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 carry 3D sound to YouTube and Samsung’s newest TVs and soundbars later this yr.
For years, Dolby Atmos has been the dominant drive in 3D audio, recognized for its immersive encompass sound that makes it really feel as if sounds are coming from throughout you. It is turn into a family identify, with almost each main TV producer right this moment paying the “Dolby tax” to license Atmos for his or her premium units and speaker techniques.
Nonetheless, Samsung and Google want 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 – reminiscent of location, depth, and spatial reflections – to create 3D sound. The important thing distinction is that it is an open commonplace, which means {hardware} makers will not must pay licensing charges.
As well as, the 2 firms are establishing a certification program with the Telecommunications Know-how 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 possible 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, nevertheless it appears the corporate needs to present YouTube creators a platform to experiment with immersive 3D audio experiences.
“We imagine that Eclipsa Audio has the potential to alter the way in which we expertise sound,” stated Jim Bankoski, VP of Engineering at Google Chrome. “We’re excited to see how the creator group makes use of it to create new and modern audio experiences.”
The large query, in fact, is whether or not Samsung and Google’s new enterprise can really rival Dolby’s well-established know-how. Dolby has had years to refine Atmos, which has turn into the trade commonplace 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 anticipated to offer dwell demonstrations.
