CES 2013: Sony Pictures, Universal, Warner Bros. Choose Dolby Digital Plus for Ultraviolet Content

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros. Home Entertainment plans to offer UltraViolet content for download with Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby’s surround sound format for mobile and connected entertainment.

our editor recommends

Time Warner CEO Urges Peers on TV Everywhere, UltraViolet

DECE: UltraViolet Registration Surges In First Three Months

Dolby revealed on Monday that the three studios intend to use the Dolby format when encoding their content to the UltraViolet Common File Format. The CFF is currently being testing in professional circles, and consumer testing will begin in the coming months, according to DECE.

STORY: CES 2012: Social Network, Panasonic Unveil MySpace TV Service

UltraViolet—which was launched by industry consortium Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem (DECE) in October 2011—is a developing service aimed at letting consumers download and stream their entertainment content anytime, anywhere across supported devices.

“We’re always exploring new ways to advance the home entertainment experience for our consumers,” said Darcy Antonellis, president, Warner Bros. Technical Operations, in a statement. “Dolby Digital Plus will deliver the audio quality they demand while providing a convenient way to enjoy content across numerous devices through UltraViolet. We’re very excited to offer this in the coming year.”

STORY: Justin Bieber, Snooki, 50 Cent, Jillian Michaels Among Celebrities Set for CES

Ron Geller, Dolby’s vp of worldwide content relations told The Hollywood Reporter: “As the studios are trying to use UltraViolet as a way to encourage ownership of digital content, it becomes obvious that it has to be at least as good an experience as what is available on DVD.”

According to the DECE consortium, roughly nine million households in North America and the UK have opened UltraViolet accounts since the October 2011 launch of the service. UtraViolet is expected to expand to Australia, New Zealand and Ireland in the coming months, and into France and Germany later in the year.