Dolby Atmos

Ryan S...can you share if this is, at least, being actively addressed?

Officially, Netflix is rolling out Atmos support, now via Xbox One, Xbox One S and 2017 LG OLEDs.

Per the Netflix Press Release, "Over time, we plan to add support to more devices, making the experience more accessible to Netflix members everywhere."

This is the future of streaming. Please offer some feedback.

Why did the new Playbase not integrate Dolby Atmos?
Note that Sky has now activated atoms on skyQ boxes. This is now a mainstream technology. Sonos needs to catch up with this or else my planned purchase of a play base is going elsewhere. With multiple home treaters systems on Sonos, this is frustrating.

Sky is also now supporting Dolby Atmos - and releasing its own sound bar later this year. Seems as if I’ll have to consider a Sonos alternative for video/TV. Seems a shame but there is no indication that Sonos is interested in supporting it.

Sky is also now supporting Dolby Atmos - and releasing its own sound bar later this year. [...]
Methinks the soundbox won't turn out to be a wireless one. Dolby Atmos & Wireless = Wishful thinking.

Sky is also now supporting Dolby Atmos - and releasing its own sound bar later this year. [...]
Methinks the soundbox won't turn out to be a wireless one. Dolby Atmos & Wireless = Wishful thinking.

Seems like Atmos is omitted...

https://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2017/07/sky-soundbox/

Seems like Atmos is omitted...

https://arstechnica.co.uk/gadgets/2017/07/sky-soundbox/
Oops... :8

Okay, here is the deal https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TOSLINK
Max bitrate is 3mb/s. Thus, forget about Dolby TrueHD(which is a codec with average bitrate of 6mb/s). Dolby Atmos is not a codec, but an immersive audio format, which can be delivered with Dolby TrueHD codec and DD+(http://developer.dolby.com/News/Dolby_Audio_Over_HDMI_Part_1__Codecs.aspx).

Eventhough, the TOSLINK can handle the DD+, but it is limited to 3mb/s, thus, theoretically, Sonos can do DD+ and Atmos, but the end user will need to look for a content with bitrate lower than 3mb/s, which is not an option as in real world you do not want to go with "half supported feature)

However, there is an option. Sonos need to create a pre-processor that will connect to one of the soundbar ethernet ports and have hdmi input. Preprocessor should take TrueHD from hdmi input, convert to data, send it over ethernet to soundbar, convert it back in soundbar and play:) As far as i understood from the entire Sonos ecosystem, the only limitation is a bandwidth of the TOS and you can potentially resolve it with hdmi to ethernet convertor and new soundbar software

Atmos supports 7.1.4 speakers. That's 7 regular speakers, 1 subwoofer, and 4 in ceiling or upward firing speakers, according to Dolby's website. How much bandwidth across wifi would all of that take? i.e. I'm not convinced it's only an issue with optical cabling, although I do think it's also part of that. But with so many additional speakers, I wonder how much space their is in the bandwidth. Right now, Sonos deals with basically 3 speakers in their 5.1 system in terms of wifi, the two surrounds, and the SUB. The Center, Right, and Left are all inside the same box, and consequently not streamed on the 5Ghz that is used.

I'd love to have an engineer weigh in on how much bandwidth there is available, and how much a fully saturated 7.1.4 sound system would take.

I think at the end of the day, Sonos will have to go away from the optical connection, and provide perhaps HDMI connectors. The problem is from a marketing standpoint, where it makes the system that much more complex for the "average" user, while making the advanced users more happy. And then there will be the inevitable complainers that they don't offer more than X inputs...but I digress 🙂

I'd love to have an engineer weigh in on how much bandwidth there is available, and how much a fully saturated 7.1.4 sound system would take.

Well, it is not a problem for Sonos as we know it supports up to X speakers for multi room setup and 7.1.4 is basically the same. If the format is processed by soundbar than it is correctly distributed across speakers. The b/g wifi can go up to 54mb/s and it is more than enough for any format

I guess you're contending that the 32 device limit on the Sonos stream would cover all of the needs for Atmos, which I suppose is indeed possible. Hadn't thought of it in that fashion, but then with two TVs, and needing 12 speakers for each, I'd be pretty close to the limit of devices, which would cut down on my music only speakers. Interesting problem.