Receivers and to a lesser extent soundbars and home cinema systems come with a variety of possibilities for reproducing audio. For example, you can upmix a Dolby TrueHD signal using DTS technology, for extra height effects. But if it is up to Dolby that freedom is limited. that is why, Dolby wants to stop upmixing own audio signals via DTS and Auro.
Dolby wants to stop upmixing own audio signals via DTS and Auro
The website Audioholics has received a document in which a new policy change from Dolby can be seen. The company has not officially confirmed this yet, but we can conclude from the document that Dolby now wants to process its own Dolby audio signals only by means of its own upmixer.
Simply put, this means that with incoming Dolby audio signals, for example a Dolby Digital or Dolby TrueHD audio signal from a Blu-ray disc, no longer have the option to upmix it with, for example, DTS Neural: X or Auro-Matic by Auro 3D. It is then only allowed to use the Dolby Surround upmixer to create effects from other channels.
This is of course a limitation in the possibilities for users of receivers, amplifiers, soundbars and other audio devices. Moreover; It may become a problem for devices (especially soundbars) that only have a DTS license and may not be able to process Dolby signals after this policy change. It is also not clear what the consequences are for, for example, a DTS: X sound track on an audio system with Dolby Surround upmixer.
An upmixer makes it possible, for example, to make a 2-channel audio signal a 5.1-channel audio signal. Software, in the form of, for example, DTS Neural: X or Dolby Surround, ensures that the missing channels are added to the signal.
So there are quite a few questions that need to be answered, but if we can believe Dolby, this change applies to all soundbars launched in 2018 and 2019 and receivers that support Dolby Atmos. All these products would be provided with a firmware update to implement the change.
