Because Dolby AC-4 can support a new range of complex use-cases, the encoding process can be more computationally expense. However, when comparing similar use cases, for example 5.1 channel-based encoding, the increase in computational load is modest. Depending on the processor employed, the increase is somewhere in the region of 10-50% compared with encoding Dolby Digital Plus. This means that existing equipment supporting Dolby Digital Plus professional encoding can often be upgraded, in software, to support Dolby AC-4 encoding.