Before the start of CES 2025 in Las Vegas Samsung announced that its spatial audio collaboration with Google will be available on its 2025 TVs And sound panels. More details about the platform were conspicuously missing from the announcement, with the company only noting that 3D Eclipsa Audio will be available this year to YouTube content creators. According to the press release, there was also a general explanation that the platform will allow creators to “customize audio data, such as the location and intensity of sounds, as well as spatial reflections, to create immersive 3D audio.”
If that sounds like Dolby Atmos to you, I'm guessing that's what Samsung and Google are trying to replicate here. And if that's the case, if Samsung really wants to create its own standard for immersive audio, it's worth going back to the background here. In 2023 Samsung and Google first revealed their ambitions in spatial audio. At the time, Samsung said its research division had been working on 3D audio since 2020, with the first fruit of the collaboration being the open-source Immersive Audio Model and Formats (IAMF), adopted by the Alliance for Open Media (AOM) in October 2023. .
There's also the fact that Samsung doesn't support Dolby Vision on its TVs. Instead, the company uses HDR10+, a free and open-source framework for encoding HDR metadata. And in this 2023 audio announcement, Woo Hyun Nam from Samsung Research explained that 3D audio technology should also be open to everyone. “Providing a complete open source environment for 3D audio, from creation to delivery and playback, will enable the creation of even more diverse audio content in the future,” he said.
Samsung currently supports Dolby Atmos on its soundbars, including its flagship model. Q990 series and the recently announced QS700F. It looks like the company no longer wants to pay for Dolby's Atmos license. And to continue offering immersive 3D audio in its products, the collaboration with Google aims to create an alternative. It's worth noting that AOM counts Amazon, Apple, and Netflix among its members, as well as Google, Samsung, and others. The group's AV1 video format was introduced in 2018 and is now used on Netflix, YouTube, Twitch and other sites.
The strangest thing about all this is that no one from Samsung wants to talk about Eclipsa Audio. I attended several events and product demos the company was holding this week, and when I asked about it, the response was either “they didn't tell us anything” or “let me see if I can find someone who can talk about it.” this.” The latter, of course, never showed either “someone” or continuation. I even asked a representative to let me know if the company was willing to discuss details and never received a response on this matter.
The most detailed explanation I've seen this week. came from Armaghwhich is also apparently working on developing Eclipsa Audio with Samsung and Google. The chip designer said that Eclipsa is a multi-channel surround sound format based on IMAF. Vertical and horizontal channels will create immersive sound to make movies, music and TV shows more engaging in your living room. Again, this is exactly what Dolby Atmos already does.
Arm went on to explain that Eclipsa Audio can automatically adjust the sound depending on the scene and that users will have a certain degree of customization. The bitstream can contain up to 28 input channels, which can be fixed (instruments or microphones) or dynamic (vehicles in film scenes) with support for LPCM, AAC, FLAC and Opus codecs. Binaural rendering is also available for in-ear headphones and headphones, and the new technology will be available to content creators using consumer devices in their workflow.
So far, Samsung and Google have only listed YouTube as the platform or service on which Eclipsa Audio content will be available. If the duo really wants to compete with Dolby Atmos, this list needs to expand quickly. Additionally, Dolby already has brand recognition and widespread adoption for Atmos in both the audio and home theater categories. It's even available in cars.
In its pre-CES announcement, Samsung said it and Google will work with the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) to develop a certification program for devices that support Eclipsa Audio. So, it looks like a solid foundation has been laid for bringing this technology to devices, starting with Samsung's own 2025 TVs and soundbars. But, as we saw with Sony 360 Reality Audio and the early days of Dolby Atmos Music, building a compelling library of content can take time. This means Samsung will probably have to keep reminding us that Eclipsa Audio is a thing, even if it doesn't have anything else to say.