With the official launch of Ultra HD Blu-ray still a few weeks away, early Ultra HD adaopters and audio video fanatics will be happy to hear that they can satisfy their urge for for movies in the highest audio/video quality now via the VUDU streaming service. Today Dolby and VUDU announced the availability of select titles in 4K Ultra HD format with Dolby Vision HDR (High Dynamic Range) capabilities as well as Dolby Atmos immersive surround sound.
Consumers with Dolby Vision enabled televisions, such as the VIZIO Reference Series, and with Dolby Atmos enabled home theater receivers and speakers can now take their home cinematic experience to the next level, both from a visual and auditory perspective. With Dolby Vision-encoded content and capable displays, there's a greater dynamic range available to content creators. The difference between the dark and bright parts of the image is larger which means you get deeper blacks and brighter whites and colors.
We've seen demonstrations of the technology and can attest that Dolby Vision HDR content looks mush more exciting and realistic than traditional HD or 4K content, when viewed on a compatible display. Stars sparkle in a pitch black sky. Street lamps stand out with greater luminescence in a murky back alley. Also, it's possible to make out details in the shadowy or bright areas of the screen, thanks to a greater amount of precision in the grey scale. HDR can also help color reproduction by making colors look richer and more saturated than on non-HDR capable displays.
As for Dolby Atmos, this is an object-based surround sound system which allows content creators to create sounds in true three dimensional space: not just all around the audience but above them as well. According to the company, Dolby Atmos has been included (or announced) in over 350 theatrical titles and there are already several dozen titles available for the home on Blu-ray Disc. VUDU has shown that they can deliver Dolby Atmos content over their streaming service before, with several Dolby Atmos trailers and short clips. But now VUDU customers can watch full theatrical titles in Dolby Atmos at home as well.
Currently, deploying Dolby Atmos content at home requires the purchase of a compatible home theater receiver or processor and a fairly large number of speakers to represent the traditional surround sound channels as well as the overhead channels. But getting immersive sound at home is soon going to become much simpler with the advent of Dolby Atmos-capable sound bars like the Yamaha YSP-5600U, which is expected to begin shipping next month.
"Dolby is excited to bring Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos entertainment content to consumers," said Curt Behlmer, SVP, Content Solutions & Industry Relations, Dolby Laboratories. "With this development, Dolby elevates and advances the movie-watching experience at home and provides people with the ability to enjoy movies with ultra-vivid colors, expanded contrast, and immersive sound."
In terms of title support, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment is leading the way with a nice selection of recent release 4K Ultra HD movies available in both Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos including "Mad Max: Fury Road," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "The Gallows," "San Andreas," "American Sniper," "Man of Steel," "Jupiter Ascending," "Edge of Tomorrow," and "Into the Storm." Through VUDU, consumers also have access to a library of 4K Ultra HD catalog and new release titles in Dolby Vision only (without Atmos), including "Vacation," "Focus," "Get Hard," "Run All Night," "The Lego Movie," "The Great Gatsby," "Sherlock Holmes," "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows," "The Hangover" trilogy, "Magic Mike" XXL, and more.
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