Dolby Atmos is the latest development in cinematic sound from the long-running leaders in theatrical and in-home sound technology. Moving beyond traditional surround sound with as few as just six speakers, Dolby Atmos gives you the best possible audio experience available anywhere, even in your home.
Dolby Atmos systems for your home create sound that moves all around you in three-dimensional space, putting you right in the middle of the action. Compatible with your own setup, Dolby Atmos can work with conventional stereo systems as well as 5.1 and 7.1 channel systems. It works by reproducing all of the audio objects in the original cinema mix, giving you realistic sound that’s better than you ever imagined hearing in your home theater. Movies and television shows with Dolby Atmos sound are now available on Blu-ray disc and via some streaming services.
How it Works
So, how does Dolby Atmos create full, three-dimensional sound that can go above you, below you, come from anywhere? That’s the genius. It doesn’t work like traditional sound systems, where sound is mixed to come out of fixed speaker locations. It instead works with the concept of audio objects, so that pieces of sound in a movie are each individual elements that can be placed in a three-dimensional space, and can move with the action of the film. With surround sound systems, you might hear a helicopter coming at you from a specific speaker, but with Dolby Atmos you can hear it come from behind, fly above, and then away from you, all as you see the action on screen.
Dolby Atmos supports up to 128 simultaneous audio objects, allowing filmmakers to determine where the sound should be located within a scene, with the system intelligently making speaker assignment decisions to create an environment that replicates real-world sound. That sound can be yours, right in your home, with the right Dolby Atmos system.
What You Need
Dolby Atmos is backward-compatible, meaning it can play on existing channel-based sound systems as well as on the new Atmos setups. Dolby Atmos compatible televisions and boxes can pass Atmos information to other devices. If you already have a stereo system, or 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound, you can build onto it with Dolby Atmos equipment. Here’s what you’ll need to take advantage of Dolby Atmos in your home:
- Content Devices
- Blu-ray player
- Streaming media player (such as a game console with streaming ability or Roku box)
- Playback Devices
- AVR or Preamp that supports Dolby Atmos
- Speakers
- Overhead speakers
- Dolby Atmos enabled speakers
Dolby Atmos HTIB (Home Theater in a Box) systems are also available, and may be the ideal choice for a small room. For a basic setup, you need at least two speakers, placed overhead if they are not Dolby Atmos enabled.
The latest in home theater sound is here. Get on board with Dolby Atmos.