended Parameters for Dolby Digital Plus
Broadcast and Online Dolby Digital Plus
| wdt_ID | Encoding Bitrate | Mono | Stereo | 5.1-Channel | 7.1-Channel |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Default Bitrate (kbps) | 64 | 128 | 192 | 384 |
| 2 | Minimum Bitrate (kbps) | 32 | 96 | 192 | 384 |
| 3 | Maximum Bitrate (kbps) | 1024 | 1024 | 1024 | 1024 |
Example Audio Bitrate for Adaptive Streaming
| wdt_ID | Dimensions | Bitrate | Profile | Level | Audio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 640x360 | 800 | High | 4 | 96-64kbps |
| 2 | 640x360 | 1200 | High | 4 | 192-96Kbps |
| 3 | 950x540 | 1800 | High | 4 | 192Kbps |
| 4 | 1280x720 | 2500 | High | 4 | 192Kbps |
| 5 | 1280x720 | 4500 | High | 4 | 192Kbps |
| 6 | 1920x1080 | 6500 | High | 4.1 | 384-192Kbps |
| 7 | 1920x1080 | 8500 | High | 4.1 | 384-192Kbps |
| 8 | Audio Only | lo-audio | 64kbps (Stereo) | ||
| 9 | Audio Only | hi-audio | 192kbps (5.1) |