Audio DSP supports Dolby Volume

Dolby Volume technology enables consistent volume levels from television content, such as blaring commercials, or while switching channels.

Cirrus Logic has come up with the world's first audio digital signal processor that features Dolby Laboratories' Dolby Volume sound-levelling technology for digital television applications.

In volume production today, the fixed-function CS48DV2 is a two-channel processor that supports Dolby Volume technology, a breakthrough technology that eliminates consumer frustrations with continually variable volume levels.

Dolby Volume technology enables consistent volume levels from television content, such as blaring commercials, or while switching channels.

This breakthrough technology allows listeners to set their preferred listening level and have it stay that way, regardless of the source or content.

Cirrus Logic is planning additional audio DSPs that will incorporate Dolby Volume technology for a wide variety of consumer electronics products, such as audio/video receivers, home-theatre-in-a-box systems, and stereo audio systems.

"Dolby Volume technology is without a doubt one of the must-have features for 2008 digital television designs, and with the CS48DV2, Cirrus Logic can help TV manufacturers offer this quickly, easily and with minimal cost", says Terry Ritchie, DSP Marketing Director, Cirrus Logic.

"Analyst studies suggest that incorporating Dolby Volume technology into DTV products can give manufacturers a significant edge against their competitors - precisely because it's solving a problem that's been a real source of frustration for consumers".

The foundation of Dolby Volume technology is a sound processing engine that applies decades of Dolby research into how humans actually perceive and process sound.

While other products have attempted to address inconsistent volume in the past, Dolby Volume technology is an innovative solution to the problem and represents a more sophisticated approach built around the way people hear.

Dolby Volume technology is comprised of two powerful volume control technologies: Modeller and Leveller.

Leveller continually measures the perceptual loudness of audio content and applies multiband gain modifications using its perceptual processing engine.

This allows audio from multiple sources to have the same perceived loudness level.

Due to the nature of human hearing, many subtleties of the content can be lost when listening at low audio levels.

The Volume Modeller technology continually analyses and modifies the audio depending on both the content and the playback level, restoring it to the way it would be perceived at the reference playback level.

The result is improved imaging, intelligibility and audibility of the audio content.

The CS48DV2, which is available in a 48-pin QFP package, is currently in volume production and is priced at US $4.78 in 10,000 quantities.

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