The common cinema-goer already knows what to expect on screen as they settle in their seats. Trailers and advertisements roll on screen, followed shortly by the mandatory clip showcasing the visual and/or audio system they're about to experience for their movie and then, the movie itself (finally!). But the passionate moviegoer who's fussy enough for the best possible experience for their movie, knows what systems are out there and will pay great heed to the systems utilised by the cinema, because let's face it, a great sound system can transform the whole movie experience. The explosions in "Transformers", the soul-uplifting-teary-eye inducing score by Howard Shore from "The Hobbit" or the timeless opening theme of "Star Wars", won't sound as great if the audio system fails to compliment it to its best possible realistic sound. With the recent introduction of the Dolby Atmos sound system by Golden Screen Cinemas (GSC) last week, here's how the Dolby Sound System has evolved over the years in cinema, so the next time you're at the movies, you'll know exactly what those pre-movie Dolby clips are trying to tell you.
1971: Dolby in film saw to its first film with Dolby sound with "The Clockwork Orange", where using an optical sound track on prints it put an end to the previous magnetic sound encoding system used in cinemas which saw the degradation of sound quality after multiple runs.
1975: Dolby Stereo is introduced with "Lisztomania". Dolby Stereo included a noise reduction system with additional audio channels. It encompassed an additional center and surrounding channels from the left and right.
1982: With further tweaks on the Dolby Stereo system, Dolby Surround was introduced. Apart from the center and surrounding channels from the left and right, it also has speakers surrounding all around the audience. The sound configuration for Dolby Surround initially started off as a mono channel of surrounding sound as a singular sound channel to surround the audience, but the system has been since divided into multiple zones of sounds to create a more realistic feel and sense of movement with Dolby 5.1 and 7.1.
1992: A digital surround sound compression system for the cinema was introduced as Dolby Digital with "Batman Returns". Delivering up to 5.1 discrete channels of vibrant sound, it also encompasses Low-Frequency Effects (LFE) for deep, powerful bass effects that can be felt as well as heard. The introduction of the subwoofer for the mentioned bass effect makes up the 0.1 of the 5.1 channels. You've probably noticed this effect more distinctly in horror and thriller movies which rely on the deep bass sounds at times of high tension to invoke a sense of suspense. The three front channels (Left, Center, and Right) provide crisp, clean dialogue and accurate placement of on-screen sounds, while two surround zones (Left Surround and Right Surround) immerse the audience in the action.
2010: Dolby Surround 7.1 is introduced in cinemas worldwide with Pixar's "Toy Story 3". With 7.1 surround speaker setup this system creates four surround zones in a cinema (Left Surround, Right Surround, Back-Left Surround, Back-Right Surround) instead of 5.1's two surround zones.
2012: Dolby Atmos first seen in "Brave", was finally brought over in Malaysia by GSC Cinemas in Hall 3 at their GSC 1 Utama location in December 2013. This technology is the most complete surround sound system to date, employing up to 64 speakers, with some speakers laid directly overhead the audiences, allowing the filmmaker to position and move sounds around the cinema with its Pan-through array feature, which instead of dividing the surround sound into zones of grouped speakers like 5.1 and 7.1, it is now zoned by each individual speaker which can carry different sounds from the other speakers. It gives the impression of sound travelling from one end of the cinema, to above the audience (which has not been done before), and then behind them to create a realistic sound impression.