With more and more visual and entertainment content becoming available through abundant OTT channels, with options increasing every day, there couldn’t be a better time for you to consider investing in a home theatre system. But we get it, it can be a daunting, overwhelming proposition. So, we’re here to simplify it for you. Indulge us in this ongoing series, so you can get a better understanding of home theatre systems. What’s in it for you, why you should consider it, and what options you should look at – we’ve got you covered.
The greatest advantage of a home theatre system is an impressive, enjoyable digital Dolby Atmos experience similar to any small multiplex cinema, replicated right in your home. A good, robust, well set up home theatre set-up in your home may not involve all that you think it does – unnecessarily high expenses, wiring systems strewn all around and excessive speaker systems. It will however mean one thing: an audio-visual experience better than most others in your own home.
In this first edition of understanding home theatre basics, let’s first understand the role of sound in an audio-visual experience, and why superior quality matters at all. In the old days of 35mm film, sound was captured on the film too. This, while good for the time, had it’s own limitations and meant that creators worked with those limitations. With the advent of digital video technology, audio systems and sound formats also had to innovate and evolve, in order to keep up with the fast-improving rich visual quality that is now up for offer.
Similarly, sound formats transitioned from mono, to stereo, to 5.1 and 7.1 surround sound, and now to Dolby Atmos, giving us greater and great clarity, richness and nuance in tonal quality. With every improvement, the aim has been to provide an enhanced viewing experience. The more superior a sound system, the better it will reproduce all the sounds in the visuals, as close to reality as is possible.
To understand how sophisticated and superior sound formats and speaker systems now are, let’s take a shot dive back in time to understand the evolution.
- Stereophonic sound, more commonly called stereo sound, was aimed at creating an illusion of multi-directional audio, as perceived by the human ears. This was achieved by using two independent audio channels through a configuration of two or more loudspeakers (or stereo headphones).
- 5.1 surround sound or Dolby 5.1 is the common name for a six-channel sound system that came next. Having just two speakers was clearly not enough to reproduce the full gamut of lifelike sound needed. To reproduce the less obvious things that are present in real life such as ambient sounds, low frequency hums and drones, and a range of other sounds, 5.1 was developed. It added a centre speaker in addition to the left and right side ones in front, a pair of channels on the sides of the sitting position called surround channels ( the 5 channels) plus an additional LFE (low frequency effects) channel via a sub-woofer ( the .1 and hence the name 5.1 ). Through these multiple channels, sound is reproduced to give an all-round realistic experience.
- 7.1 was developed when it was discovered that 5.1 worked best for a small group, especially single row viewing. With multiple rows of viewers, people in the rear rows often missed out on surround sound, and viewers in general missed out on sounds coming from behind them. Rear surrounds waere added to the existing system, by way of two rear speakers – one each on the left and right hand sides. This provided a more immersive audio experience, perfect to complement the richer visual experiences that were being turned out.
- Atmos system refers to a new recording format developed by Dolby. With Atmos, engineers can choose one of 127 locations in a room sound can come from, and the processor automatically figures out which speaker to send what information to. Atmos adds another key component – sound coming from overhead! This is completely missing in 5.1 and 7.1 Some people call sound formats like Atmos that add overhead sound “3D Sound”. A more accurate term is immersive sound. In terms of speakers for homes, Atmos requires speakers to be added overhead for sounds such as plane flying over their heads, rain falling above them and other such sounds
At Cinebels we pride ourselves not just in a wide range of products but also our understanding of how sound works and why sound systems have evolved the way that they have. While Atmos sound systems made an entry in 2014, we did some of our first installations of Atmos as early as 2014 itself, as soon as the technology was available for home processors. Klipsch partnering very closely with Dolby to popularise Atmos was another advantage for us.
All our staff with the requisite new knowledge and technology and we’re proud to say that nearly every home theatre installation since 2014 has included Atmos for its superior immersive experience. Today with more and more cinemas being equipped with Atmos, our commitment to making sure you get the real cinema experience in the comfort of your home has never being stronger!
