SRS TheaterSound featured in new Samsung LCDs and Plasmas
By Ben Drawbaugh 
posted June 28th 2010 1:03AM
posted June 28th 2010 1:03AM
When we think of surround sound we think of lots of speakers, but SRS intends to change that with its front rendered surround sound technologies like SRS TheaterSound. When we first heard of this idea we thought of it as simulated surround sound, but then we realized; hey wait, all surround sound is simulated -- there aren't actually bullets whizzing around our living room. So while the jury is still out on how many speakers are required to make you feel like you're in the middle of the action, we always appreciate steps in the right direction and the new Samsung owners will get the benefits of SRS TheaterSound. In addition to the surround sound part, it also helps tames loud commercial and inaudible dialog. Of course in this case hearing is believing, and this is one we'll have to hear for ourselves. Assuming we can get our hands on one of the latest Samsung LED back-lit LCDs or plasmas to try out. SRS Labs, the industry leader in surround sound, audio and voice technologies, announced today that Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd., the world's leading manufacturer of HDTVs, will be the first flat panel TV manufacturer to ship TVs equipped with SRS TheaterSound™, the industry's most advanced and effective all-in-one HDTV audio solution.
"We designed SRS TheaterSound to set a new standard of excellence for HDTV audio performance and we're thrilled to work alongside Samsung to bring it to consumers the world over," said Allen H. Gharapetian, Vice President of Marketing for SRS Labs. "The advanced, innovative audio technologies within SRS TheaterSound provide a remarkably rich, theater-like experience over the built-in internal speakers of new Samsung HDTV models."
SRS TheaterSound, which is available in new Samsung HDTVs, is an all-in-one audio suite that directly addresses the three most common consumer TV audio complaints – inconsistent volume levels, unintelligible vocals, and poor, dimension-less sound. SRS TheaterSound provides the following feature benefits:
Automatically detects and consistently levels abrupt volume fluctuations that normally occur when TV programming switches to commercial break or while changing channels.
Intelligently separates vocals from all other content and dynamically adjusts the dialog level to ensure it's always clearly understood.
Delivers up to a 5.1 surround sound experience from multichannel content using built-in TV speakers, and significantly enhances both depth and dimension.
"Samsung is committed to providing the very best in home entertainment," said John Revie, Senior Vice President of Home Entertainment for Samsung Electronics America. "We are proud to be the first to roll out SRS TheaterSound and deliver a brand new, immersive sound quality experience to our customers through our new HDTVs models and address a variety of their audio needs."
SRS TheaterSound is available in the 2010 Samsung LED and Plasma HDTVs as well as Samsung LCD models.
"there aren't actually bullets whizzing around our living room."
cant wait until that happens
@panckakes
Why so srs.
this is a cool idea but speaking as someone who has an unnatural love for multiple speaker setups, simulated surround sound (i know all of it is simulated, I read the article but you know what I mean) coming out of tiny cellphone speakersis going to amount to nothing more than a gimmick. My acer aspire has "virtual surround sound capabilities" and when enabled, it sounds like - what do you know - crap, or more specifically, laptop speakers.
@John Stathakis I meant "tiny t.v. Speakers... Same diff
@John Stathakis Agreed. 2 speaker simulated surround NEVER sounds like surround sound
@Extinction
Front rendered surround isn't supposed to sound like 5.1 surround sound, it is supposed to sound like the bullets are whizzing around your living room.
@John Stathakis
There's no replacement for displacement ;)
My older Samsung has "SRS Trusurround XT", it's really nothing impressive. Not to mention LED TV's have some of the shittiest speakers on the planet being so thin (not that flat panels have good speakers). My older Sony rear projector has some really nice built in stereo speakers that would easily destroy any flat panel TV with a bunch of virtualization.
"but then we realized; hey wait, all surround sound is simulated" Not at all. In traditional multi-speaker surround sound, they are simulating the movement and location of sounds, but you actually are surrounded by sound coming from different directions.
hasn't SRS been in A LOT of HDTVs over the years? I don't know if it REALLY does it or not, but I have a 5-6 year old Bravia in my bedroom that says it has SRS, there's even something for it in the WEGA GATE that Sony's long since dumped.
@travis8214
This is SRS "TheaterSound", which apparently is a new technology.
@tonicboy DERP i thought it was about TruSurround XT or whatever it's called
well still, simulated surround sound has been around forever (works best with a good set of headphones), SRS or not. from both reading reviews and personal experience, SRS available now works best in a really narrow space, so if you watch TV in a closet it's ideal.
Maybe this will perfect it who knows.
It might be okay but it's not going to be anything like a true surround system. For years t.v. makers claim to have the biggest and best even though it's all just marketing gimmick. Samsung for years has had SRStruesound (or whatever it's called) and it actually made the sound worse (in my opinion) like I say it's all marketing.
Hate this pseudo surround bullcrap.
I'd prefer they sell a TV with absolutely NO speajkers what so ever and sell it 50 bucks (or more) cheaper since I'd just turn them off anyways and use my receiver.
Now the only things missing is DTS passthrough so i can use my receiver -.-
Pretty useless feature IMO
"all surround sound is simulated -- there aren't actually bullets whizzing around our living room" What a piece of garbage, Engadget... PLEASE do not spend your time thinking up reasons to legitimize press releases. They are SRS, their process has been the same for years, they give you a simulated surround when you don't have the loudspeakers. When you have the loudspeakers, the surround is real. Bullets... jeez. How about you complain that the picture is simulated, too? It is television, after all.
@(Unverified) Drawbaugh's like that: he says something on the podcast, thinks it's clever, laughs at his own lame joke for a few seconds and repeats it any occasion he gets.
Lame...
So in summary this entire post could be condensed to:
"New Samsung televisions offer basically the same option as last year and the year before."
i have this in my ln46c650. no real difference between "theatersound" and any other SRS ive had in any of my other tvs
Ben, I've heard you issue the "all surround sound is simulated" statement a few times and you are wrong on this one: sure, it can sound clever to say that "bullets are not really whizzing around" (of course they're not), but in a "real (not simulated)" surround setup, the "recording" of bullet sounds coming from the back is actually coming from the back speaker. In a "simulated surround" setup, it seems like the recorded bullet sound is coming from the back but it is actually coming from a front speaker. SRS "simulates" back speakers.