Dolby Atmos: The Revolutionary 3D Audio Technology
Why Should I Include Dolby Atmos in My Media Room Design?
There are many surround sound systems to choose from today, ranging from placing 2 to 10 speakers around the room. Additionally, there are multiple ways to achieve an immersive audio experience in your home. However, Dolby Atmos, a 3D audio format, stands out among them as a unique listening experience that you can enjoy right in your own home in the areas of Lake Norman or Charlotte, North Carolina. Dolby Atmos surround sound is well known and used often in commercial theaters across the U.S. and it has now made its way into home entertainment. Keep reading to learn how this revolutionary technology works, as well as what is required for your media room design or home theater installation.
What is Dolby Atmos?
Dolby Atmos is a special audio format that allows your speakers to play multichannel sound in a 3-dimmensional space. Traditionally, sound has been mixed creating two or more channels, or tracks to play from a few speakers. This type of sound mixing confines all the sounds to a few channels so you can only hear it from certain angles. However, with Dolby Atmos, sound is freed from these channels and treats specific sounds as individual files, called audio objects. These objects can be placed and moved anywhere in the room using in-wall speakers that are in font, back, and above you. The Dolby Atmos cinema processor decides which speakers it will use to create the realistic sound.
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The movie's sounds flow all around you to completely immerse you in the action, heightening the impact of the show and creating a powerfully moving cinema experience. If you are watching Gravity for example, as the spaceship flies across the sky, you can hear the engines moving from one side of the room to the other via in-ceiling speakers above you. Or, if you are watching The Hunger Games, can watch Katniss shoot her arrow and hear the pulling of the bow at the front of the room, and the impact at the back through the speakers behind you. As a result, your home theater system is able to bring the movie to life as never before possible.
What is required?
Simply having high-quality speakers in your home theater or media room won't achieve the 3D audio effect. That's where The Integrated Home comes in. Our team can install all of the required components so you can experience the very best surround sound system available. You can choose from a 5.1.2 or 7.1.2 channel system. That translates to five or seven surrounding speakers, one or two subwoofers, and two in-ceiling speakers for overhead. We can situate the loudspeakers in perfect formation around the room, or install them in the walls so they save space and remain nearly invisible. The speakers must also be Dolby Atmos compatible or enabled.
What can I play on the system?
You don’t have to visit the local theater to experience Dolby Atmos sound. You can purchase Dolby Atmos-compatible movies and enjoy them at home. The latest Blu-ray releases like Mad Max: Fury Road and The Hunger Games: Mocking Jay Part 1 have been released with incredible soundtracks – leading many to call them the best-sounding home video releases ever. Popular content sources like Netflix, Amazon FireTV, and Google Play Movies & TV are all Dolby Atmos compatible so you can watch all of your favorite programs via streaming too. If you love video games, new releases like Star Wars Battlefront have been mixed for Dolby Atmos. You can see a list of movies, streaming services, video games and more that have Dolby Atmos mixed sound on their website.
Are you ready to experience the best sound out of your home theater?