Dolby Atmos Number Scheme Explained
Interestingly enough, there are actually more options for speaker placement than there are flat panel tv screen sizes! In today’s world of immersive home theater, you may have seen number sequences like 7.1.4 or 5.2 or 3.0. It really helps to understand these abbreviations as you are going to see them pop up when you start researching receivers and planning your home theater speaker layout.
Decoding this sequence is very easy once you know the key! The first digit is the number of speakers in the room that are not Dolby Atmos speakers. Dolby Atmos speakers either go in the ceiling or on top of your main speakers to fire up and bounce off the ceiling. So if the first digit is a 5, for example, this means there is a left, center, right, and a pair of surround speakers.
The next digit is the number of subwoofers. You will normally see most configurations just call out for one subwoofer, but we highly recommend at least 2 for a serious home theater room.
The third digit is the number of Dolby Atmos speakers. These can be either in the ceiling aiming down or what is called an elevation speaker that sits on top of your main front and if you do 4 your rear speakers and fire the sound up towards the ceiling. There are now even tower speakers with the upward firing speakers built into the top. Today’s home theater receivers let you tell them which type of Dolby Atmos speaker you are using to keep the sounds perfect.
To decode this one: 5.2.4
5 main speakers, front right, front left, center, right surround, left surround
2 subwoofers
4 Dolby Atmos speakers
Most home theater receivers max out at 11 channels, which enables a 7.1.4 setup. There are a few on the very top end of the price scale that allow you to do 9.1.4 and even 11.1.6. For the purposes of this help guide, we will stop at 7.1.4 as for most rooms that is more than enough for an amazing experience!