Alexey Prokhorchuk— sound engineer, senior engineer at Dolby in Russia and the CIS, film technology engineer. Graduated
Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB)- a company in the field of audio processing systems,sound recording and reproduction company, headquartered in San Francisco. Engaged in the development and improvement of audio and video technologies. The company's success began with the iconic film Star Wars in 1977.
Transmit pure sound
— What are the main tasks and difficulties in the work of a sound engineer? What problems may arise due to the introduction of new technologies?
— Let's look at the history of the development of sound onexample of cinema. The Dolby company “came onto the scene” in 1970 - noise reduction technology was first used in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, but the corporation presented its real breakthrough - the use of the stereo effect - to the consumer four years later at the presentation of Star Wars. Since then, the main task of sound engineers has become the transmission of pure sound to the consumer, that is, it is necessary to reproduce everything in a form in which the sound engineer and film producer can hear.
This is what we are doing: We are developing such technologies so that the user can hear the best quality sound on his home device or in a movie theater. At each stage of technology development, there are difficulties. For example, now the digital transmission method is actively used, systems 5.1 and 7.1 are used. There was a problem associated with the fact that for the convenience of the user you need to fit everything on one medium. There is a difficulty in the technology of transmitting sound so that the consumer can hear it clean, in high quality both on the TV and in the home theater with large speakers.
5.1 soundmost common.It includes six channels of audio - five full-bandwidth (three front: left, right and center; and two rear: left and right) with a frequency range of 3-20,000 Hz and one limited low frequency (LFE) 2-120 Hz .
7.1 sound format- a surround sound system that enhances the detail of the surroundings by adding two additional rear channels.
The future is immersive sound
- How has technology changed in the industry over the past 10 years and what role has Dolby Laboratories played in these changes?
- The main achievement of recent years is universalTransition to 5.1 high-quality digital sound. Gradually, we were able to move from HD to 4K resolution, as well as from the standard dynamic range to the expanded dynamic. As for the sound: from Surround (ambient sound - “Hi-tech”) we came to immersive. This is a three-dimensional volumetric sound that creates a sound field from above and surrounds on all sides. Now the whole sound industry is moving in this direction, there are many prospects, and we are somewhere in the middle of the global process. While all this relates to premium content, the mass launch is still a long way off. The possibilities for creating quality content are endless today. Ultimately, everything depends on the desire and financial capabilities of the end user. To a greater extent this applies to viewing at home.
The first commercial CD was released in1982, then experts predicted the sunset of analog sound. Over the past 20 years, digital technology has evolved in two directions. First, along the compression path, music files decreased in volume. The second is the creation of new high-resolution formats for those who value recording quality rather than quantity. High-resolution digital recordings, devices for playing them, and various online services with quick access to thousands of tracks have begun to appear.
- Films, series and albums of famous musicians are still sold on physical media. Does this limit the development of coding and sound reproduction systems or, conversely, helps?
- Physical media do not affect development. Although today there is an obvious tendency to phase out them. All processes gradually go online. People are unaccustomed to getting up, inserting discs, and then pulling them out. Physical media remains in demand in the high-quality content segment: Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are associated with high quality. Despite this, more and more people are going online.
Ultra HD Blu-ray- updated Blu-ray disc format,presented by the Blu-ray Disc Association back in 2015. This is a more advanced version of Blu-ray with 4K quality images. Provides a resolution of 3840x2160, which corresponds to Ultra HD TVs. The image quality is four times higher than that of conventional TVs. The format covers more than 75% of the colors visible to the human eye. And the “digital bridge” function allows you to view video from mobile devices.
The director is not responsible for the picture on the TV
- What technologies that improve sound and image are used in TVs today?
— Now, of course, HDR is popular, but for the average personWithout additional support, it is difficult for a consumer to figure out which model to choose. There is a kind of format war going on, in which we are introducing Dolby Vision technology. Its peculiarity is that it adapts the signal to the capabilities of the device.
Dolby Atmos technology fits equally wellfor home and movie theaters, supported by televisions and even smartphones. Now there are smart speakers, “sharpened” specifically for this technology. For example, Amazon releases the Echo column, which also supports it.
Dolby vision— HDR technology in the field of image processing.It is based not on increasing the number of pixels, but on improving each individual pixel. It has deeper dark tones and enhanced contrast. The image looks 40 times brighter than on conventional TVs. Devices with this technology display more colors and sharper contours of images, which gives a three-dimensional feeling.
Dolby atmos— immersive sound technology.The system allows you to place and move sound objects in three-dimensional space, including the area above the viewer's head. The sound becomes deeper, clearer and more detailed.
— What is the difference between Dolby Vision technology and other formats from the perspective of the average viewer?
— The main advantage is that the viewer is insured againstdistortion of visual content. The problem is that there are TVs where the manufacturer “lays in” certain image processing algorithms. As a result, the director is not responsible for the final picture and it may lose quality during transmission. Dolby Vision gives the director the ability to control image quality, and a person sees the picture as it was originally intended. If the film is intended to be dark, then you cannot lighten it - all the flaws will be visible. Dolby Vision repeats the color rendition intended by the creator of the picture without changing it. Let me give you a simple example: the viewer saw one of the episodes of the last season of Game of Thrones as too dark precisely because of incorrect color rendering. Dolby Vision eliminates such incidents.
Episode 3 “Long Night” of the 8th season of “Gamesthrones ”, according to viewers, turned out to be too dark. Many paintings and scenes are simply impossible to consider. According to the cameraman Fabian Wagner, the picture was planned gloomy, but it was shot well and looked normal. Probably, the American broadcaster HBO has too lowered the image quality for streaming.
- Where can you find a better image now - in cinemas or at home, on new high-tech TVs?
- The comparison, in my opinion, is incorrect. Firstly, there are projectors in cinemas, light is reflected, but not radiated, like at home. They are tuned by specialists, supported in the state necessary for high-quality broadcasting of a film, in accordance with international standards. If the cinema does not meet the requirements, it simply will not show Hollywood cinema. At home, the TV can stand by the window, on the chest of drawers, on the north or south side. TVs produce different volumes, brightness and so on. All this is of great importance for the quality of image transmission. But in terms of watching content at home, Dolby Vision is great for home, automatically adjusting to the environment. The risk of content distortion is reduced, the quality of the picture is increased, and hence the viewing pleasure.
- Is it possible to avoid distortion of the content at the stage of its “delivery” to the end consumer?
- Unfortunately, messing up the content is easy. For example, play it on an inappropriate device. Sometimes the image, the sound is harmed in regional centers when local ads are inserted. Alas, it is almost impossible to fully control the process.
Stereo still drives
- Why in the music industry most often adhere to classical stereo sound, do not use modern digital recording, do not introduce the maximum number of technologies?
- Good question.I guess that's the nature of the music industry itself. It is quite conservative, and the reason is due to the peculiarities of listening to music by music lovers. People rarely listen to music in surround sound. Do not forget that for now the entire music industry is still geared towards stereo.
In stereo, two channels are usually used (forleft and right playback source). For the listener, a sense of space is created depending on which speaker the signal is directed to and with what proportion.
Surround sound, the so-called surround sound,is multi-channel and sounds more realistic than stereo. It is reproduced on more than five sources located around the listener, for each of which a separate channel is recorded.
Partially modern technologies are still being introduced.For example, in film music the 5.1 format is actively used, and classical works are reproduced in Surround technology. Try listening to a classical music concert in Surround - you will really enjoy it. The sound will flow from above, and there will be a pleasant feeling of space, complete immersion. However, for most genres, stereo is enough, and listeners get used to the sound and reject new products. The Beatles' album "Abbey Road" was recently released in Dolby Atmos immersive sound format, it sounded different, and was controversially received by fans accustomed to the old sound.
For our part, we offer a different sound concept, we strive to make music sound equally good on headphones, on a stereo system, and on devices with Dolby Atmos
Prototype of the first programmable musicalThe instrument was the invention of the Banu Musa brothers in 875. They invented a water organ: the roller hit the vessels located on different ledges, and the sound was diverse. A few years later, on the principle of an organ, the brothers invented an automatic flute. Until the 19th century, these instruments were the only devices with programmable sound recording. Recording of acoustic instruments and voice to mankind became available only in the mid 50-ies of the XIX century.
- Why do people go to the movies today? They can see it all at home.
- Firstly, going to the cinema turns into an event: people go not just to the movies, they go to shops, restaurants, and watching a movie becomes a pleasant end to the entertainment program. Secondly, films appear in cinemas earlier than on the Internet. Finally, cinemas have much better sound and quality. In a good way, in an apartment for a home theater it is important to allocate a whole room. But not everyone can afford it. In the cinema, a person can enjoy high-quality picture, sound, special effects and enjoy the evening as a whole.
- How will sound and video technologies develop in the near future?
— The experiment withimproving the content, because we have not yet finally switched to the new format - Ultra HD - it has not gone to the people. Further more. Yes, there is talk about 8K, but it is not yet entirely clear how to build a service around it, there are still technical problems.
Therefore, most likely, currentformats - will become available to ordinary consumers. People will watch movies on mobile phones, the trend of universal "mobilization", I am sure, continued. Fundamentally new technologies, I think, will not appear. First you need to hone those that are.
The term 4K refers to all digital formatsvideos in which the horizontal number of pixels is approximately 4,000. The most common resolution is 3840x2160 pixels. For household devices, the term Ultra HD is also used, which is essentially the same thing.
8K differs from 4K with a resolution of 7680x4320pixels, which is four times more. Even at close range, pixels are hard to see because of their small size. Thanks to this density, the image has become even sharper, brighter and deeper.
See also:
— The new mutation of COVID-19 infects a person 8 times faster and is not “seen” by the immune system
— Look at the giant shark, which suffered from an equally giant squid!
— A woman’s egg can “select” sperm: its owner has nothing to do with it