Dolby Laboratories invites you to tour its 60 years of history and audiovisual revolution, marked by the arrival of its technologies Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision to cinema, music, television, video games and cars, as well as for its commitment to continue innovating combining science and art to “excite“.
The company focused on the development of technologies that revolutionize entertainment was Founded in London in 1965 by engineer Ray Dolby and, since then, it has been the driving force behind some of the milestones in cinema, music, home entertainment, and even automotive.
Now, Dolby has celebrated its 60 birthday and, to commemorate its history exploring the unknown and reaffirm its commitment to innovation, it has collected part of its journey in a ‘landing page’ where it shows its advances in music and film, but also in other formats such as video games and streaming.
It coincides that Dolby’s six decades of history are steeped in a concern for converting sound and image into “a powerful artistic element“, as the company has highlighted in a statement. Thus, in its beginnings, Dolby Laboratories stood out for creating the first noise reduction systems for the recording studios of the moment. However, in the 1970s, he brought his first innovation to the public for movie theaters.
Specifically, it happened in the year 1977 with the film Star Wars: Episode IV – A new hope, which was the first to incorporate the new sound dimension Dolby Stereo, followed by titles like Batman Returnswhich included the audio Dolby Digital in 1992.
However, the audio technology revolution came in 2014 with the immersive sound of Dolby Atmoswhich was included for the first time in the film Brave by Disney Pixar and, since then, it has established itself as a standard in “thousands of film and television productions around the world.”
As a result, the company has reflected that it currently more than 7,700 screens globally have adopted this technology and, in the same way, more than 1,700 feature films have been mixed in this system. Specifically in the case of Spainusers can go to view content with Dolby Atmos sound at 200 screens cinema, being one of the countries with the highest ratio of theaters per inhabitant.
REVOLUTION OF SOUND AND IMAGE BEYOND CINEMA
This technology leaves movie theaters to reach homes and users first-hand. Proof of this is the launch of improved imaging technology Dolby Vision in 2014which introduced images with ultra-sharp colors, sharper contrast, and richer details. It was in 2016, when it began to be offered from streaming content platforms, starting with content from Netflix.
Currently, the main platformsamong them Amazon Music, TIDAL, Apple Music, HBO Max, Disney+ or Apple TV, also offer content with Dolby Atmos and Vision technology to put the user at the center of the action with completely immersive content.
“Hoy, millions of people enjoy concerts, movies, series and live shows with the sound quality and image fidelity that define the identity of the brand”, as the technology company has highlighted.
However, these advances not only stand out on the screens, but have also made it easier to save virtual “thousands of lives” in the gaming world, thanks to immersive sound. In fact, it highlights the extensive use of Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision for the gaming universecon more than 300 titles which already have this technology available for PC, Xbox and PlayStation, forming part of the gaming experiences of the next generations.
Taking it further, the company has continued to advance in the world of sound and image expanding Dolby for the motor world. As the technology company has detailed, vehicles have become “a new space for innovation” and currently have more than 30 automobile brands, including Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Volvo or Polestarwhich already have Dolby Atmos and are beginning to implement Dolby Vision for immersive experiences on their on-board screens.
It is a reflection of the company’s vision of making every moment of entertainment “maintain the same quality and emotion”, no matter where it occurs or at what time.
THE LATEST INNOVATIONS THAT DEFINE THE AUDIOVISUAL FUTURE
Dolby’s story does not end here, as it maintains its mission of “transform the way the world sees, hears and feels entertainment“, so it has recently continued to implement new features in its services.
One of the latest additions is technology Dolby Atmos FlexConnectwhich arrives in 2023 and allows greater flexibility in configuring wireless speakers in home entertainment systems. Likewise, a year later the technology company launched Dolby OptiView to improve live broadcasts of athletes and entertainment.
Along these lines, the company offers in Spain channel 1UHDwhich broadcasts continuously with 4K HDR image quality and immersive Dolby Atmos sound. This is the channel where the last Olympics and where the matches of the 2026 soccer world cup.
The latest addition to its portfolio of innovations has arrived this year 2025, with Dolby Vision 2. This image evolution “redefines quality standards” by using a new processing engine, content intelligence and technologies such as Precision Black and Light Sense, which allow the display to be adjusted in real time, based on environmental conditions.
DOLBY GLOBAL ECOSYSTEM
Despite all this, Dolby has also stressed the importance of its equipment, with 2,200 employees spread across more than 20 countriesand its global partner ecosystem, to carry out the implementation and expansion of its innovations.
The products and Dolby services are available currently in 90 nationsand the company works by getting involved in each experience to “offer the consumer the best version” of any content, whether it is a movie, series, video game, song or sound fiction. In the same way, it also makes available to creators the most complete and innovative tools for their development.
All these milestones in the history of technology are collected, along with many others, in its new ‘landing page’ available on the official website. Thus, his 60th birthday marks his commitment to “remain faithful to its purposes” such as “combining science and art to excite.”