Dolby Atmos is more of a known quantity and is already available in some games. It could improve your gaming in theory, as it places each sound in three-dimensional space “so you can pinpoint its location in the game,” Dolby said.

Introducing the next level of gaming.⁣
⁣
The Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S are the first consoles ever with gaming in Dolby Vision® (coming soon) and Dolby Atmos® (available at launch).⁣⁣
⁣⁣@Xbox, welcome to gaming in Dolby. https://t.co/5lkpVT8ntb

— Dolby (@Dolby) September 10, 2020

While current Xbox One models support Dolby Atmos/Vision already, that only works with Netflix and other streaming media, not games. With the Xbox Series X and S, however, both Dolby Vision and Atmos will work with streaming media and supported games.

The Xbox One X technically supported Dolby Vision for gaming, but the feature never got out of Microsoft’s Insider testing phase. You can currently play several games on PC using Dolby Vision HDR like Battlefield 1, but there has never been full console support until now.

Dolby Vision generally offers a better HDR experience than regular HDR10, as it uses “dynamic metadata” that’s encoded into scenes ahead of time. That lets creators make the most of the extra brightness and color accuracy that HDR offers over regular SDR. The disadvantage of Dolby Vision is that creators and hardware manufacturers have to pay a license fee.

Sony has yet to announce any PlayStation 5 gaming support for either Dolby Atmos or Dolby Vision. In any case, since Dolby Vision has only ever appeared in testing and a few PC games, it’s not at all clear how much it will improve the gaming experience. In theory, however, it should offer more benefits than 4K by making games significantly brighter and more colorful.

“In collaboration with Audio Lab in the US, we have been able to develop multi-dimensional surround sound that can be more accessible at home, which was previously only possible with a separate home-theater system,” said Seong Cho, a Samsung Electronics senior VP.

Both soundbars support Dolby Atmos, DTS:X from DTS and eArc support. They also include the SmartThings App and Alexa voice services, so users can command music streaming services like Amazon Music, Spotify, TuneIn and iHeartRadio.

On the design side, Samsung made these soundbars slightly shorter to fit with the 2020 QLED TVs. They’re both 69.5 millimeters tall, compared to previous soundbars which are 83 millimeters tall. And they’re wrapped in custom, recycled textiles, made by the Danish brand Kvadrat.

Samsung hasn’t announced when the speakers will ship.

Google has rolled out some key new features for Stadia on the web to compliment the 4K it introduced last month. You’ll now get 5.1 surround sound when playing on Chrome or other browsers, which should deliver better audio quality and the ability to better hear where your enemies are coming from.

Stadia for web also gained an on-screen keyboard that works when you have a gamepad connected, which should make it less of a hassle to input your name and other data. And if you prefer to game on mobile, you’ll receive notifications about your connection quality to see if any lag or other problems are data related.

CES is right around the corner, and that means we’ll once again meet a slew of new home theater equipment. LG is unveiling its 2020 soundbar lineup right now, and a new headline feature for this year is “AI Room Calibration.” Exactly what separates this tech from non-AI automatic calibration we’ve seen is unclear, but LG is openly committed to applying machine learning and related technology across its products. Combined with content mastered in Dolby Atmos or DTS:X, it should make everything sound more accurate no matter what kind of room you’re in, how many speakers are hooked up or where they’re located.

We’ll have to get some demo time to see how effective the technology is, but this year’s new SN family of soundbars (SN11RG, SN10YG, SN9YG, and SN8YG) have 4K passthrough, eARC and more tech designed to make sure they work in any kind of setup. The SN11RG is the top of the line, a 7.1.4 package with wireless rear speakers that can also project sound up for a true 3D effect. It’s also still integrating audio tech from Meridian, and in 2020 LG says that Google Assistant will be built into more models.

If the package you buy only comes with the main soundbar, there’s also the SPK8 Wireless Rear Speaker Kit to add-on surround speakers later for maximum flexibility. There’s no word on pricing or ship dates, but we should learn more about these — and the sleek TVs LG will pair them with — next week at CES 2020.

Dolby Atmos Music is mixed so that instruments or vocal tracks (called objects) sound like they’re appearing in different parts of a room. For instance, you might hear the vocals coming from the front, while the other instruments are coming from all around you. That means “listeners can discover hidden details and subtleties with unparalleled clarity,” according to Dolby. The encoding works regardless of how many speakers you have.

If you’re a Tidal HiFi subscriber, the app will default to the Dolby Atmos experience if its available on a track. “Tracks will be identified by a ‘Dolby logo’ visual badge as well as through a ‘Dolby Atmos’ identifier that will display once a song is selected,” according to the press release. You can also scroll through a list of Dolby Atmos tracks under the Explore tab. Tidal said that it’s also “working closely with its artist-owners, including Jay-Z, to mix their catalogs in Dolby Atmos — which are expected to become available in 2020.”