A format has established itself in movie theaters, homes, and even headphones: Dolby Atmos. Dolby’s audio technology offers an immersive listening experience by “enveloping” the listener in a bubble where sounds can come from all directions. While Atmos is known and appreciated by movie lovers — at home or in theaters — it has also made a strong entrance into the music sector, with its integration into Apple Music.
Making noise against Dolby Atmos
That doesn’t mean Dolby has won the game, however. Two formidable competitors have come together to offer an alternative: Samsung and Google have announced Eclipsa Audio, a new 3D audio technology. It will appear in Samsung’s 2025 lineup of TVs and soundbars, while YouTube will start supporting it in a few months, where you can enjoy Eclipsa tracks on compatible TVs.
Creators will be able to adjust audio data such as the location of instruments in space and sound intensity to design “an immersive, three-dimensional experience,” Samsung explains. A certification program will also be set up to ensure that products that claim to be Eclipsa-compatible.
Samsung and Google began working on this technology, called “Immersive Audio Model and Formats” (IAMF), in 2023. The Korean manufacturer promised at the time an open-source framework covering the full audio spectrum, from creation to listening.
The IAMF specifications were adopted by the Alliance for Open Media, which pushes the industry to produce royalty-free standards. This organization includes all the big names in the technology sector, from Amazon to Apple, Microsoft and Netflix. It is in their interest to promote these formats for which they do not have to pay licenses, unlike Dolby Atmos.
To quickly gain market share in the face of Dolby's dominance, Eclipsa Audio will necessarily have to be offered for free, without constraints... and deployed as quickly as possible.
Source: Samsung
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