There are now a total of 100 Dolby Cinema locations across the US, China, Europa, and the Middle East, the company has announced. The next-generation cinema combines Dolby Vision with Atmos.

100th Dolby Cinema location
The first Dolby Cinema was opened in the Netherlands in 2014. Over the last couple of years, the company has partnered with 8 cinema exhibitors to open an additional 99 locations. There are “more than 325 Dolby Cinema sites installed or committed”.

The next-generation cinema experience brings together Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to deliver 4K HDR video quality and an object-based sound experience. Few other cinemas around the world are equipped to take advantage of HDR video but Samsung and Sony have proposed that theatre owners replace projectors with large-size LED screens. Dolby has partnered with Christie to develop a laser-based projection system.

- “It is very gratifying to see top filmmakers and industry creatives whose first choice is to showcase their work in Dolby Cinema,” said Doug Darrow, SVP, Cinema Business Group, Dolby Labs. “Audiences continue to embrace Dolby Cinema as well. The rapid growth of Dolby Cinema to 100 locations shows that movie lovers around the world are hungry for a truly immersive experience with state-of-the-art images and sound that make them feel like they are inside the story.”



An end-to-end system
Dolby is extending its initiative to the home as well. Dolby Vision technology is available in TVs from LG, Loewe, Philips, TCL, and Vizio. Sony will also push out a firmware update later this year to enable Dolby Vision on select high-end TVs. Dolby Atmos is available in AVRs and soundbars from a range of brands as well as LG’s 2017 OLED TVs. Netflix recently started offering Atmos sound for streaming movies, and Atmos is also found on Blu-ray discs.

Dolby Vision is a proprietary HDR video format that offers certain advantages over the open industry HDR10 format, including support for dynamic metadata to optimize the picture experience on a scene-by-scene basis.

- “Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos are definite game changers for filmmakers” said Zack Snyder, Director of ‘Batman v. Superman’.

With the continued push into cinema, Dolby hopes to establish an end-to-end system for its audio and video formats.

 
 Current global Dolby Cinema locations:
 
 
 U.S.: AMC plans to open 160 Dolby Cinema locations by the end of 2018 with 77 sites currently open.
 
 China: Dolby and Wanda Cinema Group plan to open 100 locations in China, with the first 19 locations already open. Sparkle Roll, including Jackie Chan Cinemas and BHG, have already opened three locations and plan to open 11 Dolby Cinema sites in China within the next two years. In addition, Dolby and Huayi Brothers Film Center opened a Dolby Cinema in Xiamen. 
 
 Europe: Les Cinémas Gaumont Pathé, the largest cinema chain operator in France, the Netherlands and Switzerland, plans to open 10 Dolby Cinema locations, with seven in France and three in the Netherlands. Dolby and VUE Cinemas opened two locations in Eindhoven and Hilversum in the Netherlands with UCI Cinesa deploying Dolby Cinema in Barcelona, Spain. Cineplexx Cinemas plans to add four locations in Austria with two currently opened in Linz and Salzburg.
 
 The Middle East: Reel Cinemas plan to open multiple Dolby Cinema locations across the Reel Cinemas portfolio in the Middle East. Dolby and Reel Cinemas recently opened a location in the Dubai Marina Mall and later this year the flagship Reel Cinema location at The Dubai Mall is expected to open.
 
 

- Source: Dolby