Dolby AC-4 aims to bring Blu-ray-grade audio to streaming

Dolby is pushing its new AC-4 audio codec, which delivers the same or better Dolby Atmos quality at half the bitrate of Dolby Digital Plus and is described as "perceptually lossless" at higher bitrates. Peacock will be the first streamer to offer AC-4 alongside Dolby Vision 2, expected later this year.

• AC-4 uses half the bitrate of Dolby Digital Plus for equal or better quality
• Dolby calls AC-4 "perceptually lossless" at higher bitrates
• Three profiles: IMS for earbuds, Level 3 for OTT, Level 4 with full Atmos metadata
• Peacock will be first to offer AC-4 and Dolby Vision 2, expected this year