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 largest names in immersive audio – Dolby. The 2 firms have introduced Eclipsa Audio, a brand new open-source spatial audio format designed to deliver 3D sound to YouTube and Samsung’s newest TVs and soundbars later this 12 months.

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

Nonetheless, Samsung and Google wish to disrupt the established order with Eclipsa Audio, a royalty-free different. Samsung claims that Eclipsa Audio capabilities equally to Atmos by adjusting audio knowledge – resembling 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 expertise.

Samsung and Google first teased their spatial audio collaboration in 2023 underneath the title Immersive Audio Mannequin and Codecs (IAMF). On the time, Samsung described the initiative as aiming to supply “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 seemingly 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 alter the best way we expertise sound,” mentioned 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 modern audio experiences.”

The massive query, in fact, is whether or not Samsung and Google’s new enterprise can actually rival Dolby’s well-established expertise. Dolby has had years to refine Atmos, which has develop into the business normal acknowledged by informal viewers.

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