Rancho Cordova, Calif., USA - 16 April 2015 - Barco, the worldwide market share leader in digital cinema, further expands its footprint of the Auro 11.1 immersive cinema sound solution, with more than 550 screens committed or installed and over 100 films released in Auro 11.1.
This year, Barco anticipates the beginning of the adoption of a standardized format for immersive sound. As such, Barco will be publically showing, for the first time, AuroMax®: a system that incorporates support for the placement of "objects" in any immersive mix and the most revolutionary rendering technology available from Iosono.

The momentum continues with more "Auro" movie titles
With an open standard format now imminent thanks to Barco, Auro Technologies and other partners advocating for this new "open" approach to sound, production companies worldwide are embracing the Auro-3D® format due to its flexibility and excellent audio quality. Over 100 films have been released globally in Auro 11.1 - including this summer's blockbusters "Minions," "Pixels," and "Everest" - with even more announcements expected in the coming weeks.

Spearheading the evolution of an "Open Format" approach to immersive sound
"Barco and Auro Technologies are proud to celebrate this achievement with our industry partners as we worked diligently to secure the creation of a standardized distribution format for immersive cinema sound. Our desire is to protect exhibitors and studios from potential 'gatekeeper' entities that could impose proprietary technology, thus ensuring the ability to play any movie regardless of the system used to create it," comments Brian Claypool, Senior Director Strategic Business Development for Barco. "Thanks to SMPTE, DCI and NATO representatives, which are also dedicated to developing these standards, our customers can expect more content, with an increased focus on quality, so that audiences understand the full potential of what immersive sound can be. The arrival of these standards will allow content creators to focus on one workflow rather than making sacrifices to create multiple versions of one mix. The arrival of a true standard in the marketplace will help achieve this."

Premium immersive sound with AuroMax®
Barco has always approached the market with technologies and solutions defined by the requirements of the exhibition industry. AuroMax® continues this tradition by offering the most natural representation of standardized immersive sound at up-to half the cost of a typical object based sound system. Auro-3D sound systems are the only immersive system with 3 distinct layers and a vertical stereo field on screen divided over 6 screen channels to provide a realistic reproduction of sound in movie theaters. All current Auro 11.1 auditoriums are built from the existing 5.1 design philosophy. AuroMax® allows for the discreet placement of "objects". This makes AuroMax compatible and upgradable with existing Auro 11.1 systems. This new approach maintains the same large sweet spot and guarantees the most natural representation of channel- and object-based immersive sound as intended by the creators, regardless of the size of the room.

Platform flexibility for studios
More than 35 leading post-production studios have installed the Auro-3D® Studio System, with more on the horizon because of its ability to offer total freedom to content creators regarding immersive sound development. "An open standard ensures that no manufacturer can hold exhibitors hostage by levying license fees for immersive audio. Instead, studios can effortlessly create both channel- and object-based sound masters for movies without fear of incurring exorbitant costs or being locked-in to one authoring or playback system. Best of all, by using the Auro-3D® Creative Tool Suite, a single distribution master can be created within the existing workflow that can be used on any legacy or new immersive audio system to ensure the widest distribution of their movies," comments Wilfried Van Baelen, inventor of the Auro-3D® concept and CEO of Auro Technologies.

The most natural acoustical experience
Auro 11.1 by Barco is designed in accordance with a sound reproduction layout consisting of three layers (traditional surround sound with height and overhead layers), which enables studio sound mixers to move objects around in space to create the most realistic and acoustically perfect experience. Auro 11.1 is fully compatible with existing audio equipment and current workflows. Auro 11.1 is an integral part of the CinemaBarco experience.

CinemaBarco is a complete cinema experience featuring unmatched sight and sound technology designed to re-ignite the magic of the movies. Barco offers unprecedented solutions and economics to the cinema industry, focused on delivering compelling experiences for cinema audiences that also generate additional revenue for our exhibition partners

About Auro Technologies
Auro Technologies (www.auro-3d.com; www.auro-technologies.com) is a spin-off of the Galaxy Studios Group and owner of the Auro-3D® Technology Suite. The Auro-3D® Concept and Listening Formats have been designed by Wilfried Van Baelen, founder of Galaxy Studios, which is renowned worldwide for its state-of-the-art leadership in audio innovation for music and film sound. The Auro-3D® suite offers ground-breaking, easy-to-use and unprecedented levels of sound reproduction capabilities to the professional, automotive, broadcast and consumer electronics (such as gaming, smart phones, multimedia PC, notebooks, tablets, audio players, digital TV, media libraries and packaged media) markets.

About Barco
Barco, a global technology company, designs and develops networked visualization products for the Entertainment, Enterprise and Healthcare markets. Barco has its own facilities for Sales & Marketing, Customer Support, R&D and Manufacturing in Europe, North America and APAC. Barco (NYSE Euronext Brussels: BAR) is active in more than 90 countries with 3,250 employees worldwide. Barco posted sales of 1.051 billion euro in 2014.

© Copyright 2015 by Barco
 For more information, please contact Alison Maxson
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