No, we didn’t misspell the headline – we’re here to talk about DTS:X, not some K-pop band. In all the hustle and bustle of CES 2023, Disney’s quiet announcement that it is adding DTS:X to Disney+ went unnoticed by plenty of folks. Well, no longer.
If you’ve already rushed to your TV, we’re sorry to disappoint you. The feature isn’t available yet, with no real timeframes to work with. We know it’ll be released in 2023. That’ll have to do for now. It also won’t be available for everything. It’ll appear on MCU movies such as Infinity War and Endgame with the DTS:X 3D surround sound format.
What is DTS:X?
When it comes to viewing experiences, sound is just as important as the visuals in any setup. Unless it’s that scene from Everything Everywhere All at Once – but the exception doesn’t defy the rule. Most of the time, you need effective sound to build suspense. Or even just to hear the characters speak. Talking to you, Chris Nolan.
DTS:X is the next level of surround sound for your watching experience. DTS:X is the counterpart to Dolby Atmos, with the added bonus of adding height into the mix. It makes sound more ‘3D’ – moving around your setup like it would in real life.
Where DTS:X differs from Dolby Atmos is in its configuration. Where DTS:X can support up to 32 speaker locations around your home setup, it doesn’t have to. DTS:X adjusts itself to whatever system you’ve got hooked up to your TV, doing its best to give you 3D audio from wherever.
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Coming to Disney+ (at some point)
Movies that use the IMAX Enhanced format on Disney+ will be getting the new sound format too. That’s because it’s an expansion of the IMAX feature, called IMAX Enhanced signature sound. It’s the first time a major streamer has used the company’s object-based surround sound format. Usually, streamers lean towards Atmos.
There is a catch. Since the upgraded sound is only usable for IMAX Enhanced films on Disney+, your TV or AV receiver needs to be IMAX Enhanced Certified to make use of the feature. Whether South Africa will get to use the new format on Disney+ remains to be seen but both Hisense and TCL are fielding compatible units. We reached out to Disney for comment, though we hadn’t heard back by the time of publishing.