Does the idea of Dolby Atmos at home sound appealing? It is technology that may come to the home theater sooner rather than later.
Launched about a year ago in the digital cinema arena, is the scalable surround-sound format by Dolby that has so far made its way into over 30 theatrical releases, with implementation in over 90 theaters spanning 28 countries, after being adopted by 7 major Hollywood studios.
![Image]()
As of right now, the technology used in the digital cinema delivers "sound objects" (i.e. individual sounds) to as many as 64 speakers (which include speakers above the crowd), covering only half of its current capability of 128 simultaneous sounds.
To illustrate the major difference between current surround technologies and Atmos, we could look at how the sounds are "described." In traditional formats, sound mixers, in a five-channel system, may assign several sounds to just one channel, which can muffle any of the "realism" of the resulting sound. In contrast, Atmos sounds will be described in 3-dimensions by attaching X, Y, and Z coordinates to define the sound's location, creating a much more realistic sound as a result.
Therefore, with Atmos, the sounds are more life-like and are heard more distinctly and clearly. This effect cannot be accomplished with the limitations of jamming multiple sounds into a limited number of channels.
Atmos surround sound pans very smoothly, and regardless of where the viewer/listener is seated, the surround experience is improved.
The scalability of the format allows Atmos playback into theaters (cinemas and at home) with even less than 64 speakers. Allegedly, "Atmos could be embedded in an active soundbar to deliver surround-sound performance that exceeds that of current soundbars with various types of virtual-surround processing," according to an unnamed source in the article at Twice.com.
Independent of room size and the acoustic characteristics of the room, Atmos can be calibrated to work in an optimal way.
The soundtrack for the movie, naturally, is coded specific for the Atmos experience. In terms of home theater availability, the soundtrack would work on current Blu-ray technology (discs and players). Existing cables (HDMI) can handle the encoding, so all that would be lacking is the decoding on the receiver's end.
In terms of A/V receivers with Atmos decoding capabilities, the jury is still out on when those may be delivered. "No one is saying when those A/V receivers will be available, but there doesn't seem to be any technical limitations that would prevent those receivers from becoming available sooner rather than later."
Manufacturers of the receivers might not make decisions on this matter until a final word comes from the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) in regards to new technologies that make it into the new Blu-ray specs. Considerations might include: 4K technology, expanded color space, frame rates, and audio codecs.
Perhaps the decoding can take place on the "Blu-disc level" leaving no need for a receiver with such a capability?
In terms of timing for the next-gen Blu-ray specification, a BDA spokesman said, "It's very difficult to say exactly (or even roughly) when something tangible will come out of the process, but I think everyone involved is motivated to keep things moving as efficiently as possible."
Image Credit:
digitaltrends.com
Launched about a year ago in the digital cinema arena, is the scalable surround-sound format by Dolby that has so far made its way into over 30 theatrical releases, with implementation in over 90 theaters spanning 28 countries, after being adopted by 7 major Hollywood studios.
As of right now, the technology used in the digital cinema delivers "sound objects" (i.e. individual sounds) to as many as 64 speakers (which include speakers above the crowd), covering only half of its current capability of 128 simultaneous sounds.
To illustrate the major difference between current surround technologies and Atmos, we could look at how the sounds are "described." In traditional formats, sound mixers, in a five-channel system, may assign several sounds to just one channel, which can muffle any of the "realism" of the resulting sound. In contrast, Atmos sounds will be described in 3-dimensions by attaching X, Y, and Z coordinates to define the sound's location, creating a much more realistic sound as a result.
Therefore, with Atmos, the sounds are more life-like and are heard more distinctly and clearly. This effect cannot be accomplished with the limitations of jamming multiple sounds into a limited number of channels.
Atmos surround sound pans very smoothly, and regardless of where the viewer/listener is seated, the surround experience is improved.
The scalability of the format allows Atmos playback into theaters (cinemas and at home) with even less than 64 speakers. Allegedly, "Atmos could be embedded in an active soundbar to deliver surround-sound performance that exceeds that of current soundbars with various types of virtual-surround processing," according to an unnamed source in the article at Twice.com.
Independent of room size and the acoustic characteristics of the room, Atmos can be calibrated to work in an optimal way.
The soundtrack for the movie, naturally, is coded specific for the Atmos experience. In terms of home theater availability, the soundtrack would work on current Blu-ray technology (discs and players). Existing cables (HDMI) can handle the encoding, so all that would be lacking is the decoding on the receiver's end.
In terms of A/V receivers with Atmos decoding capabilities, the jury is still out on when those may be delivered. "No one is saying when those A/V receivers will be available, but there doesn't seem to be any technical limitations that would prevent those receivers from becoming available sooner rather than later."
Manufacturers of the receivers might not make decisions on this matter until a final word comes from the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA) in regards to new technologies that make it into the new Blu-ray specs. Considerations might include: 4K technology, expanded color space, frame rates, and audio codecs.
Perhaps the decoding can take place on the "Blu-disc level" leaving no need for a receiver with such a capability?
In terms of timing for the next-gen Blu-ray specification, a BDA spokesman said, "It's very difficult to say exactly (or even roughly) when something tangible will come out of the process, but I think everyone involved is motivated to keep things moving as efficiently as possible."
Image Credit:
digitaltrends.com
