Google teams up with Samsung to take on Dolby Atmos

A helicopter flying over your head, the ground rumbling under your feet, bullets whizzing by your ears: If it’s up to Google and Samsung, then your movie nights will soon sound like you’re in the middle of the action.

The two companies announced a new 3D audio format called Eclipsa Audio this month that will soon bring spatial audio to compatible devices, starting with this year’s Samsung TVs and soundbars. Google is also bringing Eclipsa Audio to YouTube, where creators will soon be able to upload content with immersive audio, and has plans to extend support for it to Android phones, Chrome browsers, as well as TVs, soundbars and streaming devices made by a number of other companies.

Does all of this sound familiar? That’s no accident: Dolby has been offering very similar capabilities with its own Dolby Atmos immersive audio format, which has been licensed by most major device makers and streaming services. But while Dolby charges its licensing partners for every device shipped to consumers, Google and Samsung are offering Eclipsa royalty-free. And while other open media initiatives have struggled to catch on in the past, Eclipsa’s backers are betting that a consumer-friendly brand will help the 3D audio format to become an all-around success story.

“Spatial audio, immersive audio is going to be the new big thing in the audio space,” says Google’s Eclipsa Audio project lead Jani Huoponen.

A fifty-year-old invention, rediscovered for the streaming age

Spatial audio itself is not new: British researchers first developed a way to immerse listeners in a 3D sphere of music, with sounds coming not just from left and right but all directions, including different vertical heights, in the 1970ies. But while Ambisonics, as immersive audio was called at the time, made for a great demo, there has been a lot more momentum for it in recent years.

One reason for this is the growth of streaming, and consumers embracing sound bars and home theater set-ups to make the most out of their Netflix movie nights. Music services like Apple Music have also begun to use Dolby Atmos spatial audio for an on-stage-with-the-band-like listening experience, and Apple’s AirPods are using head tracking to make music performances even more immersive.

However, not every company has rushed to embrace Dolby Atmos. Many entry-level TVs and soundbars don’t support the format out of the box, and YouTube and Spotify don’t stream any Dolby Atmos content at all. Even consumers who have the right gear and service subscriptions may not actually get to enjoy the audio format: Netflix, Max and Amazon are all asking their customers to upgrade to their priciest plan to enjoy movies and shows with Atmos soundtracks.

Some of that is due to the licensing fees Dolby charges for the use of its media formats. The company doesn’t publicly disclose its Atmos licensing fees, but it is said to charge between $2 and $3 per device for similar video format licenses. That doesn’t sound much, but can add up for an industry working with razor-thin profit margins. Costs for content creators are also significant: Licensing Atmos for the popular Pro Tools audio software alone costs around $300 – chump change for a Hollywood studio, but not for an amateur working on YouTube videos in their spare time.

 “There should be an open source alternative [available] to make immersive and spatial audio more accessible,” says Huoponen.  That includes lowering the barrier of entry for content creators by extending spatial audio to user-generated content. “When YouTube introduces something new, creators figure out a way to take advantage of these new features,” he says. “That’s the exciting part here.”

Omdia media & entertainment analyst Paul Erickson agrees. “Eclipsa Audio has the potential to democratize access to spatial audio technology across the consumer landscape,” he says, adding that industry giants like Google and Samsung are best positioned to establish a new audio format.

Immersive media is already a complicated word salad

Not everyone is as upbeat about Eclipsa Audio. “The world of immersive sound is already complicated,” cautions Danish sound designer Lars Tirsbæk. “Adding another format might create more confusion for both creators and consumers.”

It’s an issue Eclipse Audio’s backers have struggled with in the past. Unwilling to pay the licensing fees for Dolby’s HDR video format Dolby Vision, Samsung threw its support behind the royalty-free alternative HDR10+ back in 2017. But while Amazon and Google were quick to support the format, consumers were left confused by the overly technical acronym, and many other streaming services opted for Dolby Vision due to better brand recognition.

That’s why branding has been key this time. When Eclipsa Audio was first developed, it was called Immersive Audio Model & Format. “It’s a mouthful,” admits Huoponen. “We figured that we needed something a little bit easier for folks to remember.”

Google first previewed its plans for open media formats with consumer-friendly branding at a closed-door meeting with consumer electronics makers in 2022. At the time internally called Project Caviar, the idea was to establish brands that consumers would immediately recognize when they’re in the market for a new TV or soundbar. Brands capable of competing with Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision, complete with logos that device makers can slap on their packaging.

Eclipsa Audio is the first such brand, and Google plans to establish a device certification program for consumer electronics makers soon. Which begs the question: Will TVs on store shelves eventually feature a logo for Eclipsa Video as well?

Huoponen acknowledges that as a possibility, but cautioned that nothing was set in stone yet. “Right now, we are still focusing just on the audio part,” he says. “When the time comes, we will probably have something around video as well. We’ll see what the future will bring.”

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