Samsung isn’t talking about Eclipsa Audio at CES 2025

Sooner than CES 2025 kicked off in Las Vegas, Samsung launched that its spatial audio collaboration with Google may be obtainable on its 2025 TVs and soundbars. Finer particulars on the platform have been noticeably absent from that announcement, with the company solely noting that the 3D Eclipsa Audio may be obtainable this yr for YouTube content material materials creators. There was moreover the ultimate clarification that the platform would enable creators “to control audio data resembling the location and depth of sounds, along with spatial reflections, to create an immersive three-dimensional sound experience,” in accordance with the press launch.

If that seems like Dolby Atmos to you, that’s what I assume Samsung and Google try to repeat proper right here. And if that’s the case, if Samsung really wants its private immersive audio commonplace, there’s a backstory worth revisiting proper right here. In 2023, Samsung and Google first revealed their spatial audio ambitions. On the time, Samsung talked about its evaluation division had been engaged on 3D audio since 2020 and the first fruits of the collaboration was the open-source Immersive Audio Model and Codecs (IAMF) adopted by the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) in October 2023.

There’s moreover the reality that Samsung wouldn’t present Dolby Imaginative and prescient on its TVs. As a substitute, the company makes use of HDR10+, an open-source and royalty-free platform for encoding HDR metadata. And in that 2023 audio announcement, Samsung Evaluation’s WooHyun Nam outlined that 3D sound know-how wished to be open to everyone too. “Providing a complete open-source framework for 3D audio, from creation to provide and playback, will allow for rather more quite a few audio content material materials experiences in the end,” he talked about.

Samsung in the meanwhile helps Dolby Atmos on its soundbars, along with its flagship Q990 assortment and the newly launched QS700F. It seems like the company not must pay to license Atmos from Dolby. And with the intention to nonetheless present immersive 3D audio on its merchandise, this collaboration with Google objectives to assemble the selection. It’s worth noting that AOM counts Amazon, Apple and Netflix amongst its members, together with Google, Samsung and others. The group’s AV1 video format was launched in 2018 and is now used all through Netflix, YouTube, Twitch and completely different web sites.

The bizarre issue about all of that’s that no person from Samsung wants to discuss Eclipsa Audio. I attended quite a lot of events and product demos that the company hosted this week and the response after I requested about it was each “we have not been knowledgeable one thing” or “let me see if I can uncover any individual who can focus on it.” The latter, in any case, on no account manifested a “any individual” or a follow-up. I even requested for a rep to tell me if the company wasn’t ready to debate particulars and on no account heard once more on that each.

In all probability probably the most detailed clarification I’ve seen this week bought right here from Arm, which is seemingly moreover engaged on the occasion of Eclipsa Audio alongside Samsung and Google. The chip designer talked about that Eclipsa is a multi-channel audio embody sound format that’s constructed on IMAF. Vertical and horizontal channels will create the immersive sound, with the intention of making movies, music and television reveals additional compelling in your lounge. As soon as extra, that’s exactly what Dolby Atmos already does.

Arm further outlined that Eclipsa Audio can robotically alter sound based on the scene and that there’ll seemingly be a degree of customization for patrons. The bitstream can comprise as a lot as 28 enter channels which may be mounted (gadgets or microphones) or dynamic (vehicles in movie scenes), with assist for LPCM, AAC, FLAC and Opus codecs. Binaural rendering may be obtainable for earbuds and headphones, and the model new tech will seemingly be obtainable to content material materials creators using shopper devices of their workflow.

To this point, Samsung and Google have solely listed YouTube as a result of the platform or service the place Eclipsa Audio content material materials will seemingly be obtainable. If the duo actually must compete with Dolby Atmos, that guidelines should broaden shortly. Plus, Dolby already has the mannequin recognition and intensive adoption in every the audio and residential theater lessons for Atmos. It’s even obtainable in vehicles.

Samsung talked about in its pre-CES announcement that it and Google would work with the Telecommunications Know-how Affiliation (TTA) to develop a certification program for devices that assist Eclipsa Audio. So, it appears to be like like crucial groundwork has been laid to get this know-how on devices, starting with Samsung’s private 2025 TVs and soundbars. Nevertheless, as we seen with Sony 360 Actuality Audio and the early days of Dolby Atmos Music, it can probably take time to assemble out a compelling library of content material materials. Which suggests Samsung will attainable want to carry reminding us that Eclipsa Audio is an element, even when it might not have moderately extra to say.