[Hollywood Reporter]

Peter Jackson is considering the new Dolby Atmos audio format to create the sounds of Middle Earth for The Hobbit, his two-part prequel to The Lord of the Rings.

“Dolby are coming down to New Zealand to give us a demonstration,” Jackson told The Hollywood Reporter. “Our particular postproduction schedule is reasonably tight (but) three dimensional sound would be fantastic. If we can do it I would be pretty keen.”

Jackson is already experimenting with advancing technology onThe Hobbit. The films are being shot in 3D and — for the first time on a major Hollywood film — at 48 frames per second.

The Dolby Atmos format is developed to create “lifelike” and “immersive” sound and involves the placement of speakers all around an auditorium as well as across the ceiling. The system is designed to transmit up to 128 simultaneous and lossless audio channels, and renders from 5.1 up to 64 discrete speaker feeds, according to Dolby.  …

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