Atmos utilises a hybrid approach to mixing and directs sound as dynamic objects.

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. has unveiled Dolby Atmos, a new audio platform designed to deliver a more natural and realistic sound-field.

Showcased at last week’s CinemaCon, Atmos enables adaptive rendering to ensure that the playback experience is as close as possible to the creator’s original vision in any given environment. A key feature of Atmos is the ability to capture, distribute, and faithfully render audio in a way that is not limited by channels or fixed speaker locations meaning exhibitors can optimise speaker performance based on room size and shape.

“Dolby Atmos is our most significant innovation in years and represents the future for entertainment sound in cinema,” commented Kevin Yeaman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Dolby Laboratories. “We have leveraged our deep insights into how people hear and experience sound to empower filmmakers, studios, and exhibitors with new technology that transforms storytelling.”

Also demonstrated at CinemaCon was the DSS220 screen server with Dolby Integrated Media Block (IMB) which offers fully built-in support for high frame rate (HFR) 3D - both 48 and 60 frames per second - and 2K and 4K playback, and the Dolby CP750 which is the flagship cinema audio processor. The CP750 is designed to work with the new digital cinema environment by integrating with preshow servers, alternative content, and digital cinema servers.

More than 13,300 Dolby screen servers have shipped since April 2005 and there have been over 3,600 global installations of Dolby Surround 7.1 since it launched in June 2010.