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Dom Robinson reviews
- Cert: E
- Running time: 31 minutes
- Year: 1999
- Pressing: 2000
- Region(s): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, NTSC
- Chapters: 17
- Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1
- Languages: English
- Subtitles: None
- Widescreen: ratio varies
- 16:9-Enhanced: No
- Macrovision: No
- Disc Format: DVD 5
- Price: £17.04 (from their website)
Dolby: What does it mean to you? A misspelling of the “Dobly” word used inThis Is Spinal Tapor a jaw-dropping aural experience (*I* said AURAL!) ?If it’s the former then you may as well read that review, but if it’s thelatter then stick with this one.
Following on from the days when Ray Dolby (below) created the Dolby Noise Reduction systemfor professional and home-based tape recordings, life in mono progressed to stereo in 1977.It seemed to be a myth though that the first feature film to use Dolby Stereo was Star Warsalthough that is what this disc claims here – I understood that the honours when to A StarIs Born. The home version of this format is known as Dolby Surround and the next step,Dolby ProLogic, adds a centre speaker to the setup to centralise dialogue. Dolby SR(Spectral Recording) was an improvement but such films still played as Dolby Surround on videoin the home.
Until early 1992, as stereo was also making a foothold in the home, Dolby had to do one betterand created Dolby Digital 5.1 and the first film to use the format was Batman Returns.Whereas surround sound featured mono rear speakers, DD5.1 featuredfive separate speakers with stereo rears and improved sound separation, plus a “.1” channelwhich produces bassy Low Frequency Effects (LFE). Although it’s become theformat of choice for the relatively new DVD format, others have sought to challenge itsdominance, such as DTS (Digital Theatre Sound) and SDDS (Sony Dynamic Digital Sound). A numberof DTS discs have also been produced, but they have yet to knock Dolby of their perch.
Dolby Rain TrailerIt’s latest trick is Dolby Digital Surround EX 6.1, which adds an extra speaker, placedcentre-rear. However, this isn’t another discrete speaker, but one that produces a matrixedeffect from the regular rears. The jury’s still out on exactly how effective it is and its usein films is still in its infancy, so far making a stance in blockbusters such as Star WarsEpisode 1: The Phantom Menace and Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me.
Technology pays with a price though and just when I thought I’d got things sussed, becauseManchester’s Showcase Cinema still only has four of its fourteen screens equipped withDolby Digital 5.1 and the more recent UCI at the Trafford Centre has all twenty screens kittedout this way, along comes another sound format to push the envelope further.
Still not convinced? Well, to these ears, the difference between Dolby Stereo and DolbyDigital 5.1 is as big an advancement as that from mono to stereo. Plenty of Laserdiscs(not UK PAL ones) and DVDs from any region utilise DD5.1 sound and it will eventually beused as a sound format for Digital Television.
Dolby also have something else up their sleeve for the future :
Dolby Headphone is a unique signal processing system that enables your stereoheadphones to realistically portray the sound of a five-speaker playback system.It can be incorporated into virtually any type of audio or video productnormally featuring a headphone output, and is identified by the DolbyHeadphone (left) and Dolby Headphone Stereo (right) symbols on the unit orone of its controls.
For more information on this new development, visit Dolby’s website from thelink at the bottom of this review.
Ray DolbySo, what do you get for your seventeen-quid-and-a-bit? Quite a lot that’sgoing to deafen your neighbours if played at the right volume.
First off are a couple of six-minute pieces, an Introduction to DolbyLabs and The Dolby Digital Story, which tell the tale of whatRay Dolby (above) achieved and include examples of Dolby Digital 5.1 sound.However, they don’t touch upon either Dolby Digital Surround EX 6.1 or theinvention of Dolby Headphone.
If you wanted a collection of top-notch Dolby Digital trailers that you mayhave seen in the cinema then look no further. The first four I’ve seen beforeand there are three that are new to me.
- City : Until now I knew of this one as the Helicopter demo as a choppedflies through a cityscape and past a cinema showing a Dolby Digital film,”The Sound Of The Future”. It’s a loud one and sounds superb.
Train : Starting with a misty, grey haze and extreme surround effectsfrom separate speakers, a train eventually emerges and thunders off into thedistance.
Canyon : More subtlety as what starts off seemingly as a jungle sceneends in the Grand Canyon.
Egypt : Another clever use of DD5.1 that quietly begins but closes ina crescendo of sound as an Egyptian temple is revealed.
Aurora : A space-based demo with the Dolby Digital logo appearingafter what looks like a rip in the space-time continuum.
Rain : The Dolby Digital logo appears amongst a brilliant CGIeffect of raindrops falling on water.
Game : My favourite of the trailers I hadn’t seen before. One totest the speakers to the limit, this combines the feel of Battlezone,Carmageddon and Half Life into a few seconds of Dolby Digitaljoy.
Finally comes some short musical pieces to try out on your system.
- Earth Wind and Fire: Even If You Wonder : An 80-second soundbiteavailable to listen in Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround and Stereo.
Allegro in D Major : Performed by Pacific Guitars, this is a piece ofclassical music lasting 140 seconds and available in the same sound formats.
San Fernando Valley : Performed by Flying Without Instruments, thisis a near-3-minute encapsulating acapella number performed in Dolby Digital5.1 only.
Dolby City TrailerThe picture is faultless, the Dolby Digital trailers having an averagebitrate of 8Mb/s, while the rest is mostly a collection of static images.Most of the content is in a fullscreen 4:3 ratios, although some of thetrailers are in a 16:9 ratio.
Note that the disc has been mastered in NTSC so ensure you connect your DVDplayer to the TV with the SCART or S-video socket.
If I was to say anything bad about the sound, I’d expect Mr. Dolby to comeround and break my legs, but you can rest assured that the sound from thisDolby Digital Demo is spot-on. However, while I only have a surround sound setupso was not able to check out the DD5.1 samples on this disc in all their glory,I have seen some of them in the cinema and both those and good uses of DD5.1sound in films are enough to make you stand up and applaud.
Dolby Egypt TrailerExtras : Chapters/Trailer :I counted 17 chapters here, but the chapter selection can be done fromtwo menus, one as shown below and the other for the music.
There is also a “Loop” option which plays everything in menu order.I guess this is how the website got a total running time of just over 60 minutesas the whole content is included twice: once individually and once in a loop.
Languages/Subtitles :English is the only language used for the two pieces about Dolby themselves,while the rest is sound only. There are no subtitles for the Dolbydocumentaries. Wot, no more extras…? :Well this is a demo disc after all, so doesn’t quite fit the same criteriaas regular movie releases. Menu :Some nice animation as the menu (below) zooms towards the cinema curtains,they open up and you watch your selection. Afterwards when the screen fadesto black, the cinema demo is reversed. It’s impressive to watch at first, butafter many repetitions it starts to resemble Monty Python’s animation.
The sound accompanying the menus is a medieval affair of soft guitar music.
Main MenuOverall, if I could want something more from this disc it would be a set oftest signals outside of the “Dolby Digital Story” – and a nice bonus mighthave been to include something along the lines of “Video Essentials” to helpset up the geometry of my TV, if this had been possible.
Other than that though, it’s a first rate demo collection and one to dig outwhen your friends pop round and you want to impress them.
Dolby are right when they say “We’ve got the whole world listening”. When I’m watching afilm, I let *ALL* my neighbours know by turning the volume up to eleven.
N.B.: The website states a price in US$ but a copy of this disc can be orderedby phoning 01793 842100 ext. 2236, faxing 01793 842130 or e-mailingDDH@dolby.co.uk and tell them yousaw the review on DVDfever.FILM : *****PICTURE QUALITY: *****SOUND QUALITY: *****EXTRAS: N/A——————————-OVERALL: *****
Review copyright © Dominic Robinson, 2000.
Visit the Official Dolby Website
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.