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Dolby Atmos: Breaking the Sound Barrier

DLB | December 7, 2016

Dolby Atmos: Breaking the Sound Barrier

Dolby Atmos passes milestones of 2,000 screens installed and 500 movie titles released

Dolby Laboratories, Inc. (NYSE:DLB) today announced the company has exceeded major milestones, including the installation of 2,000 Dolby Atmos enabled cinema screens and the release of 500 movie titles mixed in Dolby Atmos. Since debuting in 2012 with Disney•Pixar’s Brave, Dolby Atmos has paved a new course for creative storytelling, transforming the ways in which audiences worldwide experience sound.

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“When Brave was released in 2012, Dolby Atmos enabled us to bring audiences into the rich and fantastic world of Merida through their execution of previously inaccessible soundscapes,” said Mark Andrews, writer and director of Disney•Pixar’s Brave. “Dolby Atmos enables our creatives at Pixar to tell stories with sound, taking audiences across new dimensions of entertainment. As one of the first to use Dolby Atmos, we have witnessed this platform’s steady growth and value as an essential element for the next-generation filmmaker.”

Since its debut in cinemas worldwide, Dolby Atmos has quickly been embraced by all the major Hollywood studios and industry-leading filmmakers, including 15 Academy Award^® winning directors and 28 Academy Award winning sound mixers, among others. Eighteen films featuring Dolby Atmos soundtracks have garnered Academy Award nominations, and eight of them have won for Best Sound Mixing, Best Sound Editing, Best Animated Feature Film, and Best Director.

Deployed in more than 60 countries and more than 150 postproduction facilities, Dolby Atmos has been used for soundtracks on many regional local-language films and Hollywood titles to deliver heart-pounding action-adventure blockbusters, lush romances, feel-good comedies, and animated features. The technology paves the way for creative storytelling, building full audio atmospheres that excite the senses and inspire emotion, advancing what audiences then come to expect from cinema. In addition, Dolby Atmos is a key component of the Dolby Cinema experience, the award-winning premium cinema offering for moviegoers that combines spectacular image and sound technologies with inspired design to deliver the total cinema experience. Currently, more than 50 Dolby Cinema locations are screening films around the globe.

“Dolby has made its mark on what consumers can expect from a powerful sound experience, and Dolby Atmos continues to shape the future of entertainment for any environment,” said Curt Behlmer, Senior Vice President of Content Solutions and Industry Relations, Dolby Laboratories. “Dolby Atmos is considered the preferred sound format by many who look to deliver the best in sound to the cinema, in the home, or on the go, and the possibilities are endless.”

Since launching in the cinema, Dolby Atmos has become an integral part of the entertainment experience for consumers, enabling sound to come alive from all directions, including overhead, to deliver astonishing clarity, power, detail, and depth. Whether you are listening to music, watching movies or television shows, or playing your favorite video games, Dolby Atmos delivers the full impact of the entertainment experience. The success of Dolby Atmos, as a vital component of some of this decade’s powerful films, has paved the way for new applications in home theater, PC and mobile devices, video games, virtual reality, and even music venues, such as the famous Ministry of Sound nightclub in London.

“The future of sound for home entertainment is full of amazing possibilities, and Vudu is leading the way for streaming video services by being the first to deliver the Dolby Atmos experience to homes,” said Scott Blanksteen, Vice President of Product, Vudu. “By leveraging Dolby Atmos—a highlight of our premium 4K video format, Vudu UHD—we are able to provide home audiences with dramatically enhanced sound quality that fully engages their senses and brings movies to life in their living room.”

More than 20 titles are now available for over-the-top delivery by streaming-service providers like Vudu. More than 150 titles on Blu-ray Disc™ have featured a Dolby Atmos soundtrack, and more than 60 percent of the UHD Blu-ray media released include the format. This has paved the way for wide adoption by the consumer electrics industry. To date, more than 75 AVR and home-theater-in-a-box (HTiB) solutions are available, and more than 45 sound bar and speaker models by more than 20 speaker manufacturers provide consumers with a variety of form factor options and price points. In addition, more than 35 mobile devices support Dolby Atmos; three games include Dolby Atmos support on PC; and gaming consoles will soon support Dolby Atmos for Blu-ray. The flexible Dolby Atmos format is also available over headphones and headsets to deliver a single mix through the delivery of rich metadata, creating the peaks and valleys of sound once accessible only on the big screen.

“By breaking the link between sound design and specific speaker layout, Dolby Atmos has really opened up the creative use of sound to deliver more immersive entertainment experiences,” said Avi Greengart, Research Director for Consumer Platforms and Devices, Current Analysis.

About Dolby Atmos

Dolby Atmos delivers moving audio—sound that can be precisely placed and moved anywhere in three-dimensional space, including overhead. It brings entertainment alive all around the audience in a powerfully immersive and emotive experience. To learn more about Dolby Atmos, visit www.dolby.com/Atmos.

About Dolby Laboratories

Dolby Laboratories (NYSE: DLB) creates audio, video, and voice technologies that transform entertainment and communications in mobile devices, at the cinema, at home, and at work. For more than 50 years, sight and sound experiences have become more vibrant, clear, and powerful in Dolby. For more information, please visit www.dolby.com.

Dolby, Dolby Atmos, and the double-D symbol are registered trademarks of Dolby Laboratories. Dolby Cinema is a trademark of Dolby Laboratories. All other trademarks remain the property of their respective owners. DLB-G