Definition: Auro-3D

A very comprehensive Immersive Sound format from Auro Technologies, a spin-off from Galaxy Studios, Mol, Belgium. Debuting in the 2010 time frame, Auro-3D is a scalable solution with speakers based on traditional 5.1 and 7.1 home theater layouts. Auro-3D creator Wilfried Van Baelen coined the "Immersive Sound" moniker, which represents "surround sound with height."

Geared to all forms of listening, including cinema, home theater, streaming, gaming, mobile and automotive, Auro-3D is able to encode the audio mix in standard uncompressed PCM streams. Depending on the target (disc, download, streaming, etc.), Auro-3D encoding may be channel based or combine channel, object and scene technologies (see surround sound).

More than 600 movie theaters worldwide feature AuroMax, the cinema version of Auro-3D, and approximately 200 international movies have been recorded in the format. Auro-3D is increasingly supported in A/V receivers, including Denon, Marantz, McIntosh and Arcam models. The Auro-3D engine in each A/V receiver can convert legacy mono, stereo and 5.1 or 7.1 surround sound content into the Auro-3D experience. See Immersive Sound, 3D audio and PCM.

Auro-3D 9.1 Immersive Sound System

A typical Auro-3D home theater adds four "height" speakers to the traditional 5.1 layout to reproduce a 3D space around the listener. One more speaker at the ceiling creates an additional height layer for a 10.1 system. (Image courtesy of Auro Technologies.)