As the US plunges deeper into the digital entertainment millennium it becomes easy for us all to forget the simplicity of cathode ray tube (CRT) televisions.  But much the way America quickly forgot radio shows because television let them experience their favorite shows visually rather than just audibly; so too are they realizing that digital TV is much more than just watching fuzzy pictures on a small screen.  Instead, the clarity of digital TV has brought America both breathtaking images and immersive surround sound that allows the viewers to "be there."  Well they're almost there. It turns out that in some cases the audio experience hasn¹t quite kept up with the progress made on the viewing side of the digital entertainment equation.




Did you know that over 76% of all flat panel TV owners use the speakers built into their TV or only 2-speakers to listen to their HDTV programming? In fact, a recent study by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), as well as independent research conducted by SRS Labs, corroborates this sobering reality – consumers are missing out on enriched audio experiences while watching HDTV programming.

Yet, CEA also found that consumers consider audio to be nearly as important as video in their entertainment systems. Further, MarketTools found that over 71% of flat panel TV buyers indicated “audio quality” was their 3rd most important buying criteria, out of a list of 18 criteria, when purchasing new TVs.

BASED UPON: Q4 ’06 CEA U.S. Online Survey of 2,402 Adults Question 28: Generally speaking, when it comes to home video/audio entertainment system, how important or not important are the following aspects to you?
 





To make matters more interesting – as you already know - the FCC is finally forcing all broadcasters to exclusively broadcast “digital TV” by 2009. This means there will be a plethora of multi-channel audio content being received into homes as part of their HDTV movies/TV shows, yet; only a small fraction of consumers will know how much they’re missing since they “don’t know what they don’t know.” In other words, most consumers are likely unaware that the HDTV movie they are watching on their new flat panel TV could be even more enjoyable if they used enriched surround processing that creates an immersive TV viewing experience, like that provided by SRS technologies.

With the tidal wave of good news emanating from the video side of this equation, lost is the fact that most flat panel TV owners will only use the speakers built into their TV to listen to the new multi-channel HDTV broadcasts! Yet, consumers that turn to reviews from leading magazines are hard pressed to find one iota of information about the quality of the audio system in the HDTV reviews.
 





Despite the dearth of information about audio in major trade magazine coverage of HDTVs, major TV manufacturers seem to understand that the audio in their HDTVs needs to perform well. This has led to the overwhelming adoption of SRS audio processing technologies into their HDTVs. 9 of the top 10 selling flat panel TV brands (30” and larger) shipping today feature SRS audio technology to provide improved multi-dimensional sound enrichment. The vast majority of these TVs feature the world’s number one virtual surround sound technology, SRS TruSurround XT® which provides theater-like surround sound over two speakers. Still, most consumers do not even know their HDTVs possess advance audio capabilities from companies such as SRS Labs.

Hopefully that will all change soon. With recent announcements from more TV brands implementing SRS TruSurround XT across their entire lines of 2008 flat panel LCD models, it seems that even more consumers will have access to SRS when watching their DTV programming, and therefore access to a thrilling theater-like surround sound listening experience.
 




 
Your readers and the consumer deserve to know more about the audio features built into the HDTVs they are buying. We understand that a considerable amount of the reviewer’s time is already spent on assessing picture quality. But we believe there are numerous ways of highlighting the features of a HDTVs audio processing and speaker configuration. Again, based on an online survey conducted by MarketTools, over 71% of HDTV buyers indicated that “audio quality” was their 3rd most important buying criteria, just behind screen size and picture quality, out of a list of 18 criteria. It would seem nearly incumbent upon reviewers to include some sort of assessment of advanced audio processing capabilities in HDTV sets.

  


To learn more about the future of audio technology in the HDTV market and to set up an interview with Alan Kraemer, Chief Technology Officer for SRS Labs, please contact Jim Noyd at jim.noyd@noydcom.com.  Alan Kraemer is well respected in the audio field and has been a speaker at the following key events: Key Note at TI Developer conferences in Texas, Munich and England; Flat Panel DisplaySearch conference; TV Supply Chain Conference; Audio Engineering Society conference, Beijing Digital TV conference; DVD Europe conference; and more.


About SRS Labs, Inc.
Founded in 1993, SRS Labs is the industry leader in audio signal processing for consumer electronics. Initially based on audio technologies developed at Hughes Aircraft, SRS Labs now holds over 150 worldwide patents and is recognized by the industry as the foremost authority in research and application of human auditory principals. Through partnerships with leading global CE companies, semiconductor manufacturers and software partners, SRS audio, surround sound and voice processing technologies have been included in over one billion electronic products sold worldwide including HDTVs, mobile phones, portable media devices, PCs and automotive entertainment. In fact, SRS Labs is the de-facto standard of HDTV audio processing with nine of the top ten name brand flat panel TVs featuring SRS technology. Additionally, SRS Labs surround sound solutions provide the professional broadcast and recording industries with high-performance production, back-haul, storage, and transmission capability. SRS Labs supports manufacturers worldwide with offices in the US, China, Europe, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. For more information, visit www.srslabs.com.
 
 
Except for historical information contained in this release, statements in this release may constitute forward-looking statements regarding our assumptions, projections, expectations, targets, intentions or beliefs about future events that are based on management's belief, as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management. While the Company believes that its expectations are based upon reasonable assumptions, there can be no assurances that the Company's goals and strategy will be realized. Numerous factors, including risks and uncertainties, may affect the Company's actual results and may cause results to differ materially from those expressed in forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of the Company. Some of these factors include the acceptance of new SRS Labs’ products and technologies, the impact of competitive products and pricing, the timely development and release of technologies by the Company, general business and economic conditions, especially in Asia, and other factors detailed in the Company's Form 10-K and other periodic reports filed with the SEC.  SRS Labs specifically disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

Press Contact:
Jim Noyd
Noyd Communications Inc.
232-D Manhattan Beach Blvd
Manhattan Beach, CA 90266
310-374-8100
jim.noyd@noydcom.com

 SRS Labs, Inc, Contact:
Cyndee Pelino, Marketing Manager
949-442-5518
cyndeep@srslabs.com		  

     Note for press only:
     Photos, additional specifications, information, interview requests and product evaluations should be directed to agency.