Dolby Atmos to Enhance Home Theater Audio with TV Speakers

Certain companies offer the option to utilize the speakers in your television to enhance the performance of soundbars or other speakers, resulting in improved audio quality. For instance, Samsung provides Q-Symphony and Sony offers Acoustic Center Sync. Today, Dolby has unveiled a new feature called Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, which operates in a similar manner by connecting TV speakers with any wireless speakers present in the room. This technology will be introduced initially on TCL TVs in 2024.

Dolby explains that FlexConnect “intelligently optimizes sound” based on room layout and speaker placement. The company says the technology frees users from the sound limitations of room size, furniture placement, or electrical outlets. With FlexConnect, the speakers can be placed in any room and calibrated to the TV speakers. This creates a custom Dolby Atmos sound profile that is unique to each user’s home.

Dolby says installation is quick and easy because the acoustic mapping is done with microphones inside the TV. These components locate each speaker before performing the audio calibration mentioned above. The company explains that the result should be a more consistent, immersive sound no matter what room you’re sitting in.

FlexConnect doesn’t just boost the center channel either. Instead, the feature adjusts the sound for each speaker, including inside the TV. If the system detects that there is a pair of speakers at the front of the room, for example, it can adjust the volume so that the TV handles most of the dialogue and the speakers pick up the rest of the front sound field. If there are two speakers near the back of the room, the TV will then process the dialogue and the sounds that need to be heard from the front of the room.

One thing that can play a key role in Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is interoperability. Samsung’s Q-Symphony and Sony’s Acoustic Center Sync both require that you have a compatible soundbar and TV made by those companies. LG’s Wow Orchestra works the same way. If manufacturers can integrate this new technology into their products, like Dolby Atmos as a whole, it would be great if users could connect a TCL TV to a Sennheiser soundbar – just one example. As you might expect, TCL plans to introduce wireless speakers with its upcoming FlexConnect-enabled TVs.