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For this example, let’s say to have that audio playing back at one-half of the distance from the screen in the small room, the audio is played on the second surround speaker on the left. When this same audio is played in the larger room, Atmos determines that the fourth surround speaker is one-half the distance from the screen. The importance is not what speaker the sounds are assigned to but rather where in space the sound should be heard. Atmos calculates the ratio of the playback spaces and monitor speakers to faithfully reproduce a mix, rather than assign sounds to a fixed speaker position.
Dolby Atmos Speaker Configurations
It is important to understand that the term Dolby Atmos isn’t restricted to describing any particular speaker layout. Dolby Atmos is a complex metadata-driven system that interprets the audio from a configured Atmos mix, determines the playback system of the end user, and calculates the mix to fit each particular space and system. Assuming the possession of a Dolby Atmos compatible system, if a
7.1.4 Atmos mix is played by someone with only a two channel playback system, then it will intelligently down mix the 7.1.4 Atmos to stereo. If a user has a standard 5.1 monitor system, then the 7.1.4 Atmos soundtrack will down mix to five channel surround with a subwoofer.
The naming of the channel configurations in the Dolby Atmos format includes the height channels in the nomenclature. Channel configurations are presented as three digits separated by periods, such as 7.1.4, which is a typical speaker configuration. The first digit describes the number of main,
or ear-height monitoring channels that surround the listener. The second digit describes the number of subwoofer channels. The third digit describes the number of height channels, which are speakers positioned on, or in the case of a soundbar pointed to, the ceiling.
— Seven surround channels
— Left
— Center
— Right
— Left Surround
— Right Surround
— Left Back Surround
— Left Right Surround
— One Subwoofer
— Four height channels