A few years ago, Samsung released the Q-Symphony feature for its smart TVs and soundbars. It allows the TV's speakers to work in tandem with soundbars to produce more immersive audio. Samsung has improved that feature every year, and Dolby seems to have been inspired by Q-Symphony enough to release a similar feature of its own.
Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is inspired by Samsung's Q-Symphony feature
Ahead of the upcoming IFA 2023 event in Berlin, Dolby has unveiled the Dolby Atmos FlexConnect feature. It works similarly to Samsung's Q-Symphony 3.0 feature and compatible TVs and soundbars to deliver a more extensive and immersive Dolby Atmos experience. Dolby claims that Atmos FlexConnect can use any speaker from the TV, soundbar, or compatible wireless speaker to deliver Dolby Atmos audio. It intelligently optimizes audio based on the speaker's placement and the size and shape of the room they're placed in. Users can put one or more compatible wireless speakers in the room for Dolby Atmos FlexConnect to work.
The feature uses a microphone inside the TV to locate and calibrate each speaker in the setup. Audio is then intelligently optimized and sent to each speaker in the room based on each speaker's position and capabilities. For example, if your TV doesn't have a built-in sub-woofer, it will send low-frequency sounds through a more capable wireless speaker that may have been paired with your TV. This stops the TV's built-in speakers from driving too hard.
The whole point of Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is to let people enjoy immersive audio without disturbing their TV, furniture, or speaker placement. Users won't have to think too hard to experience good audio quality while watching TV or listening to music. TCL is the first brand to use Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, and its smart TVs that are going to be released next year will have this feature. It will also launch soundbars optimized for FlexConnect.
Would LG, Samsung, and Sony bring Dolby Atmos FlexConnect to their future TVs?
Since LG (Wow Orchestra), Samsung, and Sony (launched this year) all have their own features similar to Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, it remains to be seen if they use Dolby's new feature. If these brands don't use FlexConnect, we are not sure it would take off well. Meanwhile, Samsung's new smart TVs support Q-Symphony 3.0 and Wireless Dolby Atmos. Q-Symphony 3.0 uses speakers inside the TV and the soundbar, and it uses AI processing power from the TV for improved audio processing.
