The AMBEO Soundbar from German manufacturer Sennheiser is now available to consumers. Sennheiser and Fraunhofer jointly developed the built-in virtualization technology based on Sennheiser’s AMBEO- and Fraunhofer’s upHear technologies, to create an immersive audio experience at home.
Fraunhofer IIS’ upHear Immersive Audio Virtualizer post-processing technology enables consumer devices such as soundbars and TVs to create a convincing immersive 3D audio experience from any input source – without the need for advanced loudspeaker setups. What’s more, Fraunhofer upHear facilitates 3D audio soundbar designs that do not require satellite surround speakers or a subwoofer.
Thanks to the combination of the AMBEO technology and the upHear algorithm, as well as the technology’s room calibration feature that enables use of the room’s properties, the Sennheiser AMBEO Soundbar is able to deliver immersive 5.1+4H sound. Speaking of which: the soundbar is compatible with MPEG-H Audio and the inherent upmix technology can turn a 5.1 surround movie soundtrack or even stereo music into a highly immersive sound experience.
MPEG-H Audio provides immersive sound and enables the viewer to personalize a program’s audio mix, for instance by switching between different languages, adjusting the volume of a sports commentator, enhancing the dialogue, or choosing from various audio description options. MPEG-H Audio is specified in the ATSC 3.0, DVB and 3GPP standards. In South Korea, terrestrial ATSC 3.0 broadcasting with MPEG-H Audio is already on air, making MPEG-H the world’s first commercialized Next Generation Audio technology. It has also been successfully tested in many European countries where digital television systems are based on Digital Video Broadcasting. Other attractive sources of MPEG-H content are immersive music and video streaming services such as those announced at CES 2019 in Las Vegas.
To learn more about MPEG-H Audio, please visit www.iis.fraunhofer.de/mpeg-h and www.mpegh.com.
To learn more about Fraunhofer upHear, please visit www.uphear.com.
Header image: © Sennheiser/Max Threlfall