Dolby sound can be found on our mid to high end windows laptops and there is support for Dolby display options on TVs.
Dolby has several main categories: Dolby Atmos (also called Atmos), Dolby Vision, Dolby Cinema
As an OEM, how to get a Dolby license? You can see the application process on the Dolby website:How to Get a Dolby License - Dolby Professional
Above is the official contract process now, nothing special, just the starting stage. Here's what I learned about the Dolby partnership process:
First, the contract, when signing a contract with Dolby, Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision need to pay a deposit of $25,000 each, the deposit can be returned later
It should be noted that the contract can only be signed by the first-tier parent company (if there is one), providing various certificates and so on.
After signing the contract, the back is the Dolby certification process, which can also be called the intermodulation stage. Dolby will arrange for a person to dock to provide drivers and software, after the adaptation to send the product to the * laboratory to adjust the parameters, the entire certification test about half a month. This stage is no cost
Behind it is the integrated device, Dolby will give drivers as well as management apps that OEMs integrate into the master production. If you need to try it out, the Windows Store can also install Dolby Access, Dolby Audio
Dolby AtmosDolby Audio - Dolby Professional - Dolby Professional, which is integrated into the PC on the OEM side, requires a driver to be installed. For example, for this Lenovo Apocalypse, the audio processor has the DolbyAPO SWC Device audio processing driver here:
Plus the real cost of use, Dolby will standardize the number of devices (online or other channels) and unilaterally tell how much royalties, also called royalties, need to be paid per year, which is roughly $1-$2 a unit.
Note that there is a pit: because of the Dolby Basic reason (will talk about it below), once you sign a contract with Dolby, all of the company's previous windows devices will also have to pay royalties, which is not a small number!
Dolby Basic, here.Dolby Windows License Program FAQ - Dolby Professional There is an introduction, which, combined with other articles on the web, is summarized below:
Dolby Basic is Dolby's partnership with Windows to deliver Dolby Audio, built-in by default starting with Win10, that meets users' expectations for optimized personal video and premium entertainment. By providing full support for Dolby Audio in Windows, Microsoft delivers a consistent, compatible, and high-quality audio/video experience to users in Windows applications.
Win10 has built-in Dolby Audio sound, the Windows version includes the AC-3 codec, and the Edge browser supports Dolby Audio.Dolby Digital Plus - Dolby Professional, see also Dolby's official website for news:Microsoft Enhances Windows 10 Entertainment Experience with Dolby Audio | Dolby News Center。
AC-3 is an audio codec that supports multi-channel ("surround sound") audio, which is also known as Dolby Digital "Dolby Digital".
Originally, Dolby Windows Basic only required companies to pay royalties to Dolby if they manufactured more than 100,000 devices per year. OEMs that make less than 100,000 devices per year get Dolby technology for free.
And above applying for Dolby Atmos, Vision, there's the pitfall of having to make up the cost of Dolby Basic.
In response to this question there has been some good news recently.Win11 24H2 no longer has built-in Dolby Atmos, no Dolby audio decoder pre-installed： Codecs in Media Player - Microsoft Support
So there's been a lot of feedback lately about systems that don't support AC-3 Dolby Atmos:
Win11 24h2 removes ac-3 codec support (workaround found) - PC Discussion (New) - Chiphell - Share and exchange user experiences!
[Notebook] How to install Dolby Audio Decoder after Windows 11 24H2 | Official Support | ASUS Global
Installation and setup of the new Dolby - Lenovo Knowledge Base
Restoring Microsoft Dolby Digital decoder/encoder MFT support in Windows 11 version 24H2 - Farscape Forums - Microsoft Geek Community
People can solve it by installing decoder extensions from Store:Dolby Digital Plus decoder for PC OEMs - Official Windows Download | Microsoft App Store | Microsoft Store
Not supporting Dolby sound by default is good for OEMs, just focus on Dolby certification and pay royalties on the number of units that come out with Dolby software installed.
References:
"What is Dolby Atmos? - KnowingWhat are Dolby Dolby Vision, Dolby Atmos and DolbyAudio? What's the difference? - KnowingFrequently Asked Questions - Dolby ProfessionalSome concepts about Dolby Atmos, finally figured it out!