Smart soundbars are coming
8 September 2019 · News · Technology News
As smart technology continues to gain pace, digital technology supplier Frontier Silicon has launched a new control card to make sound bars smart.
The global soundbar market totals 20 million units ...
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The market for soundbars has existed since the introduction of flat-screen TVs. The reason was that before flat-screen TVs, larger speakers could be included in the design of the TV. For sure speakers today can reproduce high frequency sounds clearly. Listen to music through the tiny speakers of one's mobile phone. Great for high frequency response,but poor for bass. Very few flat-screen TVs have a 0.1 (bass or LFE channel) speaker.
While soundbars have a greater bass response, soundbars with multi-channel sounds are a good substitute for the real multi-speaker system especially in a confined space Even when soundbars are available with multichannel virtual 5.1-channels, Dolby Atmos and DTS-X they will never replace the sound of a multiple speaker arrangement.
Having said that, soundbars with wifi and bluetooth capability are not new, for example the Sony HTRT5 5.1 Ch.
It is a natural extension for the soundbar to incorporate a DAB+ and FM radio. But it seems unfair that most DAB+ receivers do not have an AM receiver and this is no exception.
So if one does not have DAB+ with simulcasted AM broadcasts, that is not satisfactory. As I mentioned elsewhere, the sound quality of AM can rival FM, but most AM IF (intermediate frequency, usually 455kHz or 450kHz and occasionally 469kHz eg Panasonic RXED50) sections have bandwidths of 3.5kHz (7kHz DSB). Even if AM stereo is passe, a mono signal can be "virtualized" into multichannels by the soundbar's processor.
In sum, soundbars have a greater bass sound than the speakers contained in flat screen TVs. Virtual multi-channel sound is produced by the soundbar's processor. While soundbars won't replace an actual multi-speaker system, they are great where one is confined for space or does not want to spend on a multi-speaker system. Soundbars with WiFi and Bluetooth are already on the market.
It is great that one does not need to switch on the TV in order to use the soundbar.Today's story about incorporating DAB+ and FM is new. However it does not incorporate AM radio services, especially where DAB+ is not available.
Thank you,
Anthony of super exciting Belfield