Agoura Hills, CA—Mar 15, 2006
DTS Introduces the Advanced DTS Digital Cinema Encoder™
First to Employ JPEG 2000 ‘Constant Quality’ Encoding for D-Cinema
DTS, Inc. (NASDAQ: DTSI), the leading
digital entertainment company, expanding its Cinema Division products portfolio,
announces the DTS Digital Cinema Encoder™, the first commercially available
encoder that provides “Constant Quality” encoding for D-Cinema presentation. The
DTS Digital Cinema Encoder uniquely utilizes JPEG2000 image compression with DTS
Variable Bit Rate™ (DTS-VBR) encoding, to produce the highest quality images for
D-Cinema, with file sizes between 30 and 50 percent smaller than competing
systems.
The DTS Digital Cinema Encoder was developed in conjunction with Dr. Michael
Marcellin, a leading expert in JPEG2000 image coding technologies and a key
advisor in developing the DCI (Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC) standards for
D-Cinema, and signals the entry of DTS as a key provider of premium technology
and product solutions supporting the motion picture industry’s transition to
Digital Cinema.
The advantage of the DTS Digital Cinema Encoder lies in its ability to achieve
any desired bit rate or distribution file size, while maintaining constant image
quality compliant with DCI standards. Encodes are optimized through the use of a
DTS-VBR implementation of JPEG2000, which makes the most efficient use of the
available bit budget, and produces the highest quality images for D-Cinema
exhibition. Complex or difficult frames are encoded with a higher bit rate, and
easy frames are encoded at a lower bit rate to maintain quality, optimizing the
image quality of the entire motion picture or individual reels. By comparison,
competing systems employ Constant Bit Rate encoding (CBR), simply assigning a
fixed maximum bit rate for each frame, often with mixed results, particularly in
frames containing complex moving images.
As D-Cinema exhibition expands, duplication time and distribution costs will
become an important factor in its commercial success. According to Dr. Marcellin:
“Recent tests of the DTS Digital Cinema Encoder were conducted to compare the
encoding quality of a digital cinema print using CBR encoding and VBR encoding.
Results using Peak Signal to Noise Ratio measurements confirmed that a digital
film encoded at 150 Mbps using VBR encoding, produced the same quality as a
digital film encoded at 250 Mbps using CBR encoding. Further tests also showed
that the VBR could be reduced still further while maintaining the highest
quality images. VBR encoding also exhibits excellent temporal rate control
(motion sampling rate), with no image lag or flicker, which is essential for
films that contain significant motion, such as fast action or sports. CBR
encoding has virtually no temporal rate control for film frames with motion,
resulting in possible image distortion.”
The DTS Digital Cinema Encoder also provides efficient encoding of extra
materials, such as replacement frames or watermarked frames. It supports the DCI
requirement of 2k and 4k resolutions, and is scalable for higher or lower
resolutions. The encoder is available in two configurations: The primary
offering is a turn-key hardware solution, and DTS also offers custom software
installation.
In recent demonstrations, the image quality produced by the new Digital Cinema
Encoder was confirmed: “The DTS Digital Cinema Encoder was recently used to
demonstrate Constant Quality Variable Bit Rate encoding to the Hollywood
community with impressive results,” said Don Bird, Senior Vice President, Cinema
Division at DTS. “This is an exciting time in the film industry and DTS is proud
to be creating tools that make D-Cinema production better and easier, ultimately
enhancing the cinema experience.”
About Dr. Michael W. Marcellin
Since 1988, Dr. Michael W. Marcellin has been with The University of Arizona,
where he is Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and Professor of
Optical Sciences. His research interests include digital communication and data
storage systems, data compression and signal processing. He has authored and
co-authored more than 150 papers in these areas. Dr. Marcellin is co-author of
the book “JPEG2000: Image Compression Fundamentals, Standards and Practice,”
which serves as a graduate-level textbook on image compression fundamentals, and
is the definitive reference on JPEG2000.
About Digital Cinema Initiatives, LLC
Digital Cinema Initiatives (DCI) was established in 2002 by seven Hollywood
studios with the purpose of establishing specifications for Digital Cinema that
ensure a high-level of technical performance, reliability and quality control,
and specifies requirements for the distribution of Digital Cinema. JPEG 2000 is
an international standard supported by ISO 15444-1, published jointly with the
International Telecommunications Union (ITU). JPEG 2000 is scalable in
resolution, detail, temporal rate and file size, making it ideal for Digital
Cinema because it intelligently allocates bits or data based on the complexity
of each film frame. Additional information can be found at www.dcimovies.com.
About DTS Cinema Division
DTS, a leading digital sound company, is now a leading digital entertainment
company, with emergent capabilities and resources to integrate and support a
fully digital experience for high-quality cinema presentation.
DTS’ expanded range of products and services are founded upon our proven
expertise in the creation and delivery of digital media for cinema, and have
been developed to meet the opportunities and challenges of the industry
transition to a digital entertainment platform. Our content creation and
delivery tools for D-cinema and E-cinema, and media network systems offer new
standards of quality and ease of operation. These tools and systems are designed
to define and support new opportunities for increased revenues and efficiencies
for content providers and exhibitors.
Alongside the existing advantages of DTS’ single print solution for cinema
sound, we provide an extended portfolio of products and services that allow
flexibility and easy implementation of the latest delivery, scheduling and
presentation solutions for pre-show, advertising and alternative content.
DTS continues its relentless commitment to partnering with exhibitors in
providing value-added products and support in the transition from film to a
fully digital entertainment experience.
