# Immersive beyond-surround cinema-sound with Dolby Atmos



## keithlock (Feb 5, 2013)

To mimic real life sound in the cinema experience, Dolby Atmos technology delivers overhead and surround sounds in crystal clarity. Now film creators can provide sound to audiences exactly how intended. This new technology allows the use of dynamic effects by moving sound throughout the theater, reproducing an audio experience that is lifelike and natural. Up to 64 speakers are employed to really make the sound hit your eardrums in a realistic way.

*Technical Design*

Building the movie soundtrack is done through a unique layered approach, with static ambient sounds mixed using a standard channel-based approach covering the greater portion of the base layer. Dynamic sound elements are then layered on top which can be moved around to attach to the onscreen images. The behaviors (based on the director's intent) of the elements while being played back are stored as descriptive metadata, irrespective of theater configuration. Expanding towards dual-layers ensures a consistent experience in each theater, and offers much more freedom and power for film creators.

*Technology Advantages*

The technology has a "scaling" component to it where it can be delivered uniquely based on the size of the auditorium, from "a small art house theater, up into a big multiplex," said Re-recording Mixer of the Pinewood Group, Ian Tapp. Dolby Atmos gives "the illusion of there being an infinite number of channels throughout the hemisphere, all the way around you and all above your head," said Ioan Allen, Senior Vice President of Dolby. To keep the cinema business driving it is important to provide an experience not available in the home and Allen feels that with Dolby Atmos they "really achieved that."

About Dolby Atmos on Vimeo

*Comparisons*

In terms of overhead sound, Dolby Atmos provides "true" overhead lifelike sound that is perfectly coordinated with the action onscreen. 5.1 and Dolby Surround 7.1 technologies create and effect in center, but provide more of a "Phantom" sound overhead and with less distinctions compared to what Atmos delivers.

With some sharpness and clarity loss in the inferior sound technologies, Dolby Atmos audio is more consistent and powerful, and even while sounds are moving throughout the theater, tonal quality is maintained. In an effort to maintain purity of sound, indivual speakers can be assigned unique sound elements, a feature largely lacking in 5.1 and 7.1, with their limited movement effect.

Perhaps most importantly, there is a consistent sound experience regardless of theater and regardless of the seat in the theater that is chosen to experience the film.








*Availability*

Only select movies at select theaters are leveraging this technology at the present time. More theaters are becoming equipped as popularity spikes. For example, only 3 SilverCity locations in Canada currently employ this enhanced sound technology, with many more spread across the United States.

Movies taking advantage of this technology have been surfacing since Summer of 2012 with the Disney and Pixar film _Brave_, and others in 2012 including _Life of Pi_, _The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey_, as well as _The Last Tycoon_ in late December.

In 2013 we have seen _Mama_, and _Race 2_, and more recently _Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons_ and Bruce Willis in _A Good Day to Die Hard_ which was released on Valentine's Day in Canada and the United States.

Mixing "A Good Day to Die Hard" in Dolby Atmos on Vimeo

Other titles expected in 2013 include: _Oz The Great and Powerful_, _Trance_, _The Croods_, _Monsters University_, _Gravity_, and the much anticipated _Iron Man 3_ and _Star Trek Into Darkness_. See all Dolby Atmos Movies past and present here.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I wonder how long it will be before someone has this in their home (I know it is intended for theaters only)? The only way I could think of it being even somewhat affordable would be a DIY with lots of small speakers. Even then it would be expensive... But i'm sure someone will do it and eventually it will be offered for home use. I would think with that many channels you could also run smaller amps per channel.


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## Infrasonic (Sep 28, 2010)

I saw A Good Day to Die Hard in an Atmos theater the other night and I have to say it sounded awesome. The short "demo" of Atmos in the beginning had more tactile bass than I've felt in any other theater. If you have a supported theater near by I think it is definitely worth a trip.


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## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

At some point this house of cards is going to fall over and we are all going back to headphones. Probably with a IMAX level HUD on some goggles.


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## Deemo (Jul 12, 2012)

The Cinemark Plano West in Plano,TX that I go to has their XD theater with Atmos. Gonna go check it out tomorrow by watching Die Hard.


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## pmcneil (May 29, 2010)

I haven't got a clue what is being offered here.


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## Infrasonic (Sep 28, 2010)

The list of supported theaters is linked in the above article but in case you've missed it:

http://www.dolby.com/us/en/professional/technology/cinema/dolby-atmos.html#Theatres


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## tonyvdb (Sep 5, 2007)

Practically this would be very challenging to set up in a home theater. I could see some sort of adaptation of this by adding two overhead channels to the mix giving 9.1 true discreet channels but anything more would be a challenge given the space constraints we have in most of our homes.


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## Prof. (Oct 20, 2006)

Can you imagine what the WAF would be like if you said "I'm putting 16 speakers on the ceiling dear"!! :rofl:


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

Prof. said:


> Can you imagine what the WAF would be like if you said "I'm putting 16 speakers on the ceiling dear"!! :rofl:


I think the way to do it would be if someone came out with 4x8 sheets that were speakers... Maybe a panel could have 10 or more speakers on it. Then you just load the room up with acoustic treatments and speaker panels.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

It looks like they are working on licensing for Home theater after all.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/home-t...ons-of-the-next-generation-of-surround-sound/


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## Deemo (Jul 12, 2012)

The cost to implement it is gonna be pretty high. Just a few decent speakers now cost thousands. You would have to be pretty super hardcore to try and install it for residental use.


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## NBPk402 (Feb 21, 2012)

I wonder if you could use the speakers out of a Bose 901.... I am not a fan of the Bose 901 but it might be a inexpensive way to make the setup. I think when you start going with that many speakers you are not going to be using as expensive of a speaker. That is why I thought that a 4x8 sheet with speakers built in would be doable. There was a company that was making speakers out of sheets (I can't remember what the sheets were made of though).


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## sdurani (Oct 28, 2010)

pmcneil said:


> I haven't got a clue what is being offered here.


Object-based audio. Each sound effect, music cue, piece of dialogue, etc, is considered an "object". The recording engineer mixes the sound asthough he is in a virtual dome, placing objects where ever he wants (with no concern for speaker locations or number of channels). Each object is tagged with meta-data that describes it's location, size, volume level, movement (panning), etc. The playback system places each object at its intended location, using the nearest speaker (or combination of speakers) to create the accurate image. 

Basically, it is the begining of the end of channel-based audio, with no need for upmixing or downmixing. Been in movie theatres since last June; been discussing it on this forum since last May. Somewhat old news. 

First movie mixed/shown in Atmos was the Disney/Pixar film 'Brave'. Current movie in Atmos is 'Good Day to Die Hard'. There were a half-dozen films inbetween mixed in Atmos, with 3 more due out next month (Danny Boyle's 'Trance', Dreamworks Animation's 'The Croods', and 'G. I. Joe: Retaliation'). Two more coming in April, another two Atmos mixes in May ('Iron Man 3' and 'Star Trek Into Darkness'). 

For home playback, it will mean you can use as many or as few speakers as you want. The system will use however many speakers you have do the best job it can to render the soundtrack. Think of it as vector-based graphics, to the extent that it doesn't care how many pixels your monitor has (as opposed to raster-based graphics, which have to be scaled to the number of pixels in your display).


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## Medi0gre (Oct 30, 2012)

i really really_ really_ want 62.2 in my home theater!


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## Andre (Feb 15, 2010)

62.2...hmm

Ok I'm guess you still have a full size LFC so you're down to 59. The rest will probably be on panels with 8 speakers each that will go on the side, ceiling and rear walls.

Wait....Panels with a whole bunch of small speakers on them. Oh hey, Bose 901s will be coming back as multi dimensional surrounds.

Coool.....I will have to find my Frank Zappa LPs


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## Owen Bartley (Oct 18, 2006)

tonyvdb said:


> Practically this would be very challenging to set up in a home theater. I could see some sort of adaptation of this by adding two overhead channels to the mix giving 9.1 true discreet channels but anything more would be a challenge given the space constraints we have in most of our homes.


I agree, Tony. The true object-based "steering" that Atmos handles in the theatre could be dumbed down a bit for home use probably. Maybe used with a pair of overhead speakers... I think it could be pretty effectively done by integrating with the surround and rear-surround channels in smaller home theatre sized rooms.


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