DTS-HD Gets Initial Nod for Surround Track on UltraViolet CFF Downloads

DTS’s recent efforts to work with tools and infrastructure providers to make DTS deliverable via the cloud have paid off with the announcement in April that CinemaNow would be delivering content encoded with DTS, and with Tuesday’s announcement that Paramount Studios will encode its library of UltraViolet movies available in Common File Format (CFF) with DTS-HD surround sound, said CEO Jon Kirchner. Kirchner called DTS-HD an “efficient and scalable solution” that crosses multiple listening environments from multi-channel home theater surround sound to two-channel TV sound and the headphone space, where “some of the most innovative work” is now occurring, he said. “There’s a tremendous opportunity for improvement in the marketplace to enhance entertainment” from smartphones, tablets and PCs, he said.

CFF-encoded content, which consumers download once and then can play on multiple devices “anytime, anywhere,” is due out later this year along with hardware to support it -- including Blu-ray players and set-top boxes, Kirchner said. But it’s possible that existing hardware could be upgraded with software to play CFF content, he said. Some Samsung 2013 smart TVs, including the 75-inch LED-lit model in the F8000 series, pack DTS 2.0, along with Dolby Digital Plus, according to specs on the Samsung website. According to an FAQ on the Samsung website, though, Samsung TVs “do not support a DTS audio signal. While you will still be able to hear audio it will not be the full range of DTS audio. Samsung TVs with a digital optical output jack support Dolby Digital and PCM but not DTS,” it said. Samsung didn’t provide clarification by our deadline, and it wasn’t clear whether evolution kits for its smart TVS would enable a future TV to decode a CFF movie using DTS-HD. Kirchner couldn’t comment on hardware makers’ upgrade plans but said “some of these products are upgradeable.”

There currently aren’t any products on the market supporting UltraViolet CFF, since the spec was only recently finalized, Kirchner said. Over the next six to nine months a range of new devices will come out that support CFF, he said. Those devices will come from the iOS, Android, Mac and PC domains, and include Blu-ray players and TVs, he said. “There are lots of people involved in the UV organization and lots of industry support” from the content and device sides, he said.

Kirchner said the DTS platform is “largely agnostic” to the file containers whether they're for streaming or downloads. DTS creates technology for interoperability and backward compatibility, he said. “It’s not the case that DTS technology is different for UltraViolet or CFF than it is for streaming” or any other application, he said. He referred to a compatible “suite of products” that live within the DTS-HD brand, and going forward, “that’s what you're going to be seeing,” he said. Kirchner said he didn’t “have a handle” on which codec Paramount was using for its streaming content via UltraViolet.

On UltraViolet, Kirchner referred to the “soft launch mode” of the ecosystem due to studios dealing with “the complexity of completing all the standards” for CFF delivery and infrastructure challenges of launching “what they hope to be the next big interoperable format.” DTS believes there will be a big push behind UltraViolet, he said, and said the number of UltraViolet-formatted titles is approaching 10,000. The most important advancement is the release of CFF, which will move UltraViolet to a download model where consumers will be able to own and “feel comfortable with” a business model that works for consumers and supports the industry.

Dolby announced in January that Sony Pictures, Universal and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will encode thousands of movies and TV shows in the UltraViolet CFF using its codec, Dolby Digital Plus. Kirchner said initially Paramount is releasing its catalog in UltraViolet only with DTS surround audio as the 5.1 track for the content, but the relationship isn’t exclusive long-term. Initially the libraries are going to be released in DTS but “the studios have an interest in monetizing content,” he said. “They'll do what they need to do,” long term, he said, citing the costs involved in converting libraries to the cloud environment. “We're certainly excited to be their launch partner,” he said, declining to detail terms of the agreement.