Dolby Laboratories will demonstrate a new technology next week at IFA 2023 in Berlin that automatically calibrates a smart TV's native sound system with whatever wireless speaker alignment a user already has established in their living room.
Dolby Atmos FlexConnect (press release available here) utilizes a smart TV's own native microphone to create an optimal audio configuration based on what equipment you have ... and how your room is configured.
TCL will be the first to deploy the new feature in its smart TVs starting next year.
“Consumers shouldn’t have to move their furniture to experience better audio, but rather audio should adapt to them,” said John Couling, senior VP of entertainment for Dolby, in a statement. “Dolby Atmos FlexConnect is an entirely new category of experience that offers consumers the freedom and flexibility to choose how they want to arrange their devices while still getting a great immersive Dolby Atmos experience.”
Ars Technica dug a little deeper on how the technology works and received this response from Dolby: "After each speaker is placed, the TV will undergo an automatic calibration using acoustic mapping, [using TV microphones], to understand the location of each speaker. The TV then intelligently and seamlessly optimizes the sound image after analyzing this data combined with information the TV can gather on each speaker’s acoustic capabilities. Together, this information allows the TV to adjust the rendering of each speaker to optimize the sound to ensure listeners are enjoying a great audio experience."
Note that in its press release, Dolby says its new technology works with "accessory" speakers -- the company hasn't clarified yet if FlexConnect will work with all brands of wireless speakers.
Native TV sound equipment is notoriously ... well, bad. The Verge noted the possibility for FlexConnect to optimize and make us of this weaker equipment: "If your TV’s speakers aren’t all that capable when it comes to bass — and most aren’t — Dolby Atmos FlexConnect will know to leave those frequencies to the wireless speakers instead of pushing the integrated drivers too hard."
