“Dolby Laboratories has acquired rival digital cinema sound technology company IMM Sound, a privately owned Barcelona-based business, in a move that Dolby believes will help to speed adoption of its new immersive Atmos sound format,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
As previously reported on ETCentric, a number of companies have been actively working on the next generation of digital cinema sound, the most high-profile of which has been Dolby’s recent launch of Atmos.
“IMM Sound was the company that had something similar to what Dolby was doing,” notes Doug Darrow, senior vice president cinema at Dolby. “We thought if we combine forces, it could allow for more rapid adoption.”
“In the broad sense, both systems involve immersing the audience in an aural experience by placing speakers around the perimeter of an auditorium, as well as on the ceiling,” notes THR. “And both offer tools for sound facilities that would enable more sophisticated sound mixes with the notion of placing ‘objects’ versus ‘channels.'”
Although similar, the technologies developed by the two companies are considered complementary, according to Darrow. The acquisition will lead to a discontinuation of the IMM Sound brand, while IMM technologies would be used for additional Atmos development.
Atmos launched last month in the newly named Dolby Theatre in Hollywood (former Kodak Theatre) when it was used for the premiere of Disney/Pixar’s “Brave.” There are currently about 20 theaters announced as Atmos facilities.
“We’d like to see about 1,000 [Atmos] screens next year, worldwide,” Darrow said, anticipating that Atmos may emerge as a de facto standard. “In order to achieve that and to make the industry more unified we thought this [acquisition] was the right thing to do.”
“Dolby Laboratories has acquired rival digital cinema sound technology company IMM Sound, a privately owned Barcelona-based business, in a move that Dolby believes will help to speed adoption of its new immersive Atmos sound format,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
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