Available on Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate Editions, Dolby Digital Plus will deliver "home theatre quality audio to the PC, improving the listening experience of music, movies and videos," says Microsoft.
"With Blu-ray disc, DTV broadcasts and other rich multimedia delivered through the internet, Dolby Digital Plus ensures that people will hear outstanding audio on any device," says Ramzi Haidamus, executive vice president of sales and marketing, Dolby Laboratories.
Dolby Digital Plus is a high-efficiency codec designed to maintain the quality of Dolby Digital surround sound at a lower data rate, and is compatible with most current Dolby Digital AV receivers.
It provides support for up to 7.1 channels and is the broadcast audio standard for HDTV services in the UK, France, Italy, Spain and Sweden.