Samsung and Google tackle Dolby Atmos with a brand new royalty-free audio format


Ahead-looking: Samsung and Google have teamed as much as problem one of many greatest names in immersive audio – Dolby. The 2 firms have introduced Eclipsa Audio, a brand new open-source spatial audio format designed to carry 3D sound to YouTube and Samsung’s newest TVs and soundbars later this 12 months.

For years, Dolby Atmos has been the dominant pressure in 3D audio, recognized for its immersive encompass sound that makes it really feel as if sounds are coming from throughout you. It is change into a family identify, with almost each main TV producer right now paying the “Dolby tax” to license Atmos for his or her premium units and speaker techniques.

Nevertheless, Samsung and Google want to disrupt the established order with Eclipsa Audio, a royalty-free various. Samsung claims that Eclipsa Audio features equally to Atmos by adjusting audio knowledge – corresponding to location, depth, and spatial reflections – to create 3D sound. The important thing distinction is that it is an open normal, that means {hardware} makers will not need to pay licensing charges.

As well as, the 2 firms are establishing a certification program with the Telecommunications Expertise Affiliation to make sure constant high quality throughout units utilizing the know-how.

Samsung and Google first teased their spatial audio collaboration in 2023 beneath the identify Immersive Audio Mannequin and Codecs (IAMF). On the time, Samsung described the initiative as aiming to offer “a whole open-source framework for 3D audio, from creation to supply and playback.”

So why are the 2 firms placing in all this effort? For Samsung, the first motivation doubtless revolves round avoiding licensing prices. With TV revenue margins tighter than ever, chopping bills wherever potential is essential. Google’s motivations are much less clear, however it appears the corporate needs to offer YouTube creators a platform to experiment with immersive 3D audio experiences.

“We consider that Eclipsa Audio has the potential to vary the way in which we expertise sound,” stated Jim Bankoski, VP of Engineering at Google Chrome. “We’re excited to see how the creator neighborhood makes use of it to create new and revolutionary audio experiences.”

The massive query, after all, is whether or not Samsung and Google’s new enterprise can actually rival Dolby’s well-established know-how. Dolby has had years to refine Atmos, which has change into the trade normal acknowledged by informal viewers.

Regardless of the consequence, we’ll get our first actual glimpse of how Eclipsa stacks up at CES 2025 subsequent week, the place Samsung is predicted to offer stay demonstrations.

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