DTS’s recent efforts to work with tools and...

to encode its library of UltraViolet movies available in Common File Format (CFF) with DTS-HD surround sound, said CEO Jon Kirchner. He called DTS-HD an “efficient and scalable solution” that crosses multiple listening environments from multi-channel home theater surround sound to two-channel TV sound and the headphone space. “There’s a tremendous opportunity for improvement in the marketplace to enhance entertainment” from smartphones, tablets and PCs, he said. CFF-encoded content, which consumers download once and then can play on multiple devices “anytime, anywhere,” is due out later this year along with hardware to support it -- including Blu-ray players and set-top boxes, Kirchner said. It’s possible that existing hardware could be upgraded with software to play CFF content, he said. There aren’t any products on the market supporting UltraViolet CFF, since the specification was only recently finalized, Kirchner said. Over the next six to nine months, a range of new devices will come out that support CFF, he said. Those devices will come from the iOS, Android, Mac and PC domains, and include Blu-ray players and TVs, he said. “There are lots of people involved in the UV organization and lots of industry support” from the content and device sides, he said. Kirchner said the DTS platform is “largely agnostic” to the file containers, whether they're for streaming or downloads. On UltraViolet, Kirchner referred to the “soft launch mode” of the ecosystem due to studios dealing with “the complexity of completing all the standards” for CFF delivery and infrastructure challenges of launching “what they hope to be the next big interoperable format.” DTS believes there will be a big push behind UltraViolet, he said, with the number of UltraViolet-formatted titles approaching 10,000. Dolby said in January that Sony Pictures, Universal and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment will encode thousands of movies and TV shows in the UltraViolet CFF using its codec, Dolby Digital Plus. Kirchner said initially Paramount is releasing its catalog in UltraViolet only with DTS surround audio as the 5.1 track for the content, but the relationship isn’t exclusive long term. Initially the libraries are going to be released in DTS, he said. “The studios have an interest in monetizing content and will “do what they need to do,” long term, he said, citing the costs involved in converting libraries to the cloud environment.