At this year’s CineEurope – an exhibition dedicated to the movie theatre industry – digital cinema technology innovator Barco revealed that over 50 films are set to be released in its immersive cinema sound format, Auro 11.1.
At the show in Barcelona, Barco also confirmed it had signed agreements for the deployment of over 200 Auro 11.1 installations worldwide, meaning the company has more confirmed installations and movies than any other immersive sound format.
“Barco is highly committed to offering the digital cinema industry the most comprehensive suite of products and solutions to create a premium movie experience,” commented Wim Buyens, senior vice President of Barco’s Projection Division. “We are very proud that Auro 11.1 is quickly gaining traction with leading exhibitors worldwide and that it is supported by both Hollywood and regional content producers worldwide with over 50 films committed to be released in Auro 11.1 immersive sound.”
Developed by Auro Technologies and powered by Barco, the Auro 11.1 sound technology provides what is said to be the best acoustic experience at the most commercially viable price point in the market. The Auro 11.1 sound technology is designed along three layers of sound (traditional surround sound, with height, and overhead layers). Thanks to this layered approach, the technology not only enables sound mixers to move objects around in space, it also allows them to reproduce the immersive aspects of a film soundtrack in a more natural way. An especially key benefit is that Auro 11.1 is compatible with studios’ current workflows; no new content creation tools are required. It easily integrates into current theater audio systems, requiring minimal hardware and installation costs for exhibitors to upgrade from 5.1 cinema audio formats. Barco is also at the forefront of creating a unified workflow for the creation of an open standard for immersive sound, which will spur even more content creation and a quicker adoption rate of immersive sound in the market place.
