TWYFORD, UK (DTS Europe/ www.dtsonline.co.uk) - DTS (Digital Theater Systems, Inc.) announced that last week's premiere event celebrating the newly released Live Aid DVD featured DTS surround sound at many of the cinemas participating in the screenings. Marking the launch of the new Live Aid DVD box set, cinemas across Europe, including locations in London, Zurich, Milan, Rome, Vienna, Hamburg and Berlin, featured screenings of a specially prepared compilation from the set.
Many of those theatres chose to deliver the premiere in 5.1-channel DTS
Digital Surround using the DTS XD10 Cinema Media Player, thereby providing the ultimate combined audio and visual experience for their audiences.
The remarkable four-disc Live Aid DVD was released on 8th November by Warner Vision International. The DVD contains over 10 hours of historic footage from the live concerts held simultaneously in London and Philadelphia in 1985. Not only was this an unforgettable event with an extraordinary line-up of performing artists, it also led to over $140 million being raised for the Band Aid Trust, which used the money to help to save lives of those affected by famine in Africa.
Including excerpts from the DVD, such as artist performances, television interviews and documentaries, the event took the audience back in time to what the media had described at the time as "The Greatest Show on Earth."
David Pope, Director Business Development, CSS and Preshow at DTS, explains: "The 24-bit DTS audio added to the realism of the concert, bringing the sounds of the crowd alive and recreating the atmosphere of this unforgettable event. It is a great honour for DTS to be part of this and we would like to thank Christie Projectors and On Sight for helping us at the event in London."
"Our cinemas offer the ideal venue to bring a live concert to life," adds Oliver Pasch, Director Technical Operations CinemaxX. "Thanks to the Weischer Mediengruppe and their OneDCN-preshow-system, we were able to use an HD Projector and the DTS XD10 Cinema Media Player to provide DTS' high-quality multi-channel audio, thrilling the German CinemaxX audiences with a unique, big screen experience."
Paul Schofield, Sound & Projection Manager, Odeon also comments, "I was delighted with the customer response to our latest alternative presentation. The quality of the Live Aid footage, shot in the mid eighties, was truly amazing. The energy and excitement of this momentous and historical event truly 'rocked' our packed cinema audience. The DTS sound, via the XD10 Cinema Media Processor, not only captured perfectly the mood of the original event, but demonstrated how beneficial surrounding the audience with digital sound can be."
Fans can recreate the same experience in their own homes as the DVD release also features a DTS soundtrack. Proceeds from the sale of the DVD will be donated to the Band Aid Trust. VAT on this and the Band Aid Single, to be released on 28 November, will also be refunded to the charity.
About the Band Aid Trust
From January 1985 until the release of the DVD in November 2004, the Band Aid Trust and Live Aid Foundation spent over $144 million on the relief of famine in Africa by supporting projects in Burkina Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali, Niger and Sudan. Money raised from the sale of this DVD will be used to continue the work of the Band Aid Trust in Africa.
