PlayBox Integrates Surcode for Dolby Digital in AirBox

PlayBox Technology announces a major expansion to the audio capabilities of its AirBox channel-in-a-box broadcast playout solution with the addition of SurCode for Dolby Digital Plus encoding and decoding

“Large screen television displays, typically 55 inches and above, are becoming increasingly popular among home television viewers which in turn is creating strong interest in high-quality television sound,” comments Don Ash, PlayBox Technology Managing Partner and Director, Sales. “This demand will be further accelerated by the rapidly falling price of 4K home television receivers with high-quality internal upscalers.

AirBox with integral SurCode for Dolby Digital Plus encoding and decoding enables broadcasters and playout facilities to deliver high quality cinema-style 7.1-channel surround sound reliably and easily without the expense or rack-room clutter involved when using external hardware codecs. 

“SurCode for Dolby Digital Plus is very easy to configure within the AirBox operating environment. The data bit rate can be adjusted for a specific network channel. In addition, primary and secondary audio streams such as multiple language tracks are easily accommodated.

“The codec is fully integrated into AirBox and includes complete Dolby metadata support as well as backward compatibility with viewers’ existing Dolby Digital audio equipment. Advanced services such as audio description are also supported.”

Designed and produced by PlayBox Technology, AirBox is a content playout and streaming system capable of operating both in standard-definition and high-definition. Capable of manual or 24/7 unattended operation, it can be connected easily to third-party devices. AirBox supports MPEG1/2/H.264, HDV and DV streams from practically any production platform capable of providing AVI, MPEG, MXF, QuickTime or WMV content. Files from third-party servers such as Leitch or Seachange are natively supported.

Changes to the AirBox playlist can be made while on-air. Every listed clip except the one which is currently playing can be trimmed, edited or repositioned. Playlist order can be changed on-the-fly with commands such as skip-to-next or jump. Order changes are performed seamlessly without interrupting the current playout session. Live productions are controlled via a Live Show Clipboard which allows insertion and/or execution of various events or live streams.