Dolby’s near-term demand picture “is clouded,” Rosenblatt Securities analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Sunday, saying he’s reducing the FY ’23 outlook for Dolby's license growth to 3% year on year from his previous 6% estimate. Further penetration of Dolby Atmos and Vision should put the company on a double-digit growth path, but “given the countless number of negative headlines around PCs, handsets and general economic pressure,” Rosenblatt cut FY ’23 revenue to $1.33 billion from $1.37 billion. Dolby continues to build out its ecosystem, while Apple updated the AppleTV+ app for Samsung TVs to support HDR10+, meaning several shows on the subscription VOD service can be viewed in HDR10+, in addition to Dolby Vision. “We still don’t believe HDR10+ has enough support from content producers to be a viable alternative to Dolby Vision,” he said. Over the past couple of months, two high-profile streaming shows, Amazon's Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and House of the Dragon from HBO Max, are offered in Atmos and Vision, Frankel said, saying, “Amazon's support of Vision & Atmos is important in that it was an early backer of HDR10+ and for the last six years hadn't created original content in Vision.” Amazon also added Vision support to The Wheel of Time, he said. Elsewhere, Fox broadcast MLB playoff and World Series games in Dolby Vision, and Duran Duran released a 75-minute documentary concert film to theaters in Vision and Atmos. The analyst also noted a session at Samsung’s Developer conference on enabling Atmos in gaming. Dolby reports Q4 FY '22 earnings Nov. 17.
German automotive parts manufacturer Continental Automotive joined the DVD Copy Control Association, and Coresystem Technology of Hong Kong and A-Com International of Taiwan withdrew, the association told the DOJ and the FTC in simultaneous “written notifications” Aug. 30, said a notice for Thursday’s Federal Register. Coresystem is a distributor of electronic parts and A-Com is a supplier of memory components and custom modules. Membership in DVD CCA, licensor of the DVD format’s copy protection system, "remains open," and the association “intends to file additional written notifications disclosing all changes in membership,” said Suzanne Morris, chief-premerger and division statistics in DOJ’s Antitrust Division. The notifications are required to extend DVD CCA members antitrust protections under the 1993 National Cooperative Research and Production Act, said Morris.
Hisense’s 2022 U7H and U8H Series TVs received WiSA SoundSend certification, said WiSA Thursday. SoundSend certification ensures “effortless and simple connection and interoperability between smart TVs and the WiSA SoundSend wireless audio transmitter,” it said. WiSA SoundSend connects to a TV via HDMI ARC/eARC and uses WiSA HT wireless audio technology to set up and connect multi-speaker systems “quickly and easily,” it said.
Technicolor’s Vantiva-branded supply chain services replicated 238 million physical discs in 2022's first half, nearly 30% fewer than in January-June a year earlier, said the company Thursday. Production of music CDs remained steady at 16 million discs, but DVD replication plunged 35% to 159 million discs, and Blu-ray replication fell 18% to 63 million, said Technicolor. “Solid year-on-year new release volumes” on physical media are expected “as theatrical attendance continues to normalize, but this will be more than offset by lower catalog volumes, driven by evolving customer and retailer behavior,” said CEO Richard Moat.
“Laser at AMC” will be the branding at 3,500 AMC auditoriums in the U.S. that get Cinionic laser projectors installed by the end of 2026, with the first installations to start later this year, said the theater chain Friday. The laser projection equipment and “associated auditorium enhancements” powering the initiative will have an estimated value of about $250 million, “with minimal upfront capital investment from AMC,” it said. “Moviegoers enjoying Laser at AMC can expect improved picture contrast, maximum picture brightness, and more vivid color,” compared with existing digital projectors, it said. “The move to laser projection offers a more environmentally friendly way to present movies with less waste, including the elimination of replacing xenon bulbs, and a significant reduction in energy usage.” It called the initiative “its first major broadscale projector upgrade since the transition to digital.” AMC operated 7,755 U.S. screens Dec. 31, said the company's most recent annual report.
Technicolor replicated 795 million discs in 2021 for three packaged media formats, down only 2.7% from 2020, compared with the annual 11% declines in the years just preceding the COVID-19 pandemic, said CEO Richard Moat on a Q4 earnings call Thursday. “This is in part due to the marketing efforts of back-catalog products by the major studios, which are starting to focus on theatrical new releases, given the recent improvement in box-office attendance,” he said. Technicolor produced 557 million DVDs in 2021, 0.5% fewer than in 2020. Blu-ray replication numbered 202 million discs last year, down 7.3% from the 218 million produced in 2020. Music CD replication reached 36 million discs in 2021, down 7.7% from the 39 million produced in 2020. Technicolor is the world’s top DVD replicator for all the major studios, with 65% global share, including 90% share in the U.S., said Moat.
Revenue in Technicolor’s disc replication business declined 7.7% in Q1 to 139 million euros ($168.6 million), “very good performance” when considering that Q1 a year earlier “was largely unaffected by COVID and when cinemas were open and new releases were taking place,” said CEO Richard Moat on a Tuesday earnings call. Total replication volume was down 10.9% to 155 million discs, despite a 1.4% increase in standard-definition DVDs to 111 million discs, “driven by the ongoing push of back catalog products,” he said. But Blu-ray replication declined 31% to 37 million discs “due to the lack of new release content,” and music CDs were down 34% to 7 million “as a result of structural decline and the COVID-related impacts. Profit in the replication sector increased 300% in the quarter to 4 million euros ($4.85 million) from “pricing improvements following the studio contract renegotiations that we did, and by growth in non-disc-related supply-chain activity,” said Moat.
Dolby's business has “hit the sweet spot,” Colliers analyst Steven Frankel wrote investors Wednesday: “The Atmos/Vision ecosystem is gaining momentum, driving adoption across more devices, leading to the creation of more content, which, in turn, induces manufacturers to add more Dolby technologies across their product lines.” Apple’s integration of Dolby Atmos in the over-ear AirPods Max, introduced Tuesday (see report, Dec. 9), is a “full-throated embrace” of Dolby’s home entertainment technologies, he said. The device-maker has incorporated Dolby Vision and Atmos across most of its products, including Macs, iPhones, Apple TV and iPad Pro, he noted, while Apple TV+ content is being produced in Vision and Atmos. Amazon Music HD and Tidal are the only two streaming services currently supporting the growing catalog of Atmos Music tracks, but Frankel believes it’s “only a matter of time before Apple Music follows.” The iPhone 12 could be a “seminal event,” accelerating adoption of Vision in PCs, tablets and smartphones, said the analyst.
Dolby announced Dolby.io as a tool for businesses, developers and content creators to enhance communications, collaboration and AV experiences in apps and services. The application programming interface allows developers to apply Dolby technologies to enhance real-time interactions or pieces of content, said Vice President-Developer Relations Aaron Liao Tuesday. The first available APIs will be able to analyze and enhance the quality of media content or allow multiparty audio and video communications to be embedded in an app. Cross-platform capabilities such as Spatial Audio, advanced noise reduction, HD Video, broadcasting and screen-sharing can be used to make distance learning, telehealth visits, training sessions and other live events feel “lifelike and familiar,” Dolby said. It’s targeting industries such as healthcare, distance learning, digital collaboration, online training, podcasting and social media. A free trial includes 30,000 interactivity minutes and 200 media processing minutes. Post-trial, interactivity APIs will cost .0045 cent per participant per minute; media processing APIs, .05 cent per minute, it said.
Sony Pictures committed to release “hundreds” of titles in the Imax Enhanced format over the next two years, expanding its agreement with DTS. At least 100 titles will be available over the next 12 months, said the companies Monday, and “hundreds” more are expected in following years. Imax Enhanced is available on four streaming platforms in 14 countries and across 17 CE brands. DTS and Sony also developed Imax Mode for residential viewing.