Dolby Laboratories

Cinemacon 2012 Dolby Atmos Launch

Coming off the heels of an amazing NAB where we announced our new glasses free 3D technology, Dolby kicked off its second week in Las Vegas by revealing our new audio technology, Dolby Atmos. It is going to revolutionize the cinema industry and entertainment experience for every moviegoer.

I know. Because I heard it myself for the first time today and it knocked my socks off!

At an event held this morning in the Brenden Theatres located in the Palms Hotel, Dolby launched the new technology with a bang. Our CEO Kevin Yeaman opened up the event with a few words including the following statement which I think goes to the core of what working at Dolby is all about: “We don’t invent things for the sake of inventing, we invent because we are passionate about what we do.”

Mr. Yeaman also announced the very exciting news that the first test title that will feature Dolby Atmos is Disney Pixar’s Brave!

Dolby’s Stuart Bowling (who is also featured in this video which is a great overview about Dolby Atmos) described the technology and the set-up that was involved in prepping the Brendan Theatre for the day’s events. Then we saw three clips: the Burj Khalifa Dubai building scene from Mission Impossible 4 Ghost Protocol; the Golden Gate Bridge scene from Planet of the Apes and a scene from the Incredibles where Jack is being chased in a forest and over the water.

I cannot adequately describe the auditory experience to you. It is just that…an experience. One that envelopes you and makes you part of the movie. It engulfs you and takes you along for the ride.

After seeing the clips as well as getting a listen to the world premier of the new Dolby Atmos trailer (designed by sound designer Erik Aadahl and mixed by Will Files) Dolby’s Doug Darrow continued the conversation with the audience and then invited a distinguished group of panelists to discuss this amazing new technology.

Moderated by Dolby’s legendary Ioan Allen the panelists described how they felt about the new technology from their own perspectives.

The panel included:

- Erik Aadahl, Sound designer
- Kinson Tsang, Sound designer
- Paul Cichocki, Post Production Supervisor at Pixar
- Tom Stephenson, CEO of Look Cinemas
- François Ivernel, Movie Producer & Chairman, Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé
- Michael MacDonald, Executive VP of Sales & Marketing at Harman Professional

After the panel discussion Mr. Cichocki presented the world premier of the new Brave trailer illustrating Dolby Atmos, just a hint of things to come when the movie releases in test format in select theaters in June!

Erik Aadahl, who later that afternoon demoed the technology along with Dolby’s John Loose in the Dolby booth said that Dolby Atmos finally gave him the tools he needed to do his job. He felt that what you hear is equally as powerful as what you see, that sound allows him to manipulate emotions whether it be fear, excitement, or tenderness.

He thinks Dolby Atmos is just scratching the surface, that it is the audio equivalent of getting a tenfold increase in image resolution. 

Learn more about Dolby Atmos on the Dolby website.

See more photos in our Cinemacon album on Flickr.

-Andi

Andi Fisher just might be slightly addicted to social media. By day she runs Dolby Laboratories social media program, by night she is a travel and food blogger who also happens to love film. When not in a cinema seeing a new release she is watching a movie every night on either her 5.1 or 7.1 home theater system.