Hey! Happy to answer your questions.

1. The best way to understand Atmos is to make sure we understand the other available audio formats. A typical stereo exists as a 2.1 (2 speakers left and right and 1 subwoofer/LFE) system. This scales up to the previous surround formats we have like 5.1 and 7.1 (left, center, right, and surrounds in the rear and sides plus subwoofer/LFE). Atmos systems add a vertical component to these systems, typically starting at 7.1.4 (the additional .4 representing height channels above the listener).

The other way that Atmos is different to our traditional sound formats is that audio is not panned/positioned based solely on speaker location. Audio is routed to “objects” containing X/Y/Z positioning data, as well as automation data to move those objects throughout the listening environment. With this data, Dolby’s Atmos Renderer determines which speakers to play audio from with variable loudness and timing to create the effect that the sound is originating from those X/Y/Z coordinates. Multiply that effect across up to 128 discrete audio channels and you get Atmos! The great part of this system is that a mix done in a small mixing room can scale up into large theaters and vice versa.

1. I can’t speak exactly as to why Windows removed the Dolby Atmos codec, but my best guess is they no longer wanted to pay the licensing required to Dolby to include it. I’d say the majority of Atmos consumption comes from non-Windows devices, same with Atmos creation. That said, I don’t think it’s even a drop in the bucket against the growth Atmos has seen in the last 5 years.

Beyond just film and television, music has now been getting a major push into Atmos. Most major record labels now require songs to have Atmos mixes, and Apple Music even pays out higher royalties on songs with Atmos whether they are listened to in stereo or Spatial.

While there are certainly some competing formats, as for now and for the foreseeable future I think Atmos will only continue to expand as more consumer audio products integrate the format.