Positional audio is one of the new features Netflix offers to special plan subscribers. Positional sound support has been added to more than 700 TV series and movies . Netflix,positional audiosays its feature enhances the stereo sound experience on any device, without requiring surround sound speakers or home theater equipment.
Positional audio is a feature that can be experienced by users who listen to Netflix content on devices with dual speakers, such as laptops, TVs and headphones. Dolby 5.1 orDolby AtmosThis feature is of course unnecessary for users with advanced home theater setups.
Compatible with over 700 TV shows and movies
Netflix worked with Sennheiser to bring this feature to its series and movies. Positional audio was first made available for Stranger Things in July 2022; now compatible with over 700 content.
Experience different from Apple's spatial audio
Apple's spatial audio technology uses information from Dolby Atmos , Dolby Surround or stereo tracks to create sound as close to the audience as possible . Thanks to technologies such as the gyroscope, the sound is created in the direction the user turns his head. Netflix provides the user with a different audio encoding and calls it positional audio. This new encoding does not rely on the output device or any algorithm to produce a wider soundstage. Instead, the audio file provides different production instructions to the speakers to further propagate the sound. Apple's spatial audio feature will be able to take advantage of Netflix's new spatial audio files.
How to access Netflix geospatial audio content?
Compatible with positional audioNetflix series and moviesTo see it, you need to type “positional audio” in the search bar. The positional audio icon is shown next to the content description. Netflix also shared a demo for those wondering about the positional audio feature
