Dolby Laboratories Multichannel Audio Tool DP570 - Manual (Page 17)

Dolby ® DP570 Multichannel Audio Tool User’s Manual 1
Chapter 1
Overview
The Dolby ® DP570 provides unprecedented control and reference monitoring for the
creation and delivery of Dolby Digital and Dolby E surround sound as well as metadata for
DTV and DVD production.
The DP570 Multichannel Audio Tool simplifies the preparation of content for Dolby E and
Dolby Digital encoding. Its ability to control and configure the monitoring environment
and its ability to set and edit metadata parameters makes it a key tool for postproduction,
DVD, and digital television facilities. You can monitor exactly what the consumer
ultimately hears in real time, without the need to decode and reencode material.
The convenient interface lets you take full advantage of the audio metadata that Dolby
Digital bitstreams deliver to consumer decoders, ensuring that home listeners hear
programs exactly as originally intended. The DP570 enables the user to create new
metadata, and to modify any previously generated metadata. Its built‐in meter provides
the crucial ability to determine and set the dialogue normalization (
dialnorm ) value. The
DP570 outputs metadata as a separate data stream, to be combined later with the
multichannel audio in a Dolby E or Dolby Digital encoder.
1.1 Analog Monitoring Capabilities
The DP570 is particularly useful in conjunction with audio consoles lacking adequate
multichannel monitoring facilities. With the addition of the high‐performance 24‐bit Cat.
No. 548 Analog Output Card, independent 5.1‐channel, 2‐channel, and mono outputs are
available to feed three separate speaker systems. The card also gives users control over
levels, channel mutes, and channel solos through a master volume control, speaker trim
controls, and an input for a console solo bus.
An additional input and integrated Dolby Pro Logic ® II and Pro Logic decoders allow
proper monitoring of Lt/Rt sources and downmixes from all other inputs.
1.2 Remote Control Capabilities
The DP570 contains extensive GPI/O control and includes a software remote application
for use with a Windows
® ‐based PC. The optional Cat. No. 549 GPI/O Controller provides
key remote control functions.
1.3 Principles of Operation
Until the DP570, the only way to hear the effect of metadata on audio during mastering was
to pass the audio through the Dolby Digital encode/decode chain. This procedure could not
be achieved in real time and offered an unwieldy interface. The DP570 provides this
function in real time by applying metadata parameters to baseband PCM audio. This
emulation function allows you to preview the effects of downmixing, setting dialogue