The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment

The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment

The CinemaCon crowd may not have been keen on 48fps footage of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but we defy anyone to say they don't want the best sound possible. A select few will get just that, as Dolby and Peter Jackson's own Park Road Post Production have announced the film will be mixed for the speaker-packed Atmos technology. If you're lucky enough to live near one of the select establishments it's installed in, we doubt you'll be grumbling about the immersive audio, even if the frame rate makes those orcs look unsettlingly real.

Update: That link of "select establishments" is somewhat out of date and, although the official list of locations you'll be able to see The Hobbit in Atmos has yet to be released, Dolby says there should be between 80 and 100 screens capable of delivering the over-the-top audio experience by the film's debut.

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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 24 Oct 2012 14:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dolby Atmos crosses the Atlantic in time for Barcelona’s CineEurope 2012

Dolby Atmos coming to Barcelona's CineEurope 2012

If you're a European jealous of those of us stateside when you first read that we had fourteen theaters featuring Dolby's new end-to-end revolution in surround sound, Atmos, then maybe this news will give you solace. Starting today the new technology will be demoed at CineEurope at both Dolby's booth as well as at the Cinesa Diagonal Mar Screen 9 theater in Barcelona. No word on when you'll actually be able to take in Disney's Brave in said format, but the Mar Screen 9 will be joined at the Atmos party by a number of other theaters in Europe in the coming months, like the Empire Leicester Square in London. Want to know more? Well, check out the full press release after the break.

Continue reading Dolby Atmos crosses the Atlantic in time for Barcelona's CineEurope 2012

Dolby Atmos crosses the Atlantic in time for Barcelona's CineEurope 2012 originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 05:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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XBMC audio engine gets big rewrite, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio hit your media hub

XBMC Eden 11

Fans of XBMC who've wanted their HTPCs to replace the higher-end components of a home theater setup, like Blu-ray players and higher-end receivers, are having their wishes fulfilled through a completely reworked sound system. AudioEngine, as it's called, can processevery stage of audio encoding and decoding, even with 7.1-channel formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. As the code uses more precise floating point math, the improvements can bolster heavily compressed audio and allow for upmixing from stereo to a native surround format. Sound should sync more closely to video and avoid any jarring interruptions from system sounds, too. The AudioEngine update is still limited to experimental nightly builds of XBMC, so don't be surprised if something goes awry, but it's slated as part of the main development track and should be a boon for just about any XBMC media junkie before long.

XBMC audio engine gets big rewrite, Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio hit your media hub originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 May 2012 17:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dolby’s Atmos technology gives new meaning to surround sound, death from above

Dolby's Atmos technology gives new meaning to surround sound, death from above

Psst, did you hear that? Apparently, the folks at Dolby Laboratories are no longer content with scaring the bejesus out of moviegoers by simply funneling those horrific audio cues from today's standard theater setup. Instead, the mad audio scientists claim they can recreate a more lifelike and sensory audio experience by pushing sound from even more directions -- a feat made possible by the company's new Dolby Atmos technology. By leveraging up to 64 speaker feeds and 128 simultaneous audio inputs, for example, Dolby says it would be possible to more accurately recreate the sound of creepy footsteps coming from the floorboards of a higher floor. Yes, you could use the system to better simulate stuff like rain, too, but that doesn't sound nearly as fun as making hapless moviegoers pee their pants. Combined with Dolby's foray into 3D, it looks like the company's really focusing on kicking up viewer immersion. Dolby plans to debut the Atmos tech in 10 to 15 theaters showing Disney/Pixar's Brave this year, followed by a larger rollout by 2013. For more on the potentially bladder-busting technology, scope out the PR after the break.

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Dolby's Atmos technology gives new meaning to surround sound, death from above originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 26 Apr 2012 01:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dolby 3D on prototype 4K display and HTC Evo 3D hands-on (video)

http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/18/dolby-3d-hands-on/

Truth be told, we haven't been wildly impressed with the glasses-free 3D solutions we've seen to date, be it because of the limited viewing angles, unconvincing picture or lack of availability here in the US. That could soon change, however, if Dolby's version of the three-dimensional experience makes its way to a production-ready television set. Best known for its audio technologies, the company just launched its own 3D standard in cooperation with Philips, called Dolby 3D. The platform-agnostic solution is far from ready to make its way into your living room, but it's conceptually sound, and the prototype 4K 3D TV and mobile versions being demonstrated at Dolby's NAB booth make us hopeful for the future. As with all displays -- especially those that support 3D -- you'll really need to see to believe, but we had an opportunity to do just that, and walked away very impressed.

The 56-inch 4K prototype display is viewable from nearly any angle, with 24 different viewpoints, though you'll really need to be front and center for the greatest 3D effect. Side viewing is certainly possible; you'll just sacrifice some depth in the process. Even from the front, 3D appears slightly muted compared to what we've seen with passive- and active-glasses equivalents, though we can't say that we mind much, considering that the image is still dramatic enough when you need it to be, such as when displaying scenes with significant depth. The company was also demonstrating Dolby 3D on an HTC Evo 3D along with a nondescript tablet, where an on-screen slider lets you dim the three-dimensional intensity just as you would adjust the volume, enabling you to customize the experience to suit your needs. Since Dolby 3D is merely a display standard, we won't be seeing any branded televisions or smartphones, though perhaps we'll see some third-party adaptations come CES 2013. Jump past the break to see it in action.

Continue reading Dolby 3D on prototype 4K display and HTC Evo 3D hands-on (video)

Dolby 3D on prototype 4K display and HTC Evo 3D hands-on (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dolby Labs and Philips unveil Dolby 3D tech, want to deliver glasses-free 3D in HD

Dolby Labs and Philips debut Dolby 3D tech, want to deliver glasses-free 3D in HD
Dolby helped the 3D revolution happen in movie theaters years ago, and now it's teamed up with Philips to do the same for TVs, tablets, laptops and phones. The two companies have created a format and content delivery technology, dubbed Dolby 3D, to bring high definition 3D content to any and all devices with 3D displays, including those that don't require glasses. Its secret sauce automatically optimizes video for different screen sizes and also upgrades half-resolution 3D to full-res. The idea is to provide both broadcasters and OEMs with a way to deliver 3D HD content to customers buying Dolby 3D devices, while remaining compatible with existing 3D gadgets. All that's left is to actually build some hardware that'll let us see all those snazzy suits from Mad Men in high-def and the third dimension.

Continue reading Dolby Labs and Philips unveil Dolby 3D tech, want to deliver glasses-free 3D in HD

Dolby Labs and Philips unveil Dolby 3D tech, want to deliver glasses-free 3D in HD originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 14 Apr 2012 06:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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