{
 "id": "dolby-digital-ac-3",
 "name": "Dolby Digital AC-3",
 "category": "audio",
 "identifiers": {
  "extensions": [
   "ac3"
  ],
  "mime": [
   "audio/ac3"
  ],
  "puid": [
   "fmt/735"
  ],
  "wikidata": [
   "Q28919030"
  ],
  "loc_fdd": [
   "fdd000209"
  ],
  "magic": [
   {
    "offset": 0,
    "hex": "0b77",
    "notes": "Dolby Digital AC-3"
   }
  ],
  "signatures": [
   {
    "name": "Dolby Digital AC-3",
    "sequences": [
     {
      "position": "bof",
      "offset": 0,
      "pattern": "0b77"
     }
    ]
   }
  ]
 },
 "status": "writable",
 "summary": "AC-3 (backronymed to Audio Codec 3 or Advanced Codec 3) is the common version of Dolby Laboratories' Dolby Digital audio compression technology.",
 "tools": [
  {
   "name": "FFmpeg",
   "url": "https://ffmpeg.org",
   "license": "LGPL-2.1-or-later / GPL-2.0-or-later",
   "open_source": true,
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true
  },
  {
   "name": "AC3Filter",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2003408",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Adobe Encore",
   "url": "https://www.adobe.com/products/encore/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "Adobe Premiere Pro",
   "url": "http://adobe.com/products/premiere",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "proprietary license"
  },
  {
   "name": "Audify Music Player",
   "url": "https://audifyplayer.com/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "proprietary license"
  },
  {
   "name": "EZ CD Audio Converter",
   "url": "https://www.poikosoft.com/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Media Player (Windows 11)",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q109616196",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "mutagen",
   "url": "https://mutagen.readthedocs.io/en/latest/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License, version 2.0",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Pinnacle Studio 17 Ultimate",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q123246373",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  },
  {
   "name": "Q1063722",
   "url": "http://www.un4seen.com/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "freeware"
  },
  {
   "name": "Q117725",
   "url": "https://picard.musicbrainz.org",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "GNU General Public License, version 2.0",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "Q300915",
   "url": "https://www.foobar2000.org/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "freeware"
  },
  {
   "name": "Q3898244",
   "url": "https://MediaArea.net/MediaInfo",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "BSD licenses / GNU General Public License / GNU Lesser General Public License",
   "open_source": true
  },
  {
   "name": "thousand tunes player",
   "url": "http://music.taihe.com/",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false,
   "license": "proprietary license"
  },
  {
   "name": "Xilisoft Video Converter 3",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q122229367",
   "reads": true,
   "writes": false
  }
 ],
 "projects": [
  {
   "name": "PRONOM fmt/735",
   "url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/PRONOM/fmt/735",
   "kind": "format-doc"
  },
  {
   "name": "Wikidata Q28919030",
   "url": "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q28919030",
   "kind": "wiki"
  }
 ],
 "provenance": {
  "sources": [
   "converters",
   "pronom",
   "wikidata"
  ]
 },
 "updated": "2026-10-20",
 "conversions": [
  {
   "to": "flac-free-lossless-audio-codec-1-2-1",
   "tool": "FFmpeg",
   "command": "ffmpeg -i in.ac3 out.flac",
   "fidelity": "lossless",
   "losses": "Lossless for decoded audio; a lossy source stays as degraded as it was. WAV may reduce bit depth or drop metadata.",
   "url": "https://ffmpeg.org"
  },
  {
   "to": "waveform-audio",
   "tool": "FFmpeg",
   "command": "ffmpeg -i in.ac3 out.wav",
   "fidelity": "lossless",
   "losses": "Lossless for decoded audio; a lossy source stays as degraded as it was. WAV may reduce bit depth or drop metadata.",
   "url": "https://ffmpeg.org"
  },
  {
   "to": "mpeg-1-2-audio-layer-3",
   "tool": "FFmpeg",
   "command": "ffmpeg -i in.ac3 out.mp3",
   "fidelity": "lossy",
   "losses": "Lossy re-encoding.",
   "url": "https://ffmpeg.org"
  },
  {
   "to": "ogg",
   "tool": "FFmpeg",
   "command": "ffmpeg -i in.ac3 out.ogg",
   "fidelity": "lossy",
   "losses": "Lossy re-encoding.",
   "url": "https://ffmpeg.org"
  },
  {
   "to": "mpeg-4-part-14",
   "tool": "FFmpeg",
   "command": "ffmpeg -i in.ac3 out.mp4",
   "fidelity": "lossy",
   "losses": "Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container.",
   "url": "https://ffmpeg.org"
  },
  {
   "to": "matroska-1-4",
   "tool": "FFmpeg",
   "command": "ffmpeg -i in.ac3 out.mkv",
   "fidelity": "lossy",
   "losses": "Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container.",
   "url": "https://ffmpeg.org"
  },
  {
   "to": "webm",
   "tool": "FFmpeg",
   "command": "ffmpeg -i in.ac3 out.webm",
   "fidelity": "lossy",
   "losses": "Re-encoded with lossy codecs by default; try `-c copy` to remux without re-encoding when the codecs fit the container.",
   "url": "https://ffmpeg.org"
  }
 ],
 "aliases": [],
 "structure": [],
 "parsers": [],
 "samples": [],
 "claims": [],
 "verification": []
}