Dolby Pro Logic II

From the Audiovisual Identity Database, the motion graphics museum

Background

Dolby Pro Logic II is a sound processing system developed by Dolby Labs to decode film and TV soundtracks encoded in Dolby Surround, which allows a stereo soundtrack encoded with it to be transformed into 4.0 surround (left, center, right, and center surround). The second version of this system was introduced in 2000, transforming a standard stereo or Dolby Surround-encoded soundtrack into full 5.1 surround. The system was since expanded to add in a center surround channel and height channels.

1st Logo (2000-2006) (Still variants)

Visuals: On a black background, the Dolby Pro Logic II logo fades in and out.

Variants:

  • Sometimes the logo is black on a white background.
  • "DOLBY" may fill in the whole space of the rectangle.
  • "Presented in" may be at the top of the logo.
  • Occasionally, the "PRO LOGIC II" bar and "SURROUND" will be replaced by "PRO LOGIC II" in plain text.
  • Copyright info might be shown at the bottom.

Technique: A still digital graphic.

Audio: None.

Availability: Used in games such as Conflict: Desert Storm, Burnout 2, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Mario Sunshine, Mario Kart: Double Dash, and Battalion Wars for GameCube. One of the later GameCube titles to use this logo was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

2nd Logo (2002-2008) (Fire)


Visuals: On a black background, clouds of fire burst onto the screen, revealing the Dolby logo in golden 3D. We can see "SURROUND" below, and "PRO LOGIC II" under it, written on a golden bar.

Variants:

  • Sometimes on titles like Monster Jam: Maximum Destruction for GameCube, copyright info is shown at the bottom.
  • On some later games like Genji: Dawn of the Samurai for the PS2, the logo has a sleeker appearance and "DIGITAL" replaces "SURROUND".
  • There's a re-done version used on some other later games. A fiery explosion plays in reverse, then forwards again, revealing the Dolby Pro Logic II logo albeit in a plain white form (like the first logo). Occasionally this version simply reads "Dolby Digital".

Technique: CGI.

Audio: A burst of windy fire.

Availability: Appears on some games from the time, like Star Wars: The Clone Wars (GameCube port only), Atelier Iris: Eternal Mana, and I-Ninja. This trailer is also available on the Dolby demo disc Explore Our World: We've Got the Whole World Listening. The later version can be seen on the PS2 and Wii versions of Scarface: The World Is Yours (while the PC and Xbox versions have the "Digital" variant) and Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence. Both the Pro Logic II and Digital variants can be seen on Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on PS2, though these need to be enabled in the options before they play.

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