Google and Samsung recently unveiled Eclipsa Audio, a new 3D audio format that will feature on Samsung made TVs and smartbars launched in 2025. The South Korean tech giant says the new audio format will be making its way on “from the Crystal UHD series to the premium flagship Neo QLED 8K models.”
Similar to Dolby Atmos, Samsung says Eclipsa Audio allows creators to adjust audio data such as intensity and location of the sounds and even modify spatial reflections. The technology uses TV speakers, soundbars and other audio equipment to create an immersive 3D experience.
Eclipsa Audio will also be coming to YouTube, with Samsung device users able to watch videos in spatial audio. However, a major difference between the two is that unlike Dolby Atmos, which requires companies to pay a licensing fee, Eclipsa Audio is a completely open-source framework for 3D audio.
In Samsung’s blog post, a Google Chrome executive also hinted that they are “excited to see how the creator community uses it to create new and innovative audio experiences”, hinting that the browser might support the audio format in the near future. For years, Samsung has refused to support Dolby Vision HDR for dynamic HDR metadata and instead chose to use HDR10 Plus, its very own alternative.
Eclipsa Audio may be free to use, one of the major challenges the Dolby Atmos alternative will place is in terms of adoption. While Samsung’s upcoming TVs and soundbars will support the new 3D audio formay, the total number of Eclipsa enabled devices will still be miniscule compared to Dolby Atmos supported devices. Also, the format needs to be adopted by streaming firms, but for now, the only one that seems to have embraced the new format is YouTube.
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