Norway’s DVB-T selects Coding Technologies’ MPEG-4 aacPlus audio codec in world’s first deployment for Digital Terrestrial Television

Combination of aacPlus/DTS transcoding guarantees backwards compatibility to existing installed base of home theatre systems


Las Vegas, Nev., NAB 2007, and Nuernberg, Germany, April 16, 2007 — Coding Technologies, the leading provider of audio compression for mobile, digital broadcasting and the Internet, today announced that its audio compression technology has been selected by Norway’s digital terrestrial platform. The deployment of Coding Technologies’ advanced aacPlus audio codec for stereo and surround sound is the first of its kind in digital terrestrial HD (High Definition) and SD (Standard Definition) TV broadcasting and sees the Norwegian DVB-T platform the first to benefit from the most efficient use of available spectrum, enabling broadcasters to deliver more TV programming at reduced transmission costs. Use of aacPlus in Norway is also further evidence to the industry that aacPlus is the only codec designed for and suited to any broadcasting application, from shortwave to satellite radio, mobile TV, and the highest quality surround sound for HDTV.

Widely regarded as the world's most efficient audio codec capable of delivering bandwidth economy and a DVD-like audio experience, aacPlus is the audio codec of choice for delivering high-fidelity live and on-demand audio for a variety of PC, mobile television, Internet and radio standards. This latest deployment highlights that aacPlus is also of equal relevance for High Definition and Standard Definition TV stereo broadcasting as well as in the combination of aacPlus/DTS for multichannel audio.

“As part of its move towards MPEG-4, Norway’s DVB-T terrestrial platform has taken an important step by choosing to make aacPlus audio technology a mandatory part of the set-top-box specifications,” said Stefan Meltzer, Vice President Business Development at Coding Technologies. “Not only that, but through a progressive and forward-thinking approach it has become the first digital terrestrial broadcaster in the world to do so, proving the value of aacPlus to the rest of the industry and providing viewers with a greater choice and a significant improvement in their listening experience.”

The adoption of aacPlus by Norway’s DTT operators is set to enlarge the number of set-top-box vendors, chip manufacturers and encoder vendors targeting this and other markets to deliver products that support aacPlus stereo and 5.1 surround sound.

As a proven technology Coding Technologies’ aacPlus audio codec is already the audio compression format of choice across a variety of industry standards, systems and applications, including, MPEG, DVB, DMB, 3GPP.

As broadcasters discover the benefits of a true alternative in audio compression, vendors and manufacturers have everything to gain from a strategy that involves the development of products which support the aacPlus codec,” continued Meltzer. “In the age of high definition programming, viewer expectations in audio as well as visual content are set to increase, reaffirming audio as a crucial broadcast component.”

The highly-efficient aacPlus audio codec provides broadcasters with an opportunity to deploy a state-of-the-art audio technology. Combining MPEG-4 AVC with aacPlus, these broadcasters benefit from much higher bandwidth efficiency which results in significant cost savings per channel and the possibility to transmit more channels in a multiplex.

The MPEG-4 aacPlus/DTS transcoding solution will be demonstrated at NAB, from April 16 – 19, at Coding Technologies’ stand N610, and in the joint Coding Technologies/DTS demo room N209.

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Coding Technologies
Coding Technologies provides the best audio compression for mobile, broadcasting, and Internet. SBR™ (Spectral Band Replication) from Coding Technologies is a backward and forward compatible method to enhance the efficiency of any audio codec; putting the "PRO" in mp3PRO and the "Plus" in aacPlus. Parametric Stereo from Coding Technologies and Philips again significantly increases the efficiency of audio codecs for stereo signals at low bit rates. Products from Coding Technologies are fundamental enablers of open standards such as 3GPP, 3GPP2, MPEG, DVB, Digital Radio Mondiale, HD Radio, and the DVD Forum.

Coding Technologies is a privately held company with offices in Sweden, Germany, China, and the USA. Founded in 1997 in Stockholm, the company later merged with a spin-off of the renowned Fraunhofer Institute in Germany, the inventor of MP3. Coding Technologies’ customers include America Online, EMP, iBiquity Digital, KDDI, O2, Nokia, Orange, RealNetworks, SK Telecom, Sprint, T-Mobile, Thomson, Texas Instruments, Vodafone, and XM Satellite Radio.