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With the launch of tvOS 12, Apple TV 4K finally supports the Dolby Atmos surround sound format. The Apple streaming solution launched last year with the support of the Dolby Vision HDR video format right out of the box, but in the ever-messy range of streaming devices, terminals and devices. competing formats, solution for customers looking for a way to experience their favorite movies and TV shows with the ultimate in home presentation. To date, this has changed.
While the support of Atmos is a welcome addition to Apple TV, it can still be difficult for some customers to understand why they should be concerned about any surround sound option in the first place. In the case of Dolby Atmos, which debuted in theaters in 2012, it's even truer than usual. The format was only introduced into the home entertainment space four years ago, and consumers may not have had the option. But the number of ways Atmos can be experimented at home is increasing rapidly, and the addition of the format to Apple TV will increase that momentum, at the same time as the entertainment industry is turning more towards Atmos as the finishing format of choice. Why is it important? Let us dig.
What is Dolby Atmos?
Like most Dolby technologies, Atmos started in theaters. Historically, cinema surround sound has used a fixed number of audio channels. For example, 5.1 systems use the left, right and center channels along the front of the theater, plus two surround back channels and a low frequency effects channel (the ".1" in 5.1). New formats, such as the Dolby Surround 7.1 format with which the company debuted Toy Story 3, add additional channels to the left and right of an audience. They are quite sufficient to wrap the listener in the audio, but they lack a certain precision: no matter how many speakers present in a theater, designers and mixers can not use than a fixed number of pre-established channels.
Dolby Atmos, on the other hand, completely eliminates the concept of fixed channels. Instead, it is built around the concept of audio objects. Each sound is a discreet object that mixers and sound designers can place inside the theater, including overhead, via ceiling-mounted speakers. Later, when a film is projected, Atmos then maps that mix with the speakers of a given auditorium to recreate the original intent of the directors. This allows a degree of precision and creative flexibility that just was not possible before. The system is also designed to be much more scalable on different theater sizes. In a 7.1 mix, filmmakers only work with seven main audio channels. Atmos, however, can support up to 64 discrete speakers in a theater, each of which can serve as its unique location for a sound.
The result is a sound experience that actually responds to the very "immersive" term. The rain may seem to fall directly from above. When a car zooms in on the camera, the sound can actually match that movement from the front of the theater to the back. And the larger sound stage allows sound designers to create richer, denser and more naturalistic environments than ever before.
"The Dolby Atmos and these immersive sound systems work perfectly when you can move objects around the room, and you can hear them," said Glenn Freemantle, supervising editor in 2013, about his work Gravity. "And also, Atmos then creates that smooth transition around [the theater]and above As when George walks and looks at the stars. He looks at the Earth and the voice is clear, and they turn around and come back on the other side. But this is not the case. The sound becomes very emotional, because you contact the characters and you move with them.
Since the launch of the format, theatrical versions of Atmos have become more and more common, especially on big budget movies where creators are hoping for a flashy theatrical experience. Blockbusters like Avengers: Infinity War, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Blade Runner 2049 have used the format, but Atmos has also been used on small movies like The boy and 10 Cloverfield Lane, technology has become more and more ubiquitous. Its rapid growth has been particularly supported by Dolby Cinema's partnership with AMC Theaters. The resulting theaters combine Atmos with the Dolby Vision HDR laser projection system for one of the best cinematic experiences available.
Atmos at home
Dolby Atmos debuted as a film innovation, but like other surround sound formats, it has also migrated to the home. The high-end is characterized by complete multi-channel home theater configurations, with ceiling-mounted speakers. But such systems are expensive and out of reach for most consumers. Dolby has also worked with hardware manufacturers to introduce alternative options to the market.
The stand-alone speakers and some audio packs from companies like Vizio and Samsung are trying to simulate the entire Atmos experience with "upward" speakers: basically, the speakers bounce back to create the illusion from a sound coming from above. The results may vary depending on the geography of the room used, but it is a viable workaround for those wishing to move away from the current surround systems. Some TVs from manufacturers like LG also offer a "virtualized" version of Atmos, using their own internal speakers, although at this point you're probably moving away from the basic concept.
TLDR: Dolby has attempted to ensure that there are as many hardware options allowing customers to use Atmos as possible. But speakers do not matter, unless consumers have a device that can spit Atmos audio in the first place, which is the input for tvOS 12.
Although Blu-ray has been a logical destination for Dolby Atmos versions, streaming services have become increasingly aggressive adopters of the format. Netflix and Vudu offer content in the format, and Amazon Prime has recently entered the Atmos series with its new series Jack Ryan, from Tom Clancy. But a streaming service can only be as good as the device on which it is running and, as with most entertainment options in the living rooms, the effort to optimize the video is not the same. audio depends on the mixing situation between services, devices and contents. .
My colleague Micah Singleton studied the landscape at the beginning of the year and it's a mess. The Roku Ultra supports Atmos and the high dynamic range HDR10 format, but not the Dolby Vision HDR. Same thing with Amazon Fire TV and Nvidia Shield. Chromecast Ultra supports all three formats, but requires users to launch on the device, rather than operating autonomously. With tvOS 12, however, the Apple TV 4K becomes the device that many home theater enthusiasts have long been waiting for: capable of supporting Dolby Atmos, Dolby Vision and HDR10 with a variety of services, including iTunes, Netflix. and Vudu. It's now the autonomous broadcast box that, in the words of Edge Nilay Patel, editor-in-chief, "turns on all lights" on premium AVRs. And since Apple regularly upgrades iTunes' previous purchases with the latest and highest resolution option possible, it's a device that will give many customers an Atmos-compatible movie collection if they install a software update.
The Atmos ecosystem game
Most of the Atmos material comes from theatrical releases that have been mixed in format, with the final mixes made for movie theaters largely transferred for home use. "The difference between Atmos theater and home entertainment is just the resolution," Andy King told me on the phone. King has a varied career through film and television, working on everything from Michael Mann's film Black hat to TV shows like Altered carbon and his job nominated to Emmy on Westworld. "Atmos' theatrical atmosphere is more evolutionary, that is, the movie theater. Depending on the budget they have for their Atmos configuration, they will install more speakers in the cloud and in the room. simply use four ceiling speakers configured as a traditional 5.1 or 7.1 configuration. "The resolution is not as theatrical, but the print masters we create for Atmos [releases] mix at home.
Part of Dolby's strategic game is to make Atmos the default finishing format for filmmakers, by making it easier to translate these mixes into the various other formats required for media distribution around the world. "It's going really well, from theatrical entertainment to home entertainment," King says, "and then to the other deliverables, the traditional 5.1, or the 2.0 LtRt. [matrixed surround mix], or a stereo 2.0, or even mono. Dolby did his homework and I, as a mixer, I'm confident in their technology and I can pass that on to producers and showrunners when we enter the home entertainment business.
This strategy seems to work. Netflix Altered carbon is an Atmos title, and King has also mixed the most recent season of Westworld in Atmos – even if the initial HBO broadcast does not even support the format. (The Atmos mix will be available on the Blu-ray version of the season later this year.)
"It's a great format, because like on a show like Altered carbon and even Westworldthere are a lot of design elements, which means tones and things that are actually almost more musical and harmonious for them, "he says. "It's a challenge when you have these sound design elements for dream sequences, or stylistic sequences, to get them to play with the music. The only thing that Atmos is ready for is space, so if we were doing a 5.1 mix, you would encounter the challenge of putting these elements in either the screen channels or surround, and you could encounter conflicts with the music … itself to be able to live and exist largely without having to remove it.
The larger soundscape provided by the format also allows the filmmakers to approach the sound work in a much more active and dynamic way, thus enhancing the cinematic feel of many modern television shows with a sound to match. "In a show like Westworld, there are not many great sci-fi spaceship moments that you would have in a sci-fi action movie, "says King. "You are in the plains, or you are in the park, or even in some interiors, [and the] the moods animate. I like to mix well live. Whether it is a mix 5.1 or Atmos, I like as much as possible remove the elements of the screen and use the surround. Atmos is fantastic for that, so I can really identify things and have movement so that the audience member feels like they're going through the experience. "
It's a combination of factors at work, making it an exciting time for a high-quality presentation at home. Streaming services, which are able to adopt newer formats than their broadcast counterparts, are completing their original film and television programs in high-end formats, such as Atmos, to distinguish themselves. More dramatized movies turn to Atmos, providing another stream of incoming content. And with a device like Apple TV, a turnkey solution for all high-end formats is simpler to obtain than ever before.
Of course, many viewers will be content to watch traditional stereo sound, but as in the case of adopting many formats, the momentum represents half the battle. To this day, Dolby Atmos is getting closer and closer to mainstream consumers.
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