What's Up with 3D Immersive Sound: Dolby Atmos, DTS:X and AURO-3D? (eng)

   We've had a few readers write in asking questions or leaving comments about the new "immersive sound" or "immersive surround" height-enhanced surround sound formats: Dolby Atmos, AURO-3D and DTS:X. We'd like to address some of the questions about these formats as they exist today.

   What is Immersive Sound?

   Immersive sound (or immersive surround) is a term used to describe any of the new "3D" surround sound formats which include height speakers to augment the listening experience. AURO-3D was the first immersive sound format in theaters (2011) but hasn't caught on that widely in the U.S. yet. According to Auro, there are approximately 100 theatrical titles released or committed in the AURO-3D format, but a fairly small number of these are global release major films that most viewers would have heard of. The first product announced to include AURO-3D support for the home was their Auriga receiver ($17,000) announced in May, 2014. But AURO-3D really hit the US home market in December of 2014 when a software upgrade became available for select Denon and Marantz receivers.

   Dolby Atmos came to theaters a bit later (2012) but made a much bigger splash with over 230 titles announced or released in its first two and a half years. Dolby Atmos was the first to enter the consumer market in the US in any real numbers when the format became available on mass market home theater receivers and processors beginning in August, 2014.

Three's company? The immersive sound market is expected to grow by one (DTS:X) in March, 2015.

  DTS:X will be the third major immersive sound format to hit the market, though to date there are no theatrical titles released or announced in the format. At this point, details on DTS:X are a bit sketchy thought the company promises that there will be more details available at the official DTS:X launch in March of this year. The company released a demo disc at CES this year with some tracks purported to be encoded in DTS:X (but we have no way of verifying that yet).

   Immersive Sound can be channel-based (content is mixed for a specific pre-defined speaker layout) or object-based (sounds are stored with meta data that defines the sound's position in space along with speed and direction if the sound is moving). AURO-3D is channel-based, while Dolby Atmos is object-based. DTS has been working on object-based sound formats under different names for several years and we believe that DTS:X will also prove to be an object-based immersive surround sound format.

Dolby Atmos can use speakers that bounce sound off the ceiling or actual ceiling-mounted speakers (pictured) to create its immersive surround field,

   With AURO-3D, soundtracks are mixed for an 11-channel three-dimensional soundstage which includes channels at ear-level, channels above ear level (usually mounted high on a wall) and a channel directly overhead (the so-called "Voice of God" channel). For home use, AURO says that 9-channel and 10-channel speaker layouts are also supported. But these two distinct layers of height channels are a bit different from Dolby Atmos and DTS:X.

Dolby Atmos is object-based, with a 7.1.2-channel "bed" which is augmented by sound objects that can travel anywhere in space. At playback time, a Dolby Atmos processor renders the sound as precisely as it can for the particular speaker layout in the room. In theaters, Dolby Atmos supports up to 64 distinct speaker channels. In its home implementation, Dolby Atmos can support up to 34 channels (up to 24 ear level speakers and up to 10 height speakers above the listener). Details are not yet available about DTS:X speaker configurations.

   Do I Care About Immersive Sound?

   If you care about sound quality in films, you should care about immersive sound. With the inclusion of discrete height speakers, movie-makers can make a film sound much more realistic and immersive. Sound doesn't just come from around you but above you. Helicopter fly-overs, thunderstorms, swirling storms, exploding space stations all seem that much more realistic in immersive surround.

Gravity, Oscar-winner for best director as well as best original score, best sound mixing and best sound editing, used Dolby Atmos to create an intense and deeply immersive soundtrack.

   "Gravity" director Alfonso Cuarón has gone on record to say that immersive surround (in the form of Dolby Atmos) was as important to that film as 3D. "You really can explore the possibilities of depth and separation as never before." Find out more about what the director thinks about Atmos in this brief video interview. Dolby Atmos has been used to increase the immersiveness of dozens of other blockbuster films in theaters, including "Edge of Tomorrow," "Godzilla," "American Sniper," "Guardians of the Galaxy," all three of "The Hobbit" films and many more. Check out Dolby's list of movies released in Dolby Atmos.

   AURO 11.1 surround encoding has also been used to similar effect in several films including "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, Part One," "John Wick," and "Elysium." Interstingly, most of the recognizable AURO-3D titles were also released in theaters in Dolby Atmos, including "Transformers: Age of Extinction," "The Maze Runner," "Amazing Spiderman 2" and several more. Check out the full list of films released in AURO-11.1. In partnership with Barco, AURO-11.1 surround is also available in select theaters around the world.

   How Can I See (and Hear!) a Movie in Immersive Sound?

   According to Dolby, there are currently over 900 Dolby Atmos-equipped theaters worldwide, with five in New York City alone (where we are based). To find one near you, you can check the Dolby Atmos theater-finder. Be sure to double-check with the theater owner or theater listings before purchasing tickets as not all Dolby Atmos-enabled films play in Dolby Atmos surround, even in theaters that are properly equipped. Dolby Atmos is normally in the "premium" screening rooms in these theaters so only select showings will be in Dolby Atmos.

   Through its partnership with Barco, AURO also has a wide selection of theaters equipped for AURO 11.1 playback, though many of these are located outside the United States. Auro says there are over 550 theater locations where AURO surround is committed or already installed. Check out the Auro theater finder on the AURO by Barco web site - AURO theater locator. Again, it's always best to check with the theater owner in advance to confirm AURO showtimes of particular films.

   Can I Get Immersive Sound at Home?

   Both Dolby Atmos and AURO-3D are available in select home products including receivers, preamps and (for Dolby) speakers. DTS:X is not yet available but DTS promises that announcements will be forthcoming in March at the official launch. So far, the only hardware manufactucturer to confirm inclusion of DTS:X decoding in one of their products is Steinway Lyngdorf whose P200 processor is expected to sell for around $18,000 in early 2015. DTS has gone on record to say that other respected audio brands including Anthem, Denon, Integra, Krell, Marantz, McIntosh, Onkyo, Outlaw Audio, Pioneer, Theta Digital, Trinnov Audio, and Yamaha will also offer products with DTS:X decoding.

Steinway Lyngdorf was the first manufacturer to announce DTS:X decoding in its upcoming P200 preamp/processor ($18,000).

   Of the three formats, Dolby Atmos has a significant headstart on the market at price points starting as low as $500 for an A/V receiver or$799 for a basic Dolby Atmos Home Theater in a Box system (receiver and speakers) ranging up to multi thousands of dollars for high-end preamp/processors from Trinnov and Steinway Lyngdorf. Check out our Dolby Atmos receiver buyer's guide or Dolby Atmos preamp/processor buyer's guide for more information. Several of the high-end Dolby Atmos receivers and preamp/processors (Denon, Marantz, Trinnov, Steinway Lyngdorf, AURO Technologies) also include or will include AURO-3D decoding.

You'll also need more speakers. For Dolby Atmos on most consumer gear, you start with a traditional 5.1-channel or 7.1-channel surround system and add two or four ceiling speakers, or two or four Dolby "elevation modules," also called "Atmos-enabled speakers." Dolby Atmos-enabled speakers bounce sound off the ceiling so it sounds like sound is coming from above you. Dolby Atmos elevation modules only work with flat, reflective, ceilings, no more than about 12 feet high. If that doesn't match your room layout then you'll need real in-ceiling speakers. Also, if you want a multi-format-capable system, then skip the Dolby Atmos elevation modules because they're currently incompatible with other immersive sound formats. For this reason, we'd recommend true in-ceiling speakers.

Dolby Atmos can use speakers that bounce sound off the ceiling or actual ceiling-mounted speakers (pictured) to create its immersive surround field,

    For AURO-3D, you'll want to add four height speakers (can be wall-mounted) above the regular speakers plus at least one overhead "Voice of God" speaker. AURO-3D's 10 and 11-channel layouts include two distinct layers of height, though we're told that AURO-3D does support implementations of a single height layer for home use as well (AURO-9.1, with no Voice-of-God speaker overhead).

AURO-3D includes two distinct levels of height channels for maximum immersion.

   For DTS, we're assuming true ceiling speakers will be required as well, but we don't yet have details on the speaker layouts. DTS has hinted that DTS:X will be able to "virtualize" height speakers from a standard 5.1 or 7.1-speaker layout, as reported in TWICE Magazine. We'd have to hear that to believe it. They have done some pretty remarkable things with virtualization in DTS Headphone:X so we won't write that idea off entirely just yet. But we'd imagine the best results will come with real speakers mounted on the ceiling.

   Dolby has adopted a new nomenclature for speaker layouts for Dolby Atmos. It's a 3-part number starting with the number of traditional surround speakers (ear level), followed by the number of subwoofers, followed by the number of height speakers. 5.1.2 would be five standard surround speakers (front left, center, front right, left surround and right surround) plus one subwoofer, plus two height speakers. 7.2.4 would be seven traditional surround speakers, two subwoofers and four height speakers.

   AURO uses the more standard 9.1, 10.1 and 11.1 speaker designations but these are less descriptive as they don't identify what goes where. Auro-9.1 typically has a standard 5.1 surround augmented by 4 height speakers. Auro 10.1 adds a single Voice of God speaker directly above the listener. Auro 11.1 adds a center height speaker to the mix, so five down low, five up high, and one right above the listener.

   What About Content? Can I Buy or Stream a Movie in Immersive Sound?

   Aye, matey, therein lies the rub. To date, even with over 200 theatrical titles released or announced in Dolby Atmos, there are only fourBlu-ray Discs available in the format, plus three more (including "Gravity") announced for Q1 of this year. And although it is technically possible to deliver Dolby Atmos in Dolby Digital Plus (on streaming services such as VUDU, Amazon and Netflix), no such titles are available for streaming in Dolby Atmos yet. VUDU did recently release a series of Dolby Atmos trailers in its library in order to show that it can deliver Dolby Atmos over its streaming service but so far, that's as far as it goes.

   For AURO-3D, their web site lists seven Blu-rays with AURO-3D encoding (plus two demo discs available "upon request") but it appears that all of these are films or music releases from outside the US market (I didn't recognize any). Check the list yourself and see if any of these ring any bells.

   Both Dolby Atmos and AURO-3D Blu-rays can be played back on most current Blu-ray Players without problems as they piggyback on existing audio codecs: Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD for Dolby Atmos, and uncompressed PCM for AURO-3D. You will need a new Atmos- or AURO-enabled receiver or processor to extract the height information from the mix.

   For DTS, the only clues we have so far are from a DTS demo disc given out at CES 2015. There are multiple movie clips on the demo disc that say that they are in "DTS-HD 7.1 | DTS:X" format. This implies that they are doing what Dolby does, making DTS:X backward compatible with the existing DTS-HD Master Audio codec on Blu-ray Disc.

The DTS 2015 Demo Disc Blu-ray includes several cuts labeled "DTS:X." On current gear (without DTS:X decoding), they play back in standard DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1.

   The clips on the DTS Demo Disc are mostly from documentaries or animated short films that I'd never heard of before. The only exceptions are "Divergent," which was not released in any immersive sound format in theaters, and "Rio 2" which was actually released in theaters in Dolby Atmos. Of course, having these clips on the disc does not necessarily mean the movies themselves will be available in DTS:X but it is encouraging.

It will be particularly interesting to see if DTS can repeat what they did with lossless surround formats on Blu-ray. Of all the Blu-ray Discs on the market with high quality lossless surround sound, about 75% of these titles are encoded in DTS-HD Master Audio (data courtesy of blu-raystats.com). The rest are split between Dolby TrueHD and PCM sound. Some movies which were released in Dolby 7.1 in theaters (like "Toy Story 3"), were released on Blu-ray in DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1 surround. Will the same happen with Dolby Atmos titles being release on Blu-ray Disc in DTS:X? The demo disc suggests that this is possible. Time will tell.

The Marantz AV8802 preamp/processor (coming in February for $3999) will include Dolby Atmos and AURO-3D decoding. What about DTS:X? We're guessing it will have that too, but do not have confirmation yet.

   Should I Buy a New Receiver and Speakers Now or Should I Wait?

   At this point, since DTS:X is a major fly in the ointment, we'd recommend waiting until at least March to buy a new receiver or preamp/processor. At that time, details on how and when DTS:X will be rolled out should be clearer than they are now. It's possible that DTS:X decoding may be added to receivers that are already on the market via firmware or software updates. It's also possible that those who want DTS:X decoding will have to wait until the 2015 model year receivers come out (usually in the summer and fall). So if you haven't bought a new receiver with immersive surround capabilities yet, it might be best to wait a little longer to see how things shape up.

Have an opinion on immersive sound? Let us know in the comments.

sursa: bigpicturebigsound.com

The ‘Star Wars’-Inspired History of the Iconic THX Audio Logo (eng)

Digital audio engineer James A. Moorer has had an impressive career: He holds multiple patents, has won an Oscar and an Emmy, and was involved in the founding of Stanford’s Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics.

But his most famous and familiar work is something that came together in just four days back in the early 1980s. You’ve heard it if you’ve gone to the movies since then, and maybe even if you haven’t. It starts quietly, and it doesn’t last long, but it quickly swirls and builds a kind of thundering tone that can’t be ignored. 

It’s the “audio logo” that announces that you’re in a THX-ready theater. It even has a name: Deep Note.

“My wife and I have a running joke,” Moorer told me in a recent interview, “of me going to my grave being famous for 35 seconds.”

The backstory is a curious and seldom-told tale. Among other things, while countless people have heard this brief but mighty composition, most non audiophiles don’t know what, exactly, THX is.

Yahoo Tech

The New THX Audio Note

This is the updated version of THX's iconic audio logo. The audience is listening.

As it happens, Deep Note has just been updated — for the first time in its three-decades-plus history. A new trailer will start booming through theaters in the days ahead. (You can check it out below.)

This makes for a great excuse to revisit the story behind this unusual bit of sound history, along with the momentous yet misunderstood chapter in audio technology that it represents.

What is THX, anyway?

Moorer in the Lucasfilm Tech Building in San Rafael, Calif., around 1983 (top); Moorer at THX Ltd. San Francisco headquarters in 2014 during his visit to work on the regenerated THX Deep Note. (Photos: © THX Ltd.)

First, let’s get clear on what THX refers to. It is not, as many mistakenly assume, a system for recording, encoding, and decoding audio, like Dolby Digital. It has nothing to do with how sound is captured; multiple formats, Dolby included, can be heard “in THX.” 

Instead, THX is essentially a certification system. It originally vouched for the quality of the playback sound system in a theater — a kind of sonic-entertainment Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. The goal was to guarantee to moviegoers that what they were hearing was as close as technologically possible to what the filmmakers intended them to hear.

As is so often the case, the reasons why this was deemed necessary can be traced back to Star Wars.

While gearing up for the premiere of Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back, a Lucasfilm team was appalled by the condition of the sound system at a certain San Francisco theater. Of the three top-end speakers behind the cinema screen, one wasn’t working and another faced the wrong direction. They were “horrified,” Moorer recalled.

The upshot: In the run-up to the subsequent Star Wars film (Return of the Jedi), Lucasfilm sound specialist Tomlinson Holman led an effort to hammer out proper technical and equipment specs that theaters would need to present the film properly — and would thus qualify meeting the brand-new THX standard. (The name is a nod to Holman’s initials and also alludes to the title of George Lucas’s first film, THX 1138.) 

THX took hold and eventually spun off as its own business in 2002. Along the way, it expanded to offer a variety of consulting, license-technology, and certification services relating to both the visual and audio quality of in-home, auto, and cinematic entertainment systems. 

According to its site, there are around 2,000 THX-certified theaters today. But when Return of the Jedi made its 1983 debut, rolling out the new THX standard required some fanfare. This took the form of a trailer produced at Lucasfilm, where Moorer worked in the audio unit of the company’s “computer division.” He was also a trained musician and sometime composer.

He recalled his sound-making assignment, as delivered by the guy in charge of putting the trailer together: “I want something that comes out of nowhere and gets really, really big.”

That was it: the entire creative brief for someone who had never been asked to create an audio logo or anything like it. Oh, and it was due by the end of the week. 

And yet, Moorer remembered, “as soon as he said it, I knew exactly what I wanted to do.”

‘Pure electronic music’

To untrained ears (mine, for example), the 30-second rising swell of Deep Note resembles the tones of a pipe organ. In fact, the sounds were computer-generated — “pure electronic music,” as Moorer put it.

He spent two days writing 20,000 lines of code to program a whopping mainframe-style audio-processing computer at Lucasfilm. The code drove oscillators producing sounds that he calls “voices” at various frequencies and essentially blended 30 of these tones into a slow-boil crescendo — one that sounded a little different every time the code was executed because of built-in randomness factors. (You can read a detailed description of Moorer’s process at MusicThing.co.uk.) 

Moorer in Lucasfilm’s “machine room” in the 1980s (top); Moorer in 2014. 

As Moorer put it to me, his program “guided the notes.” The “voices” would go up and down, “wandering around” differently every time. He settled on a version that featured “a conspicuous bass note that went straight down and stood out,” he said. “That’s the one I took to the recording stage.”

Ironically, the now-familiar result didn’t quite fulfill its utilitarian task: THX creator Holman pointed out that the composition didn’t bring out the crystal-clear highs that were likely the new system’s strongest feature, Moorer said, but concluded that “it sounds all right; we’ll go with it.”

Good call. Deep Note became one of the most iconic audio logos ever; THX offers a collection of trailers (same Deep Note, different graphics) on its website. Of course, there are a slew of YouTube riffs involving people trying to re-create the sound or just having fun with it. It’s also been parodied more than once — most famously, perhaps, onThe Simpsons.

Fast-forward to today; as Louis Cacciuttolo, THX executive vice president of international business development and brand strategy, readily concedes, most people associate the firm with Moorer’s creation. 

“When you ask people, ‘What does THX mean to you?’ most people will try to sing Deep Note,” Cacciuttolo told me. “It’s funny.”

It’s an odd scenario, really — as if everybody recognized the swoosh but weren’t clear on the nature of Nike’s business. But maybe this explains why THX is attempting to publicize the latest improvements to its sound-system standards, which reflect a range of high-end audio improvements in both cinematic and home-entertainment settings. And it might also explain why the company asked Moorer himself to revisit and “reinvigorate” Deep Note. 

Moorer in the 1980s (top) and in 2014. 

Turns out this was something he’d always wanted to do. Working off of his original computer-code “score” but of course using technology that was wildly more powerful (and convenient) than that original mainframe provided, Moorer created new versions that stick to the basic Deep Note idea but enhance it with more “voices” — up to 80 for the one that will play in the most acoustically sophisticated theatrical settings. 

This time around, he had weeks to fine-tune things and was thoroughly satisfied to hear the results in a theater setting at Lucasfilm’s Skywalker Ranch.

“I kept thinking: That’s the way I wanted it to sound originally,” Moorer told me. “I think it’s as far as you can take it.

"Next time," he conceded, "it’ll have to be a different idea.” 

sursa: yahoo.com

Welcome To DTS:X - Open, Immersive And Flexible Object-Based Audio Coming To Cinema And Home (eng)

   CALABASAS, Calif., April 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- DTS Inc., a global leader in audio technology solutions, has unveiled further details about DTS:X, its open, next-generation, object-based, multi-dimensional audio technology. DTS:X replicates a real-world sound environment that transports the audience into a new dimension of sound immersion by delivering truly captivating entertainment experiences in the cinema and at home. The technology also provides numerous customization options for cinema and home theater owners.

   Unlike existing surround sound systems, DTS:X is not tied to prescribed speaker configurations or a specific number of audio channels. DTS:X adapts to the viewing environment, allowing for a flexible speaker configuration that best fits the viewing space. DTS:X more accurately conveys the fluid movement of sound to create a richer entertainment soundscape than has previously been possible by moving sound objects to and through specific locations within - in front of, behind, above and beside the audience, precisely where the mixer placed them.

   "DTS:X is built on the foundation of providing an open, adaptable solution for content creators, cinemas and homes to fulfill our goal of bringing immersive audio to as many people around the world as possible," said Jon Kirchner, chairman and CEO of DTS, Inc. "Until recently, sound in movie theaters and in our homes has been dictated by a standardized speaker layout. Through the use of object-based audio, DTS:X is able to scale immersive soundtrack presentations across a wide range of playback systems, from efficient to extravagant, while staying true to the content creator's vision. This approach delivers the most authentic three-dimensional audio experience ever, making the audience feel as if they are in the center of the action."

  DTS:X + CINEMA    In 1993, DTS revolutionized cinema sound, delivering "Jurassic Park's" award-winning 5.1-channel soundtrack on CD-ROM, which was synchronized to the picture using a time code printed on the film. Twenty-two years later, DTS:X, the industry's newest audio solution, is no longer limited to channels or tied to a speaker layout and is now delivered as part of the Digital Cinema Package.

   The foundation of DTS:X is MDA, DTS' license fee-free, open platform for creation of object-based immersive audio. MDA gives movie studios unprecedented control over the specific placement, movement and volume of sound objects. The platform also enables sound engineers to "mix once" for both immersive and conventional cinemas in a combined object- and channel-based audio format, allowing content to be easily distributed beyond the theater for streaming, broadcast, optical media and more.

   "MDA is DTS' license fee-free contribution to the professional audio community for mixing and storage of immersive audio content," said Kirchner. "MDA fits perfectly within today's production workflow, and a combination of MDA and DTS:X provides a complete end-to-end workflow, from creation to exhibition."

   The DTS:X licensing program in cinema will offer theater owners the opportunity to provide their audience the most compelling, immersive sound experience possible. This can be achieved for almost any room configuration by installing DTS:X-approved equipment and working with the recommended speaker installation guidelines.

   To ensure quality and provide flexibility within the DTS:X program, DTS has partnered with industry-leading server, sound rendering and processing companies. GDC Technology, QSC and USL, have developed and made available DTS:X-ready components that process and render MDA files.

• GDC Technology - develops, manufactures and sells digital cinema servers and provides a comprehensive suite of digital cinema products, services and solutions for exhibitors and distributors
• QSC - designs and manufactures professional audio systems and solutions for professional installed, portable, production and cinema sound customers worldwide
• USL - is engaged in the design, manufacture, and sale of motion picture audio equipment and sound processors

GDC Technology is an initial partner integrating DTS:X into theaters.

• GDC Technology - boasts the largest installed base of digital cinema servers in the Asia-Pacific region, and the second largest, globally
  • GDC is the worldwide DTS:X certification agent with an exclusive in Asia
  • GDC will make MDA firmware updates available to theater owners over to its existing installed server base of more than 40,000 servers starting in May 2015
  • GDC will provide DTS:X installation and certification for approximately 350 screens throughout Asia beginning in May 2015

   "GDC is committed to offering state-of-the-art technology to its customers. We chose DTS:X because we believe it will transform the movie theater experience for audiences around the world," said Dr. Man-Nang Chong, founder and CEO of GDC Technology. "Theater owners will appreciate the easy integration and flexible solutions that DTS:X offers as they upgrade their screens to this superior sound experience. Audiences win too. Because of the flexibility in speaker layout that DTS:X offers, immersive audio is now available to a larger number of theaters of all sizes than ever before."

   DTS is presently working with several major studios and mixing stages in Los Angeles, Northern California and Canada that are evaluating DTS:X. DTS:X content announcements will be made by the studios when ready, in alignment with DTS.

  DTS:X + AVRs    Manufacturers representing nearly 90 percent of the home AVR and surround processor market will launch DTS:X-enabled products beginning in early Summer 2015, with additional manufacturer and model announcements to follow in the coming months. Confirmed AVR partners include:

• Denon - AVR-X7200W available now / DTS:X firmware upgrade later in 2015
• Integra - launching several models by Fall 2015
• Marantz - AV8802 available now / DTS:X firmware upgrade later in 2015
• Onkyo - launching several models by Fall 2015
• Pioneer - details to follow
• Steinway Lyngdorf - P200 Surround Sound Processor available Summer 2015 / DTS:X firmware upgrade in Fall 2015
• Theta Digital - Casablanca IVa available Summer 2015
• Trinnov Audio - Altitude32 available now / DTS:X firmware upgrade Summer 2015
• Yamaha - launching DTS:X ready models in Fall 2015

   DTS:X solutions are also available for 2015 AV receiver silicon platforms representing the majority of the DSP platform market share, including Cirrus Logic, Analog Devices and Texas Instruments.

  For home theater system owners, DTS:X provides personalization, flexibility and control for the most optimized listening experience possible. Key features include:

Backward Compatibility - DTS:X builds upon existing DTS-HD Master Audio to provide backward compatibility with existing DTS bitstreams and speaker layouts. In short, all features of DTS-HD Master Audio are supported and enable an immersive audio experience for older content.

• The DTS:X content is backward compatible with the DTS-HD decoder
• The DTS:X decoder supports DVD, Blu-ray Disc (BD) and streaming media file formats
• DTS:X can spatially reformat stereo, 5.1 or 7.1 content to take full advantage of all speakers in a surround system
  • Objects are never lost; if the object is embedded, it can be extracted and used in the rendered experience

Dialog Control - AVR owners will be able to control the volume of specific audio elements at home, such as increasing dialog volume to match their listening preferences.

• Dialog, as an object, can be lifted out from the background sounds when clarity and intelligibility are desired
• Content creators have the choice to implement this feature in their content mix

Flexible Speaker Layout - With flexible speaker layouts and remapping technology, DTS:X allows the placement of home theater speakers virtually anywhere. The freedom of object-based audio enables optimized playback on a multitude of speaker layouts, with any number of speakers. The DTS speaker remapping engine supports any speaker configuration within a hemispherical layout based around the listening position in the room.

• 2015 DTS:X AVRs can support up to 11.2 speaker output channels
• Content created for a specific speaker layout can be remapped for playout through a different layout
• Enables remapping of outputs to custom or OEM-defined speaker layouts, and remapping legacy content to new output configurations
• Support for 32 speaker locations (subject to each manufacturer's product capabilities)
• Metadata-based spatial mapping renders the ideal 3D sound image to actual speaker layouts

Lossless - DTS is known for lossless, master audio quality with no compromise, delivering dynamic bit allocation. DTS:X supports lossless encoding for the highest audio quality possible. In situations where bitrate is of high concern, DTS:X can also operate in a high-quality lossy mode.

• Supports up to 96k for object mixes
• Still supports up to 192k for stereo and multi-channel mixes
• DTS:X is true to the audio master, delivers in the highest quality and preserves its fidelity

sursa: prnewswire.com si listen.dts.com