Dolby Atmos
Posted by: Loki on 08 November 2014
Anyone heard the latest in surround sound processing?
...has great potential, but is still in its infancy.
If the past is anything to go by...
Timeline: Dolby noise reduction
1965 Dolby introduces A-type noise reduction for the professional market.
1968 Dolby introduces Dolby B-type noise reduction for consumer products
1970 Advent, Fisher, and Harman Kardon begin offering cassette tape recorders with Dolby B-type noise reduction
1971 Dolby and Signetics create a simplified Dolby B-type integrated circuit, widening the range of products in which the technology could be used
1975 Dolby introduces Dolby Stereo, a 35mm stereo optical release print format
1977 Dolby receives acclaim with the release of 'Star Wars' and 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind', both in Dolby Stereo
1981 First product with Dolby C-type noise reduction reaches market
1982 Dolby introduces Dolby Surround, which encodes the two tracks of any stereo source with four-channel surround sound
1984 Dolby releases Dolby AC-1, the company's first digital coding system
1986 Dolby SR (spectral recording) is introduced
1987 Dolby Pro Logic brings four-channel surround-sound to home cinema
1989 Dolby introduces Dolby AC-2, allowing separate facilities to do full professional-quality audio monitoring and dubbing remotely via ISDN lines
1991 New multichannel audio coding system, Dolby AC-3, announced; now known as Dolby Digital, its first application is as a sound format for films
1995 First consumer products with Dolby Digital playback compatibility announced
1998 First video game with interactive Dolby Digital 5.1 audio launched; Dolby Headphone technology announced
1999 Codecs featuring new Dolby E for DTV multichannel audio production and distribution debut
2000 Dolby Pro Logic II technology announced
2002 Dolby Virtual Speaker technology introduced for consumers lacking the space for a dedicated 5.1-channel playback system
2005 Dolby TrueHD lossless coding for high-definition video discs debuts
2007 Dolby 3D Digital Cinema demonstrated to film industry
2009 Dolby Axon brings 3D voice communication to online games
2010 First public demonstration of 5.1-channel surround sound on a mobile phone using Dolby Mobile technology
2012 Dolby Atmos introduces support for systems of up to 64 speakers
(source: Ray Dolby; the quiet revolution. http://eandt.theiet.org/magazi...rofile-ray-dolby.cfm )
That about sums it up-the upside is that all decoding is effectively virtualized, i.e., there are no discrete channels in the traditional sense. As a consequence, elements blend and fold-down two reduced channel footprints better, and the authoring side from a film mixer's standpoint makes much more sense.
Heard an Atmos system last week: Kef speakers and Yamaha processing. The key element is the ceiling mounted speakers, 4 in this instance, which are supposed to add a sense of scale/height and breadth. Apparently the interface for the sound engineers is much more intuitive with the sound being represented by balls which can be moved through the horizontal and vertical planes in a computerised graphical interface, which allows much more precise sound location than the old placement between speakers routine.
It was good, but not amazing.