posted 09-24-2014 11:51 PM                    

quote: Barco Press Release

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Kortrijk, Belgium—Sep 24, 2014
Barco Gains the Team and Expertise from IOSONO Gmbh to Further Enhance the Immersive Sound Experience in Cinemas Worldwide

With 500 screens committed or installed, Barco is now ready to take immersive sound to the next level. The digital cinema leader is adding the team of 3D audio expert IOSONO and its assets to the Barco family to further enhance and customize its object based immersive sound technology. In this way, it wants to help cinema exhibitors bring even more magic to the movie-going experience.

In close collaboration with its partners at Auro Technologies, Barco is committed to providing the best immersive sound system in the cinema market. These efforts are clearly bearing fruit. This year, Barco passed the landmark of 500 planned Auro 11.1 installations and a growing number of directors and producers around the world are embracing the sound format. 2014 box office successes like ‘Lucy’, ‘Into the Storm’, ‘Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’, ‘The Amazing Spiderman 2’, ‘How to Train Your Dragon 2’, ‘Expendables 3’ and ‘Transformers: Age of Extinction’ have all been mixed in Auro 11.1 by Barco. Joining forces with IOSONO will provide Barco with access to an even deeper pool of experience and expertise with object based immersive sound.

Open standard
As a pioneer in the push for an open standard for immersive sound together with Auro Technologies, Barco is proud to further customize the immersive sound playback experience for exhibitors. “Creating a standardized format for immersive sound is critical as it helps to control costs for content to be produced and distributed and will ultimately speed the adoption of immersive sound worldwide,” states Brian Claypool, senior director of strategic business development at Barco. “As this standardization effort continues, Barco remains committed to providing immersive sound solutions with its partners Auro Technologies and IOSONO that are designed to fulfill the needs of the exhibition industry and give content creators the flexibility and tools to produce the best work imaginable.”

Innovators joining forces
Wilfried Van Baelen, CEO of Auro Technologies, adds: “Being a pioneer in cinema sound is a privilege and an honor. We are so excited to be able to work together with more innovators like IOSONO to further develop, the tools and processes that make the object based part of the Auro-3D format a truly magical experience. IOSONO and Barco are the perfect complementary partners to further develop the Auro 3D listening experience and we look forward to showing the world what this new element of collaboration will yield for the industry.”

Ultimate cinematic experience
Founded in Erfurt, Germany, in 2004, IOSONO quickly became the technology leader in 3D audio. The company specializes in object-based sound rendering in various professional applications, including cinema, by incorporating distance data which takes the simple panning of sound around a three-dimensional space to the next level. “We are honored to now be part of a company like Barco which has a vision and passion for creating the ultimate cinematic experience,” states Olaf Stepputat, former CEO of IOSONO and now Director of Barco Audio Technologies. ”We have been involved with making immersive sound for motion pictures before any other company in the market. Adding our capabilities to Barco’s will create a compelling system which will create a listening experience unparalleled in the industry. We look forward to a bright future with Barco bringing Iosono’s experience in the accurate processing and display of acoustical information to Barco’s portfolio of market leading visualization products.

CinemaBarco approach
With an installed base of over 50,000 screens, Barco is the world’s digital cinema market leader and the company increasingly delivers innovative solutions to help exhibitors create a true value-added moviegoing experience. Barco’s audio solutions are an important component of its recently introduced ‘CinemaBarco’ approach, which combines a rich array of entertainment concepts to dramatically enhance the showmanship and immersive qualities of the movie for audiences. This recent transaction perfectly fits this vision for the – immersive – cinema of the future.

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posted 10-04-2014 04:42 PM                       

quote: Terry Lynn-Stevens

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I think you take things way too seriously.

If you don't like Auro, then do seek it out. Keep watching your movies in Atmos. I am amazed that you would drive out of your way to watch a movie in Atmos, but to each his own.

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posted 04-16-2015 01:50 PM                    

quote: Barco AuroMax Press Release

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Barco Continues Drive Toward “Open” Approach to Cinema Sound, Debuting AuroMax Immersive Sound at Cinemacon

Barco, the worldwide market share leader in digital cinema, further expands its footprint of the Auro 11.1 immersive cinema sound solution, with more than 550 screens committed or installed and over 100 films released in Auro 11.1.

This year, Barco anticipates the beginning of the adoption of a standardized format for immersive sound. As such, Barco will be publically showing, for the first time, AuroMax®: a system that incorporates support for the placement of “objects” in any immersive mix and the most revolutionary rendering technology available from Iosono.

The momentum continues with more “Auro” movie titles
With an open standard format now imminent thanks to Barco, Auro Technologies and other partners advocating for this new “open” approach to sound, production companies worldwide are embracing the Auro-3D® format due to its flexibility and excellent audio quality. Over 100 films have been released globally in Auro 11.1 – including this summer’s blockbusters “Minions,” “Pixels,” and “Everest” – with even more announcements expected in the coming weeks.

Spearheading the evolution of an “Open Format” approach to immersive sound
“Barco and Auro Technologies are proud to celebrate this achievement with our industry partners as we worked diligently to secure the creation of a standardized distribution format for immersive cinema sound. Our desire is to protect exhibitors and studios from potential ‘gatekeeper’ entities that could impose proprietary technology, thus ensuring the ability to play any movie regardless of the system used to create it,” comments Brian Claypool, Senior Director Strategic Business Development for Barco. “Thanks to SMPTE, DCI and NATO representatives, which are also dedicated to developing these standards, our customers can expect more content, with an increased focus on quality, so that audiences understand the full potential of what immersive sound can be. The arrival of these standards will allow content creators to focus on one workflow rather than making sacrifices to create multiple versions of one mix. The arrival of a true standard in the marketplace will help achieve this.”

Premium immersive sound with AuroMax®
Barco has always approached the market with technologies and solutions defined by the requirements of the exhibition industry. AuroMax® continues this tradition by offering the most natural representation of standardized immersive sound at up-to half the cost of a typical object based sound system. Auro-3D sound systems are the only immersive system with 3 distinct layers and a vertical stereo field on screen divided over 6 screen channels to provide a realistic reproduction of sound in movie theaters. All current Auro 11.1 auditoriums are built from the existing 5.1 design philosophy. AuroMax® allows for the discreet placement of “objects”. This makes AuroMax compatible and upgradable with existing Auro 11.1 systems. This new approach maintains the same large sweet spot and guarantees the most natural representation of channel- and object-based immersive sound as intended by the creators, regardless of the size of the room.

Platform flexibility for studios
More than 35 leading post-production studios have installed the Auro-3D® Studio System, with more on the horizon because of its ability to offer total freedom to content creators regarding immersive sound development. “An open standard ensures that no manufacturer can hold exhibitors hostage by levying license fees for immersive audio. Instead, studios can effortlessly create both channel- and object-based sound masters for movies without fear of incurring exorbitant costs or being locked-in to one authoring or playback system. Best of all, by using the Auro-3D® Creative Tool Suite, a single distribution master can be created within the existing workflow that can be used on any legacy or new immersive audio system to ensure the widest distribution of their movies,” comments Wilfried Van Baelen, inventor of the Auro-3D® concept and CEO of Auro Technologies.

The most natural acoustical experience
Auro 11.1 by Barco is designed in accordance with a sound reproduction layout consisting of three layers (traditional surround sound with height and overhead layers), which enables studio sound mixers to move objects around in space to create the most realistic and acoustically perfect experience. Auro 11.1 is fully compatible with existing audio equipment and current workflows. Auro 11.1 is an integral part of the CinemaBarco experience.

CinemaBarco is a complete cinema experience featuring unmatched sight and sound technology designed to re-ignite the magic of the movies. Barco offers unprecedented solutions and economics to the cinema industry, focused on delivering compelling experiences for cinema audiences that also generate additional revenue for our exhibition partners

About Auro Technologies
Auro Technologies (www.auro-3d.com; www.auro-technologies.com) is a spin-off of the Galaxy Studios Group and owner of the Auro-3D® Technology Suite. The Auro-3D® Concept and Listening Formats have been designed by Wilfried Van Baelen, founder of Galaxy Studios, which is renowned worldwide for its state-of-the-art leadership in audio innovation for music and film sound. The Auro-3D® suite offers ground-breaking, easy-to-use and unprecedented levels of sound reproduction capabilities to the professional, automotive, broadcast and consumer electronics (such as gaming, smart phones, multimedia PC, notebooks, tablets, audio players, digital TV, media libraries and packaged media) markets.

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