More and more movies are supporting the new Dolby Atmos format in movie theaters across the nation as the new format of sound takes movie goers on a journey of deep sound immersion.
Now, that technology is making it’s way to the living room. All you need to do is be ready with a receiver that can decode it, like the Yamaha RX-A3040 we just covered (which will offer support in the fall after a firmware update), as well as a standard Blu-ray player.
Dolby explained that “existing players that fully conform to the Blu-ray specification will be able to support Dolby Atmos content on a Blu-ray disc”, making it unnecessary to have to buy a new player due to the format’s release. This is a major win for consumers since we all know the pain in having to constantly upgrade parts just because something new comes out every 6 months to a year.
As mentioned though, you will have to have a receiver that can decode it. Currently, there are only a few models by companies such as Yamah as previously mentioned), Onkyo (ie, RSC5530 11.2-Channel, and TX-NR1030 9.2-Channel) and Integra that have released models that support the new format of sound.
At the moment, there is no mention of any specific Blu-rays that will feature Atmos, but there are plenty of upcoming movies in the theaters that support it, so there is a good chance the Blu-rays will to. Some examples include Transformers: Age of Extinction, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, The Expendables 3 and Guardians of the Galaxy.
When we start seeing Atmos formatted media hit the market, the new format will support 5.1.2, 5.1.4, 7.1.2, 7.1.4, and 9.1.2 speaker configurations.
