posted 06-25-2006 03:41 PM                       

quote: Frank Angel

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And you can be sure someone is already thinking about putting a channel UNDER the seats -- they will call it envelope-up-your-butt-surround.

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Thanks Frank. Thats what I figured.

I can see your channel UNDER the seats idea being a hit in rest rooms with little monitors on the door. For 25cents watch a movie while you crap. Those explosion scenes will really help the process along

posted 06-25-2006 03:46 PM                    

quote: Frank Angel

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And you can be sure someone is already thinking about putting a channel UNDER the seats -- they will call it envelope-up-your-butt-surround.

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It's called subwoofers, and the nice thing is the don't have to be underneath the seating.

I believe the SA10 had the "overhead" channel output if I'm not mistaken. The "surround" output of that CP45 conversion was to be reserved for overhead audio.

posted 06-25-2006 10:28 PM                    

quote:

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HR: Speaking of which, how is Dolby's overhead audio testing going?

Allen: We're doing a test in Phoenix where we're running an overhead channel on "We Were Soldiers" which has an extra roof channel. "Soldiers" is a film that had a lot of helicopters flying overhead, so it made sense. In 99.9% of films, there is nothing overhead. Low-flying pterodactyl are pretty rare in real life. The earth is flat so most sounds are horizontal to you. That's why you've got two ears on the sides of your head and not an ear on top. So the two ears on the side of your head are focused on the horizontal plane.

Now if you have a limited amount of channel carrying capacity in any medium, from a telephone, a CD, to a film, you have to say, "Where is the most usage going to be?" So you wouldn't waste, say 50% of all your bits on the ceiling channel which is only going to be used in one movie in a thousand.

So you have to say, "What is the best general purpose allocation of channels for most movies?" That would lead you to believe that the concentration should be on the screen, which is where the story is. And then you say to yourself, "Do you need a height channel behind the screen?" And the answer is, as the pictures get bigger, probably yes. This discussion is ongoing.

Bigger screen means you probably need a height element which might lead you to believe you'd need a loudspeaker at the top of the screen which would serve a lot more purpose in most films than having a loudspeaker -- the 'voice of God' -- right over your head. Also, it's going to be a lot easier to maintain than the one on the ceiling. That doesn't mean you rule-out the 'voice of God' speakers. What you do is you then structure a file system, a carrying pipe that says this could be allocated for certain films to a ceiling channel if the theater is so equipped.

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posted 06-26-2006 04:46 PM                       

quote:

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The earth is flat so most sounds are horizontal to you. That's why you've got two ears on the sides of your head and not an ear on top.

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What did I tell you.

posted 06-26-2006 07:33 PM                       

quote: Ioan Allen

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The earth is flat

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