Dolby joins EMMA

Dolby Laboratories has stepped up its marketing efforts towards surround sound in the car. As well as continuing to support and encourage manufacturers to build their Pro Logic II technology into their head units, Dolby has hooked up with European Autosound competition organisation EMMA to establish the Dolby Multimedia Award.

The new award was launched at the EMMA event during the Car + Sound show in Sinsheim, Germany, in April 06. Regional heats for the Multimedia Award took place throughout Europe, with the overall winner announced at the EMMA Eurofinals in Switzerland in September 2006. Dolby Labs has produced a special competition DVD to help ensure consistency in the judging. This is being made available to all competitors.

The Dolby Multimedia Award is aimed at competitors who wish to take full advantage of the multichannel audio available on DVD-Video and DVD-Audio, thanks to technologies such as Dolby® Digital and MLP Lossless™, and who also use Dolby Pro Logic® II to render stereo sources into surround sound.

Dolby has been working on their Surround in Motion™ since 2002, resulting in Pro Logic II now being available as a factory fit in the Volvo XC90, S40 and V50, as well as Aston Martin's DB9. In the aftermarket, Clarion, Alpine, Panasonic and Pioneer are amongst those offering products featuring DVD-Video, DVD-Audio and Pro Logic II.