Since 1940, when Walt Disney first conceived the idea of using surround sound in the film Fantasia, no company has accomplished more to enhance that experience than Dolby. The company’s superior surround sound format Atmos – the standard for immersive audio in both professional and home theaters – has been refined.
Three years ago, Dolby Atmos hit the commercial theater industry with its new format, producing a more immersive, lifelike sound. One of the more noticeable aspects of the new format was the need for more speakers, including ceiling-mounted units for overhead sound effects that could support up to 64 channels.
Dolby Atmos for home theaters moves beyond the paradigm of channel-based audio, which has gone as far as it can in the home. The ability to recreate reality using channel-based audio is fundamentally limited – no matter how many channels are added to a system.
Even 7.1 systems reach a point of diminishing returns when splitting a limited signal to serve more and more channels. For example, when a helicopter takes off and banks to the right or left before flying out of sight, channels cannot realistically recreate the audio details of those movements.
The Technology
A Sample 7.6.1 Atmos Setup
Atmos has now taken channels out of the equation. Rather than panning from channel to channel to approximate the movement of on-screen sound sources, sound engineers can move the objects themselves through a “virtual” space on a computer monitor while the system creates the sound effects. Due to the increased processing power and bandwidth, Dolby Atmos adds height information, so that realistic helicopter sounds can literally fly around the room like they’re coming right off the screen.
The Requirements
Atmos Attachment for Speaker Enhancement
An Atmos home theater will have to include a compatible Blu-ray player, receiver or processor and power amplifiers. Of course, more speakers are needed in order for Atmos to function as intended, but an alternative solution is using Atmos-enabled speakers that can be mounted to the tops of existing speaker towers. These additions will allow greater immersive sound levels than traditional 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound.
From a new media room featuring Dolby Atmos technology to the latest in home automation, contact our team at AHT Residential. We not only carry the top technology brands – we’ll take your project from design to install and beyond. For more information about the new Dolby Atmos technology for your home theater, please give us a call or email us at one of our Miami, Philadelphia or New York offices.