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More and more TV manufacturers are developing solutions that make it possible to create a home theater without running cables across the living room. Instead of a traditional AV receiver and wired speakers, all you need is a compatible TV and additional wireless speakers. Several competing technologies are already appearing on the market, including solutions from Samsung, Sony, Apple, Google, and Dolby. This could make surround sound much more accessible to average users. The biggest problem, however, remains compatibility, since some manufacturers limit their systems to their own speakers.
Wireless audio is delivered directly to the TV
Wireless rear speakers are not new, of course, since they have been connectable to soundbars and AV receivers for years. The new trend, however, is moving the entire audio system center directly into the TV, so a soundbar or a separate AV receiver won't always be necessary. Samsung is developing Q-Symphony for this purpose, Sony offers Direct Connect, and earlier companies such as LG and Roku created their own solutions. Apple, meanwhile, lets you pair Apple TV 4K with HomePod speakers, and thanks to AirPlay 2 you can also use compatible devices from other brands, albeit with some limitations. Also growing in importance is Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, which allows you to wirelessly connect up to four speakers plus a subwoofer to the TV. The technology has already been used by LG and TCL, among others, and its advantage is the ability to place speakers more flexibly in the room.
Dolby could set the direction for the whole market
The development of several different platforms shows that TV manufacturers have seen the potential in wireless home theater. With Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, the ability to virtualize some audio channels is particularly interesting, so speaker placement doesn't have to be perfect. However, the problem is that compatibility is often limited to devices from the same manufacturer. By contrast, Bluetooth, although available in most modern TVs, is not a good solution for a full home theater because of limited bandwidth, latency, and the fact that it supports only a limited number of connected devices. An interesting alternative is AirPlay 2, since it allows the use of speakers from different manufacturers like Bose, Bowers & Wilkins, or Sonos, although Apple TV 4K currently does not allow creating a full surround system this way. So the market still doesn't have a single ideal standard, but the direction of change is becoming increasingly clear.
TVs are increasingly not just screens but are becoming the central component of a home audio system. A wireless connection to rear speakers and a subwoofer could in the future significantly simplify creating a home theater without a tangle of wires. Right now the greatest hopes rest on Dolby Atmos FlexConnect, although Samsung, Sony, Apple and Google are also developing their own solutions. If manufacturers begin opening their systems more widely to third-party devices, setting up such a system could become even simpler. For now, however, users must carefully check TV and speaker compatibility before buying.
source: flatpanelshd
