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Surround Sound in US Theaters |
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Submitted by Teo Graca
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In 2005, I secured a 1-year contract to produce a monthly industry video survey to find out what people think of the current state of surround sound in the theaters in the DC area. I quickly found a world of industry priorities versus movie viewer priorities - the illusion of value versus the perception of value.
In my research, I discovered that while 90% of the theaters in the US are equipped with a 7.1 surround sound system, most are pumping out an old-styled 2.1 version of surround sound. The perception of value was split about even – some said they thought the quality of sound was excellent and some said their home 5.1 surround systems blew most theaters away for sound. But one of the interesting things I found was that almost all that perceived good sound in theaters didn’t have a home surround sound system. Also, those that had the perception that most theaters were under par for sound knew about the hard-to-find theaters in the area with the 9.1 surround sound systems.
The .1 represents an extra channel of sound that is used for low end or other sounds for special effects. So, 2.1 is like stereo with the extra effect channel (3 channels of sound). 5.1 is 6 channels of sound, 7.1 is 8 channels, 9.1 is 10 channels, etc. And in the theaters pushing the 2.1 technology through the 7.1 speaker systems, the extra channel is just rolled through the extra speakers along the ceiling. If you have heard a true 7.1 track in the theaters, you will know it because each speaker acts independently with different sounds coming from different speakers.
All toll, most surveyed put the sound experience at a much lower priority than the visual experience. So, I must be the exception because sound will make or break a movie for me. My conclusion was that until we demand better sound in the theaters, we won’t get it, but as more of us acquire home surround sound systems and begin to appreciate great sound, the industry priorities for theater sound will change.
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LinkedIn Recommendation:
 Scott Dunn - Helping Clients Create Brands and Communications that Build Know, Like and Trust with Their Target Market. - Teo is a true professional. He is very detailed driven and has the ability to provide solutions to problems when others have given up. He knows the value of research and if he does not know an answer, he will do the research to find it. - February 11, 2008, Scott was with another company when working with Teo at Net-Teams, Inc.
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