The newest audio format that's touted as the most immersive 3D-audio, Eclipsa Audio, is in line for release from both Samsung and Google. The technology will first come later this year on select YouTube videos, and next year in Samsung's 2025 lineup of TVs and soundbars.
Worth noting is the fact that Samsung has traditionally avoided Dolby Vision HDR support with dynamic metadata by using its own HDR10 Plus instead. It would now appear that with Eclipsa Audio, the company is pursuing a similar strategic decision in its choice of surround audio, weighing in behind open-source alternative Dolby Atmos. Like Dolby Atmos, Eclipsa Audio is an immersive audio system designed to enhance soundscapes by dynamically altering sound data in real-time, including location, intensity, and spatial reflections for a fully immersive 3D experience.
But here comes the crucial difference: its open-source nature dispenses with licensing fees and gives greater access to hardware manufacturers to this technology. But the seeds of the innovation actually date back to 2023, when the collaboration on the IAMF - Immersive Audio Model and Format - was first made between Samsung and Google. As said by WooHyun Nam, the head of the spatial audio division at Samsung, IAMF is "an all-encompassing open-source platform for 3D audio across creation, delivery, and playback." A great leap for opensource spatial audio technology in a single leap.
That comes with the support of the Alliance for Open Media, or AOM-a consortium of tech giants including Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Netflix, Samsung, and Google that has been advocating for royalty-free codecs since 2015. If other AOM members, such as Netflix and Apple, also pick up the format it could help accelerate its use throughout the industry. But wide adoption will take time, much like how the AV1 video codec, developed by AOM, was slowly adopted.
That is similar to how Dolby and ThX and others verify them and stamp their technology for quality control. With the approaching date of the CES 2025, details will soon be displayed on Eclipsa -Sound. If successful, this format could mark a significant shift in the audio landscape, providing a cost-effective, open-source alternative to existing 3D audio standards.
