I can't wait for products to come out with the new Dolby Volume technology. My wife and I were able to take in a few movies on the tube over the weekend, and our remote control was getting quite a workout. When our
receiver switches sources from content played with Pro Logic to content played with Dolby Digital, there is a dramatic shift in the volume level. I know I am not alone on this. The problem of course spans to almost any consumer electronic device given the various ways different audio sources are encoded, but it all comes down to consumer experience. No doubt it can be improved.
Enter Dolby Volume, a new technology coming soon from Dolby that should help address the problem. The basic premise is that the technology measures and analyzes how humans perceive sound and is able to regulate a volume level across all types and sources of audio. So when you go from watching a DVD in 5.1 to a TV program in stereo to a movie in ProLogic, the sound level and quality will remain consistent. Another cool component of the technology is that it will allow you to customize the range of low to high sounds that are heard. Thus, if you are watching a program late at night, you can customize the experience to keep the voices clear, while the intermittent music is toned down.
At this stage, the Dolby site says we should be seeing this technology in 2008 across a variety products ranging from TVs, AVRs, HTiBs, and stereo music systems. It will be interesting to see if this technology penetrates the low-end of these markets or is brought into the product line at the high-end. I would bet that this feature is more demanded by the average audiophile and would provide a significant advantage for manufacturers who include the feature in their low to mid-range product lines.
It's safe to say Duracell and Energizer are going to lose some business when this comes out....
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