Dolby® DM100 User’s Manual
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Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 About the DM100
The Dolby®DM100 is a hand-held diagnostic tool that can
monitor or generate Dolby Digital, Dolby E, and PCM
bitstreams. The unit allows audio systems integrators and service
engineers to quickly test the integrity and composition of these
signals throughout a facility. The DM100 is intended for use in
broadcast, cable, DBS, and postproduction facilities, as well as
DVD mastering and home theater installation.
The DM100 accepts input signals via XLR, BNC, and Toslink™
connectors. The unit identifies the format of the input signal and
activates the appropriate built-in decoder. The decoded analog
signal, sent to a standard 1/8-inch stereo headphone jack, can be
switched to monitor any two decoded channels, while a small
built-in speaker can monitor the sum of any channel pair. A
front-panel LCD displays Dolby Digital and Dolby E metadata
information. Six front-panel LEDs indicate critical bitstream and
system status information.
A set of Dolby Digital, Dolby E, and PCM test bitstreams is
stored in internal, nonvolatile RAM, and can be changed in the
field via software download. The selected test bitstream is
produced simultaneously on all output connectors. The unit can
receive and decode an input signal while simultaneously
generating a test bitstream. The DM100 also features a pass-
through mode that allows modification of the input signal’s AES
channel status bits before passing the signal to the output
connectors. (The input signal can be monitored simultaneously.)
The DM100 also includes system level tests, such as latency
measurements, and the ability to check the clock
synchronization between audio and video signals.
