Samsung is not speaking about Eclipsa Audio at CES 2025

Earlier than CES 2025 kicked off in Las Vegas, Samsung announced that its spatial audio collaboration with Google could be obtainable on its 2025 TVs and soundbars. Finer particulars on the platform had been noticeably absent from that announcement, with the corporate solely noting that the 3D Eclipsa Audio could be obtainable this yr for YouTube content material creators. There was additionally the overall clarification that the platform would allow creators “to regulate audio information similar to the placement and depth of sounds, together with spatial reflections, to create an immersive three-dimensional sound expertise,” in line with the press launch.

If that appears like Dolby Atmos to you, that is what I assume Samsung and Google try to copy right here. And if that is the case, if Samsung actually desires its personal immersive audio normal, there is a backstory price revisiting right here. In 2023, Samsung and Google first revealed their spatial audio ambitions. On the time, Samsung mentioned its analysis division had been engaged on 3D audio since 2020 and the primary fruits of the collaboration was the open-source Immersive Audio Mannequin and Codecs (IAMF) adopted by the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) in October 2023.

There’s additionally the truth that Samsung would not supply Dolby Imaginative and prescient on its TVs. As a substitute, the corporate makes use of HDR10+, an open-source and royalty-free platform for encoding HDR metadata. And in that 2023 audio announcement, Samsung Analysis’s WooHyun Nam defined that 3D sound know-how wanted to be open to everybody too. “Offering an entire open-source framework for 3D audio, from creation to supply and playback, will permit for much more various audio content material experiences sooner or later,” he mentioned.

Samsung at present helps Dolby Atmos on its soundbars, together with its flagship Q990 series and the newly introduced QS700F. It appears like the corporate now not desires to pay to license Atmos from Dolby. And with the intention to nonetheless supply immersive 3D audio on its merchandise, this collaboration with Google goals to construct the choice. It is price noting that AOM counts Amazon, Apple and Netflix amongst its members, along with Google, Samsung and others. The group’s AV1 video format was launched in 2018 and is now used throughout Netflix, YouTube, Twitch and different websites.

The weird factor about all of that is that nobody from Samsung desires to speak about Eclipsa Audio. I attended a number of occasions and product demos that the corporate hosted this week and the response once I requested about it was both “we have not been informed something” or “let me see if I can discover somebody who can speak about it.” The latter, after all, by no means manifested a “somebody” or a follow-up. I even requested for a rep to inform me if the corporate wasn’t prepared to debate particulars and by no means heard again on that both.

Probably the most detailed clarification I’ve seen this week came from Arm, which is outwardly additionally engaged on the event of Eclipsa Audio alongside Samsung and Google. The chip designer mentioned that Eclipsa is a multi-channel audio encompass sound format that is constructed on IMAF. Vertical and horizontal channels will create the immersive sound, with the aim of constructing films, music and tv reveals extra compelling in your lounge. Once more, that is precisely what Dolby Atmos already does.

Arm additional defined that Eclipsa Audio can routinely regulate sound primarily based on the scene and that there will likely be a level of customization for customers. The bitstream can include as much as 28 enter channels that may be mounted (devices or microphones) or dynamic (automobiles in film scenes), with help for LPCM, AAC, FLAC and Opus codecs. Binaural rendering can also be obtainable for earbuds and headphones, and the brand new tech will likely be obtainable to content material creators utilizing client units of their workflow.

To date, Samsung and Google have solely listed YouTube because the platform or service the place Eclipsa Audio content material will likely be obtainable. If the duo really desires to compete with Dolby Atmos, that listing must broaden shortly. Plus, Dolby already has the model recognition and extensive adoption in each the audio and residential theater classes for Atmos. It is even available in cars.

Samsung mentioned in its pre-CES announcement that it and Google would work with the Telecommunications Know-how Affiliation (TTA) to develop a certification program for units that help Eclipsa Audio. So, it looks like severe groundwork has been laid to get this know-how on units, beginning with Samsung’s personal 2025 TVs and soundbars. However, as we noticed with Sony 360 Reality Audio and the early days of Dolby Atmos Music, it may possibly take time to construct out a compelling library of content material. Which means Samsung will doubtless need to preserve reminding us that Eclipsa Audio is a factor, even when it would not have way more to say.