Audio Video News

Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has announced that it will support Auro-3D in some disc and “digital” titles. Auro-3D is an unusual method of immersive surround encoding that one-ups Dolby Atmos and DTS:X by offering not one, but two, height layers above the floor speakers in a 13.1- or 11.1-channel native mix. Until now it has been scantily supported in software, with just a few dozen Blu-ray releases, but this might be a game changer for the plucky little Belgian company. Auro-3D has also firmed up its hardware support with new (and more mainstream) receivers and pre/pros from Denon, Marantz, and Lyngdorf that support the necessary surround processing. (Note that the Denon and Marantz products require an optional $199 update.) Height-enhanced surround sound may be about to become a three-way horse race.