2 days Ago By David Richards
Last week we revealed a brand new open standard format called Eclipsa Audio, that has been developed by the likes of Google and Samsung whose 2025 flagship soundbar, the HW-Q990F, is the first with Eclipsa compatibility, the begging question is what will now happen to Dolby Labs audio and video formats, whose brand has appeared on movies and audio products for decades. In the past we have been told that movie sounds better in Dolby Atmos or looks better on their TV when it’s presented in Dolby Vision and it did, the only problem is that audio and movie companies had to pay a licence fee to Dolby Labs while Eclipsa Audio is an open standard that does a similar job and is free. Samsung enlisted the support of Google and the Alliance for Open Media, whose members include the likes of Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, THX, and Nvidia.
The result is a new open-source spatial audio format known formally as IAMF, this has been rebranded as Eclipsa Audio. As for Dolby the lion’s share of Dolby Labs’ profits comes from licensing its technologies to manufacturers and service providers. The sale of every TV, streaming device, or soundbar compatible with content created using a Dolby format results in a small payment to the US company.
Over the years Dolby Labs has raked in millions by deliver another layer of costs for manufacturers who are also having to pay a multitude of licence fees for technology such as Wi Fi that is today standard in most devices that connect to a network. Currently Dolby Vision is the most popular flavour of dynamic HDR — a version of high dynamic range technology that allows for more brightness than standard HDR, in addition to scene-by-scene grading of colour and contrast according to Digital Trends. It’s widely used on 4K UltraHD Blu-ray discs, and virtually every HDR-compatible streaming service includes titles presented in Dolby Vision.
Shortly after this technology was rolled out Samsung developed HDR10+, an open-source and royalty-free alternative. Adoption of HDR10+ was slow at first, but with Netflix’s recent announcement that it intends to offer HDR10+ for all HDR titles by the end of 2025, Dolby Vision’s dominance is coming to an end. The South Korean Company who are the #1 TV brand in the world spearheaded the creation of HDR10+, for the simple reason they did not want to add another layer of cost to their TV’s.
Last week we revealed a brand new open standard format called Eclipsa Audio, that has been developed by the likes of Google and Samsung whose 2025 flagship soundbar, the HW-Q990F, is the first with Eclipsa compatibility, the begging question is what will now happen to Dolby Labs audio and video formats, whose brand has appeared on movies and audio products for decades. In the past we have been told that movie sounds better in Dolby Atmos or looks better on their TV when it’s presented in Dolby Vision and it did, the only problem is that audio and movie companies had to pay a licence fee to Dolby Labs while Eclipsa Audio is an open standard that does a similar job and is free. Samsung enlisted the support of Google and the Alliance for Open Media, whose members include the likes of Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, THX, and Nvidia.
The result is a new open-source spatial audio format known formally as IAMF, this has been rebranded as Eclipsa Audio. As for Dolby the lion’s share of Dolby Labs’ profits comes from licensing its technologies to manufacturers and service providers. The sale of every TV, streaming device, or soundbar compatible with content created using a Dolby format results in a small payment to the US company.
Over the years Dolby Labs has raked in millions by deliver another layer of costs for manufacturers who are also having to pay a multitude of licence fees for technology such as Wi Fi that is today standard in most devices that connect to a network. Currently Dolby Vision is the most popular flavour of dynamic HDR — a version of high dynamic range technology that allows for more brightness than standard HDR, in addition to scene-by-scene grading of colour and contrast according to Digital Trends. It’s widely used on 4K UltraHD Blu-ray discs, and virtually every HDR-compatible streaming service includes titles presented in Dolby Vision.
Shortly after this technology was rolled out Samsung developed HDR10+, an open-source and royalty-free alternative. Adoption of HDR10+ was slow at first, but with Netflix’s recent announcement that it intends to offer HDR10+ for all HDR titles by the end of 2025, Dolby Vision’s dominance is coming to an end. The South Korean Company who are the #1 TV brand in the world spearheaded the creation of HDR10+, for the simple reason they did not want to add another layer of cost to their TV’s.
They have also claimed that HDR10+ is superior to the Dolby offering and now with the world’s biggest streaming Company Netflix jumping into the technology, things don’t look good for Dolby Labs. As for the future Eclipsa Audio, lets anyone create spatial audio for free. If you’re a professional who uses industry-standard software like AVID Pro Tools DAW, there will soon be free Eclipsa plugins.
But perhaps more importantly, any manufacturer can support Eclipsa royalty-free on their audio products, according to Samsung and Google and Open Media. Dolby Atmos is a spatial audio format that enjoys massive adoption across movies, TV shows, and most recently, music recordings under the Dolby Atmos Music brand, it’s also become synonymous with spatial audio. Despite these threats to Dolby’s dominance, don’t expect to see Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos disappear anytime soon, the roll out of Eclipsa Audio is set to be slow but it will grow as more brands adopt it.
Dolby is a savvy player, and their recently announced Dolby Atmos Flex Connect, is a new way for TV manufacturers to provide wireless speakers that can be placed anywhere in a room — without the need for a connected soundbar — and still provide an immersive experience. They have also claimed that HDR10+ is superior to the Dolby offering and now with the world’s biggest streaming Company Netflix jumping into the technology, things don’t look good for Dolby Labs. As for the future Eclipsa Audio, lets anyone create spatial audio for free.
If you’re a professional who uses industry-standard software like AVID Pro Tools DAW, there will soon be free Eclipsa plugins. But perhaps more importantly, any manufacturer can support Eclipsa royalty-free on their audio products, according to Samsung and Google and Open Media. Dolby Atmos is a spatial audio format that enjoys massive adoption across movies, TV shows, and most recently, music recordings under the Dolby Atmos Music brand, it’s also become synonymous with spatial audio.
Despite these threats to Dolby’s dominance, don’t expect to see Dolby Vision or Dolby Atmos disappear anytime soon, the roll out of Eclipsa Audio is set to be slow but it will grow as more brands adopt it. Dolby is a savvy player, and their recently announced Dolby Atmos Flex Connect, is a new way for TV manufacturers to provide wireless speakers that can be placed anywhere in a room — without the need for a connected soundbar — and still provide an immersive experience..
