Did you ever really stop to think about what we call “surround sound”. What exactly is being surrounded? There is a flat image on a screen up at the front of the room or theater and we are attempting to project the sound out into the room. This is incongruous with 2D visuals, but downright disorienting with 3D displays.

The whole point of 3D is to render depth, things going into and coming out of the screen. How does that relate to 5.1 surround sound, or n.m for that matter. There is no sense of immersion or feeling that the sound is coming towards you or receding away from you. If you really listen to today’s surround systems, unless the soundtrack is mixed really well, most of the sound comes from the front with the occasional peep from the rear speakers.

What is needed for 3D is something new. A system that creates a far more immersive surround experience and that includes depth and height cues. Sound that really matches the picture, and makes you feel like you are in the original acoustic environment not in a room with lots of speakers.

Recently discovered techniques make this possible, and SRS Labs as well as others are working on entirely new concepts for sound that accompanies picture, not just an adaptation of the old panning model derived from stereo, but something completely new. So shortly you will be really be able have the “3D” experience both audibly and visually, and you will never want to go back.