Cinema News: Omniplex to upgrade OmniplexMAXX screens to Dolby Atmos

In a move that signals the increasing importance of sound in cinema, Omniplex, the largest cinema operator across Ireland, is to install Dolby Atmos, the high-tech sound system, in all 13 of its OmniplexMAXX giant screens.

The roll out follows the success of the company’s first Dolby Atmos installation, in the new OmniplexMAXX screen in Dundonald. The company’s newly opened Dundalk cinema has since been the first in the chain to receive two OmniplexMAXX screens, both fitted with Dolby Atmos. It is now being rolled out to the remaining 10 OmniplexMAXX screens, starting with those in Omniplex’s Rathmines and Cork cinemas.

Sound is now seen as being on a par with the visual elements of movies in terms of its importance in ensuring a fully immersive cinema experience. Dolby Atmos delivers what is termed ‘moving audio’, which means sound can be precisely placed and moved anywhere in and around the cinema auditorium. It mimics how sound is heard moving around in real life and brings entertainment alive all around the audience in a powerfully immersive and emotive experience. The success of Dolby Atmos has seen it be embraced by Hollywood with almost 50 major films last year mixed in Dolby Atmos, including some of the biggest movies such as Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation; The Hunger Games Mockingjay Part 2; The Avengers Age Of Ultron; and the Star Wars The Force Awakens, after it was adopted by Disney and Marvel for all their new productions.

[quote title=”Paul Anderson – Omnilex, Managing Director”]Dolby Atmos takes the cinema experience to the next level. The moving audio immerses you in the sound, so you get to hear it as the characters on screen do. You literally hear things fly past your head as the sound system mimics their trajectory. With our OmniplexMAXX experience we have always aimed to bring the best in cinema to our customers, focusing on the three Ss: the ‘screens’, ‘seats’ and the ‘sound’; with Dolby Atmos we are bringing the best sound system in the business to all 13 of our OmniplexMAXX screens in 2016.[/quote]

[quote title=”Peter Jackson – Director – Lord of the Rings”]Sound is a very important part of the creative process. It’s all about immersion. It’s about creating the sense that you are there, you are experiencing it. Every single channel, every speaker, has got different sounds. You can actually set the audience in the same environment as the characters in the film.[/quote]

[quote title=”Danny Boyle – Director – Steve Jobs”]80% of a movie is sound. You don’t realise it because you don’t see it.” He added: “When I heard [Dolby Atmos] tested, there was a rain test, a quiet rain test, that I thought was extraordinary. It was like one of those moments where I thought, ‘you can literally make people feel wet when they’re watching a movie.'[/quote]