Dolby Atmos
Definition
An immersive audio format developed by Dolby Laboratories that uses object-based audio to place and move sounds in three-dimensional space, including overhead. Fully scalable from headphone binaural rendering to large cinema speaker arrays.
In Simple Terms
A format that lets you place sounds anywhere in 3D space — above, behind, beside the listener. It works on headphones through clever processing and on speaker systems through dedicated overhead speakers. Increasingly required by major labels and platforms.
Dolby Atmos Context
Atmos mixes contain both bed channels (fixed speaker assignments) and objects (dynamic 3D coordinates with metadata). The Atmos renderer interprets these for any playback system, from a mono phone speaker to a 9.1.6 cinema.