Cambridge Mechatronics joins industry giants at TV technology awards ceremony in Tinsel Town

Beverly Hills, CA, September 25th, 2009. The organisers of the TV Innovation Awards 2009 today announced that Cambridge Mechatronics Ltd (CML) is one of three finalists nominated in the Audio Experience category. The two other finalists are ST Microelectronics and SRS Laboratories. Nominees in the other categories include BskyB, Cisco Systems, Marvell Technologies, Mitsubishi, Motorola, NDS, ST Microelectronics, Tandberg and Tivo.

The awards will be presented at a gala dinner to be held at the Beverley Wilshire Hotel in Beverley Hills, California, on the evening of Tuesday, October 6th. The awards ceremony is the showpiece event of the annual TV 3.0 conference being held during the same week.

This honour is the latest in a long list of that has been bestowed on CML and its licensees for products based on the company's patented Digital Sound Projector Technology. CML is universally credited as being the inventor of the single-box front-rendered 5.1 surround sound system. Although its invention has been flattered by many imitators, CML’s Technology based on multiple directed sound beams is still acknowledged to produce a more theatrical audio experience than the other approaches based on standard stereo speakers enhanced by psychoacoustic software.

Cost reductions and other enhancements by CML have enabled Sound Projector technology to reach price points that have allowed it to enter the Flat Panel Television market. Beko, Grundig, Loewe and Mitsubishi have all enjoyed critical and commercial success by launching new TV models with integrated Sound Projectors during the 2008/2009 season, hence CML’s nomination for this year’s award. CML’s long-standing licensee Yamaha is the well-established market leader in the standalone soundbar market with its YSP and YRS product ranges.

'The ubiquity of 5.1 content combined with the convenience of a single unit system has brought about a huge increase in demand for front- rendered surround sound systems in general’ said Simon Calder, CML's CEO ' However the emergence of 7.1 and the imminent arrival of the height channels included in the 9.1 format will make Sound Projector technology even more compelling. We see many consumers combining a single sound projector unit with a small number of separate speakers. Thus providing a true theatrical experience with the minimum amount of fuss'