September 2024

Figuring It Out
Dolby Atmos is relatively easy for anyone desiring a modern home entertainment room.
Editorial By J. Martins

  When I interviewed Tony Ostrom, president of the Wireless Speaker and Audio (WiSA) Association, in May 2019, there was clear excitement in the industry about the full promise of a home theater system simplified with wireless audio. This was largely motivated by LG Electronics supporting the WiSA technology in its range of OLED smart TVs, while other TV manufacturers were signing the WiSA Ready initiative and getting ready to launch WiSA Ready TVs, creating strong momentum. We seemed to be closer to that significant promise – often mentioned by WiSA members – that a home cinema system should be unpacked, set up, and ready to be enjoyed in a matter of minutes.

The television, we all agreed then, was increasingly at the center of that solution due to the ability to directly stream content, movies, gaming, music, and more. All LG's 2019 TV series supported WiSA USB Transmitters and were ready to send multichannel audio to any of the WiSA Certified speakers already on the market. More important, LG TVs would guide the user to set up any type and number of WiSA speakers directly through its onscreen interface once a WiSA system was connected. The system is able to transmit and receive multichannel uncompressed 24-bit 48kHz/96kHz sound over a dedicated wireless network it creates in the U-NII 5GHz spectrum, free from the congestion that exists in the nearby bands used by Wi-Fi.

Five years later, WiSA Technologies, the company that was formed from what was previously Summit Wireless, is now trying to get TV manufacturers to embrace its simplified and more economical WiSA E technology. The technology that the audio industry has embraced so far – from Bang & Olufsen to Harman, Dynaudio to Savant, and more than 20 other brands – is now referenced as WiSA Home Theater (WiSA HT). WiSA E (for Embedded) is a different technology that operates in the 5GHz portion of the Wi-Fi spectrum, and was designed to be directly embedded into existing TV sound chipsets delivering 16-bit/48kHz multichannel wireless, and implemented both as a plug-and-play module or as an IP/software license.

As we were getting this issue of audioXpress ready to print, Harman announced its latest JBL Modern Audio (MA) range of AV Receivers and JBL Stage 2 home theater loudspeakers. All products are specifically promoted as being "simple to install, connect, and upgrade" and intended to combine simplicity, design, quality, and scalability – all at an affordable price. The speakers are all passive. No wireless options. The new AV Receivers are all ready to support wired and wireless sources, from HDMI to Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, offering support for Airplay2, Chromecast, and local Ethernet. On the output side, no WiSA or wireless speaker options.

Users who want to place rear surround speakers without wires will need to buy and configure a separate transmitter box – which will be a challenge to get working with the other components. The new JBL range also includes the 240H Dolby Atmos up-firing height speakers, which are designed to be "easily connected via binding posts to both floorstanding speaker models," or mounted on the wall as surround channels, or in the ceiling as height channels.

In the same announcement, these new JBL products are described by Harman as "an outof-the-box solution" for immersive audio. The press release even states: "Many consumers find the home theater component purchasing experience intimidating and overly complex." So, the assumption here is that everyone will be happy to extend speaker wires behind the walls, in a room purposely prepared with a technical floor and ceiling tiles so that everything will look clean and tidy, naturally controlled by a touch-panel directly from the couch, which will close the blinds automatically when selecting a movie mode during the day. Of course, professional residential integrators will be happy to provide that and more... but the system will hardly fit within the advertised "affordable price" category.

What about that ambition to make home theater less complicated? In a more recent interview (April 2023), Tony Ostrom mentions that thanks to the proliferation of broadband and numerous streaming content providers, getting access to content with Dolby Atmos sound into our homes is "relatively easy" for anyone who has or wants a modern home theater or home entertainment room.

And yet, WiSA and many others in the industry are still working to meet the demands of consumers who "prioritize the convenience of wireless, easy-to-use systems." The challenge is now all TV manufacturers are talking about their own wireless technology, and so are all the large technology companies, from Dolby to Amazon. It doesn't seem like we are closer to figuring it out.

J. Martins
Editor-in-Chief

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