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Vudu movies take advantage of your Dolby Atmos and Vision gear
If you've been itching to put your Dolby Atmos- and Vision-capable home theater gear to work, you'll be glad to know that you now have one more streaming option besides Microsoft and Netflix. Vudu has started streaming Warner Bros. movies (such as Mad Max: Fury Road and The Lego Movie) with full Atmos and Vision support, so you'll get more immersive audio and a high dynamic visual range if you have the right TV and speakers. There's no mention of Vudu offering similarly upgraded titles from Sony or other studios, but don't be surprised if the catalog expands quickly.
Vudu starts streaming 4K movies to the Roku 4
Vudu's 1080p HDX streams were once considered high quality for streaming movies over the internet, (now they're even watchable on phones) but in the last year Amazon and Netflix surpassed them with 4K resolution and even HDR. Now Vudu is stepping up its game with some 4K flicks, currently available only through the new Roku 4. For the moment it has 12 movies viewable in 4K (check the list after the break), with prices of $10 for a rental and $25 - $30 to purchase. According to Vudu, you'll need an 11Mbps connection to stream the high-res versions that it's marked Vudu UHD. The option will be coming to other platforms including Vizio's 4K TVs soon, and for the ones that can handle it, there's support for HDR and Atmos surround sound too.
Ultra HD Blu-ray is bringing high-res movies home soon
After Blu-ray and HD DVD ushered in the age of HD and 1080p movies for the masses, discs were beaten to 4K by streaming services like Netflix, YouTube and Amazon. While the internet is still doing most of the heavy lifting for 4K, the Ultra HD Blu-ray specification is finally complete which means we should see movies and players arriving later this year. Besides being compatible with the 10,000~ Blu-ray discs already out, Ultra HD Blu-ray players will be ready for high-res 3,840 x 2,160 video, "next generation object-based sound formats" (think DTS: X and Dolby Atmos), more colors, high dynamic range (HDR) and even high frame rate video. That's a lot of buzzwords to say movies will have the capability to look and sound better at your home than they ever have before. The BDA also made vague reference to a "digital bridge" setup for extending your movie purchased on a disc to other devices like phones and tablets, but didn't say exactly how that will work, or if it's going to be any better than Ultraviolet.
Dolby's all-encompassing Atmos sound comes to virtual reality
Virtual reality thrives on immersive sound, so it only makes sense that audio format makers should get involved, doesn't it? Dolby certainly thinks so. It's partnering with Jaunt to put its cinematic Atmos sound into VR content, starting with snippets from the horror-laden Black Mass, the giant monster short Kaiju Fury and a Sir Paul McCartney concert. While it's a modest start, the hope is that this ultra-precise positioning will both be more engaging and let VR movie producers rely more on audible cues to get your attention -- a snapping twig may be all it takes to have you look at the scary beast lurking in the bushes. You probably wouldn't want to buy an Atmos-capable system just for the sake of VR when there's hardly anything to watch right now, but it's something to consider if you take your virtual video experiences very seriously.
Denon unveils its first receivers with extra-immersive Dolby Atmos sound
If you're wondering just when you can envelop yourself in Dolby Atmos sound at home, Denon is more than happy to tell you. The home theater firm says it will launch two Atmos-equipped AV receivers, the X4100W and X5200W, in the US this October. Neither will be cheap, as the bleeding-edge tech implies. For $1,399, the X4100W delivers Dolby's all-encompassing audio in up to a 7.1.2-channel setup (seven regular speakers, one subwoofer, two overhead); splurge on the $1,999 X5200W and you can add two extra speakers to the mix, whether they're on the ground or the ceiling. Either will bring the media support you'd expect for that kind of outlay, including 4K video processing and media sharing over AirPlay or DLNA. That's a lot of cash to shell out to add an extra dimension to your surround sound, but Denon is undoubtedly targeting very high-end living room setups -- if you didn't flinch at buying an expensive 4K TV, these receivers are for you.
Dolby's immersive Atmos audio is coming to your living room
Dolby's Atmos technology, which bombards you with sound from all directions, was undoubtedly built with movie theaters in mind; few have the money or space for that many speakers. However, the company has at last devised a way to bring Atmos to your living room. While the solution will let you hang speakers from the ceiling if you're so inclined, it will primarily rely on audio systems that produce overhead sound through physics tricks. This could get expensive, as you might imagine. On top of an Atmos-capable receiver, you'll need either speakers with native Atmos support or modules that add to your existing setup. Thankfully, you probably won't have to toss out everything -- the Blu-ray spec can already handle Atmos, so most existing disc players should work.
The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to receive the Dolby Atmos treatment
The CinemaCon crowd may not have been keen on 48fps footage of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, but we defy anyone to say they don't want the best sound possible. A select few will get just that, as Dolby and Peter Jackson's own Park Road Post Production have announced the film will be mixed for the speaker-packed Atmos technology. If you're lucky enough to live near one of the select establishments it's installed in, we doubt you'll be grumbling about the immersive audio, even if the frame rate makes those orcs look unsettlingly real. Update: That link of "select establishments" is somewhat out of date and, although the official list of locations you'll be able to see The Hobbit in Atmos has yet to be released, Dolby says there should be between 80 and 100 screens capable of delivering the over-the-top audio experience by the film's debut.
Real-world impressions of Dolby Atmos surround sound (ears-on)
Dolby and AMC are both marketing the latest in surround sound technology heavily this past weekend with the release of "Brave," the first movie mixed and presented in Dolby Atmos. There are only 14 theaters in the world with the setup right now and one of them, and with one just an hour away yours truly decided to make the trek and report back for those who can't. Read on to see if our impressions of this new tech live up to the hype.
Dolby Atmos crosses the Atlantic in time for Barcelona's CineEurope 2012
If you're a European jealous of those of us stateside when you first read that we had fourteen theaters featuring Dolby's new end-to-end revolution in surround sound, Atmos, then maybe this news will give you solace. Starting today the new technology will be demoed at CineEurope at both Dolby's booth as well as at the Cinesa Diagonal Mar Screen 9 theater in Barcelona. No word on when you'll actually be able to take in Disney's Brave in said format, but the Mar Screen 9 will be joined at the Atmos party by a number of other theaters in Europe in the coming months, like the Empire Leicester Square in London. Want to know more? Well, check out the full press release after the break.
O2 slides HTC S730 onto shelves as XDA Atmos
It would seem that HTC's updated Vox, the HTC S730 Wings, has hit O2 sporting that distinctive XDA style. While the shop doesn't get into detail about which version of the HTC Wings this is -- as a refresher, the Wings100 packs 2100 MHz HSDPA while the Wings200 has 850, 1900, and 2100 -- the O2 Atmos' price is right and listed as starting at $free. Availability is set for now, so if you've been waiting for a new bit of QWERTY Windows Mobile hardware, fill your boots, operators are standing by.[Via CoolSmartPhone]