Dolby Laboratories announced it has become a member of the Arab HDTV Group, founded by the Arab State Broadcasting Union (ASBU).

The Arab HDTV Group coordinates collaboration among broadcasters in terms of interoperability, standardization of production, delivery and reception and promotes the introduction of HDTV services into the Arab world.

“We are proud to become a member of the Arab HDTV Group by contributing to the industry in this region and sharing best practice. This is a key milestone for Dolby led by our regional team in the Middle East,” said Andreas Spechtler, EMEA regional vice president, Dolby Laboratories.

Dr Riyadh Najm, vice president of ASBU, chairman of Arab HDTV Group and Deputy Minister of Information Affairs at Saudi MOCI, said: “We welcome Dolby onboard as the leader in audio technologies. Our mission is to recommend the most appropriate standards and coordinate the efforts for HDTV introduction in this region; we encourage broadcasters, manufactures, vendors and everyone in this industry to join us in achieving our goal.”

Dolby joined forces with ASBU at ASBU BroadcastPro Middle East Summit & Awards –the leading broadcast industry event held recently in Dubai.

With over 200 attendees, the event returned with a line-up of more than 30 industry speakers debating regional strategies for multi-screen broadcasting and exploring steps towards creating sustainable business models. For the second consecutive year, Dolby participated in the event in association with ASBU.

“Dolby’s involvement and overall objectives are in line with ASBU’s strategy to provide excellence in the broadcast industry. We aim to provide a superior audio experience to complement the high-end video quality today’s broadcasters have to offer,” said Spechtler.

“We’re excited to see broadcasters in the region interested in adopting Dolby Digital Plus and producing content in 5.1 to provide the best entertainment experience to viewers. Dolby Digital Plus is used in many set top boxes shipped to the region, leading to more services being offered to consumers and viewers in Dolby Digital Plus,” he added.

At the summit, Tarif Sayed, regional director for Middle East & Africa at Dolby, led a panel discussion alongside a mix of panelists from end users and manufactures. This also focused on what multi-platform delivery entails in terms of content, technical infrastructure and other related challenges, providing solutions on how broadcasters can move beyond their traditional offerings.

Dolby technologies cover the whole traditional and connected multiscreen delivery ecosystem – from content creation, being part of traditional and hybrid broadcasting standards, to the latest video on demand and over the top (OTT) services. – TradeArabia News Service