What is Dolby Atmos?


Dolby Atmos is a three-dimensional audio format that gives a very immersive look to the sound of movies, series, video games or concert recordings.

What is Dolby?

Dolby Laboraties, Inc., commonly known as Dolby, is an American company founded in 1965 by Ray Dolby. She specializes in background noise reduction and audio encoding and compression. Since its creation, its technologies have equipped the tools of music and cinema professionals as well as those of the general public – the Dolby NR-W system has been used since 1968 in cassette recorders and players, for example.

What are its flagship products?

Let’s start with Dolby Stereo – quickly renamed Dolby Surround. This designates, since 1975, one of the features offered by Dolby and presented as a revolution in the experience of the cinema viewer. At the time, in addition to noise reduction, Dolby Stereo promised to reproduce the “enveloping” (surround) effect of sound from just two audio tracks. As it works with both mono and stereo projectors and is relatively simple to set up, the system is quickly adopted by cinemas.

Provided you have the right number of speakers and position them correctly, it allows you to reproduce the sound of a passing car or a jungle full of animal rustling behind the viewer. The feeling of being immersed in the film is accentuated.

Wait, what’s this about multi-channel audio?

Since the beginnings of sound recording, technologies have greatly evolved to provide an ever greater immersion of the listener in the sound he or she is listening to. In practice, we went from recording on a single track (mono sound, one channel) to being able to record it on multiple tracks.

Here is the nomenclature that differentiates the different types of registration :

  • 1.0: recording on one channel (monophonic, mono for intimates);
  • 2.0: recording on two channels facing the listener (stereo);
  • 2.1: two front channels and one bass channel;
  • 5.1: three front channels (right, center and left), right rear, left rear and dedicated bass channel;
  • 7.1: three front channels, two side channels, a right rear, a left rear and a dedicated bass channel.

In broadcasting, in the cinema, for example, each track is retransmitted by a loudspeaker placed in a different place in relation to the listener. This makes it possible to spatialize the sound, thus giving a greater impression of reality.

Apple Music with Dolby Atmos. // Source: Apple

What is Dolby Digital?

Dolby Stereo was developed in the analog era. With the advent of digital, it was necessary to redevelop sound management tools: thus was born Dolby Digital, a name that encompasses a series of technologies dedicated to digital audio, in particular subject to lossy sound compression.

The common point of the various Dolby Digital technologies (Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Digital EX 6.1, Dolby Digital Live, etc.) is that they make it possible to encode a multiplicity of audio channels (up to six) to reproduce the horizontal spatialization of the sound. . If you draw an imaginary circle and place the listener in the center, Dolby Digital 5.1 breaks down into several channels. A dedicated channel to encode the sound that will come from the left, one that will come from the center, one for the right, one for the left side and rear surround and one for the right rear side surround. Not to mention the additional and optional channel dedicated to low frequencies.

What is the difference between Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital?

The latest in the company’s technologies, Dolby Atmos adds a new layer to the sound weave that immerses the viewer in the film or series they are watching: by multiplying the points retransmitted horizontally, the system Dolby Atmos adds vertical variations to the sound. Briefly, if all the variations of Dolby Surround and then Dolby Digital made it possible to place sound on a two-dimensional map, Dolby Atmos makes it possible to deploy it in three dimensions, in a “bubble”. We then go from 5.1 to 5.1.2, the “.2” designating the 3D channels (we can go even further, depending on its configuration).

To your ears, it’s like being in the middle of the concert or the action scene of your movie or video game. The level of realism is increased tenfold, with a show allowing you, for example, to hear the cars spinning right and left, but also the possible helicopter flying over you or the creature spinning between your legs. The additional loudspeakers also make listening more precise, with more nuances in the effects reproduced and finer acoustic benefits. Dolby offers demos on its site.

What do I need to have Dolby Atmos?

Of course, it is a little more complicated to be properly equipped at home than in a cinema. Nevertheless, Dolby Atmos processors in home theater receivers and soundbars adapt. Bose, LG, Samsung or even Philips have also developed small additional speakers to add to your installation to reproduce vertical effects.

Today, there are more and more devices compatible with Dolby Atmos, whether they are televisions, sound bars, video game consoles, TV boxes, headphones… Note, however, that it is necessary that each element of the installation is compatible so that everything works. Also note that the more speakers you have, the more quality the rendering will gain. Beware, moreover, of marketing promises: if a television, or even a smartphone, claims to be able to reproduce Dolby Atmos, it will not do so as well as a real installation with a high-end sound bar (example: the Sonos Arc) or, better, an amplifier connected to speakers. Bottom line: Dolby Atmos is becoming more and more accessible.

Where do you find Dolby Atmos?

If the devices compatible with Dolby Atmos are multiplying, this is also the case for content. Streaming services like Apple Music, Netflix, Disney+ or even Apple TV+ offer tracks in Dolby Atmos in their catalog. We even had football with Dolby Atmos. As for video games, Xbox consoles offer them, on titles like Halo Infinite, Cyberpunk 2077 or Forza Horizon 5. Again, democratization is on the way.



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