Intel Surround Sound Software is Dolby*-Approved

Intel 3D RSX is the World's First Software Certified to Produce a Five-Speaker Sound Experience from Two Speakers

HILLSBORO, Ore., June 17, 1997 – Intel Corporation today announced that its 3D Realistic Sound Experience (3D RSX) technology is the first software to meet Dolby* Laboratories' stringent requirements for Virtual Surround playback. This approval means companies that create DVD (digital video device) players or PC applications software with Intel's 3D RSX development kit can produce a five-speaker surround sound effect akin to Dolby theater sound from just two speakers and an Intel Architecture-based personal computer. Products delivering this theater like experience through a pair of conventional speakers are expected to reach market by the end of the year.

"Sound is critical to grabbing and holding our attention in real life," said D. Craig Kinnie, vice president and general manager of Intel's Internet and Communications Group. "Multimedia viewed on the small screen can be as compelling as movies viewed in a Dolby-equipped theater when Intel's 3D RSX is part of the product."

"Advancing the quality of the listener's experience is the mission of Dolby Laboratories," said Ed Schummer, vice president of Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. "Intel's 3D RSX technology promises to bring PC users the kind of lifelike experience that Dolby multichannel sound presentations provide for millions of moviegoers."

Surround Sound for PCs
Intel's 3D RSX technology is software that enables developers to bring three-dimensional, interactive sound to Internet applications, DVD players, 3D games and multimedia applications. It produces lifelike effects through the use of a technology that adjusts the characteristics of a sound relative to the position of the listener. As a result, people whose PCs run applications with 3D RSX will perceive sound in all directions, not only to the front and sides but also above, below and to the rear. Intel's 3D RSX software is enhanced for MMX™ technology, an Intel advancement that brings greater multimedia capability to personal computing, so people using PCs equipped with MMX technology can enjoy an even richer audio experience.

Now that it is approved for use with Dolby Pro Logic* and Dolby Digital* audio decoders, 3D RSX becomes the world's only free software development kit to deliver five-speaker sound from two speakers. No other surround sound technology is interactive, software-based and capable of being run both locally on PCs and remotely from the Internet.

* Other names and brands may be claimed as the property of others.