Dolby’s plan to establish next-generation cinemas with Dolby Vision picture quality and Atmos sound seems to be working. Dolby and AMC will significantly accelerate Dolby Cinema installation and expect to have 100 AMC sites by the end of 2017.

Dolby Cinema is expanding
Dolby Cinema is a cinema that combines Dolby Vision HDR picture quality with Dolby Atmos object-based sound. The company has set up cinemas in select locations around the world and has partnered with AMC in the US to build out locations in the US.

The two companies have now announced that Dolby Cinema will come to 100 AMC sites by the end of 2017, seven years ahead of the original schedule. The original plan was to build 100 sites over a 10-year period.

- “Dolby Cinema has clearly become a preferred cinema experience of consumers, and we look forward to offering the best films to more AMC guests with the most spectacular image, immersive sound technologies and inspired design at Dolby Cinema at AMC,” said Doug Darrow, Senior Vice President, Cinema Business Group, Dolby Laboratories. “Today’s announcement of the expedited expansion of Dolby Cinema at AMC theatres is a direct result of the incredibly enthusiastic responses we have received from consumers nationwide.”

The companies are also working on expansion plans beyond the 100 locations. Today, 22 Dolby Cinema at AMC locations are open in the US. Eight are under construction and 50 are expected to be open by the end of 2016.

Dolby says that one million tickets have been sold since the launch in the spring of 2015.


Support from Hollywood
Dolby Atmos, the object-based audio standard, already has strong support and Dolby has been a key player in the audio industry for many years. The company has also tried to enter the picture value chain and with the new Dolby Vision format it has come a long way.

Dolby Vision is a premium HDR format and an alternative to the open HDR10 industry standard. Dolby Vision is also available in living rooms TVs from Vizio, LG, and soon Philips, Loewe, and TCL.

All major Hollywood studios are backing Dolby Vision for movies. To date, over 50 titles have been released in the format for cinema, including ‘Inside Out’, ‘Tomorrowland’, ‘Deadpool’, and ‘The Martian’. Some of these are also available for streaming in the living room.

Netflix and Amazon both support Dolby Vision for streaming.

With over 100 Dolby Cinema locations planned, Dolby Vision is clearly gaining strong momentum, which will encourage studios to release more titles, and thus encourage more TV manufacturers to support the format. A virtuous circle.

- Source: Dolby