Netflix adds support for Dolby Atmos streaming on Xbox One

By Dan Thorp-Lancaster
published

Xbox One S
Xbox One S (Image credit: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central)

Netflix already supports 4K and HDR streaming on Xbox One, and now it's adding another feather to its hat: Dolby Atmos audio. The company has announced (opens in new tab) that Atmos audio is now supported on Xbox One for titles that support it, beginning with a new film called Okja.

To recap, Dolby Atmos is mean to make the soundscape in content more immersive. From Netflix:

Much like how 4K and HDR bring more stunning and realistic visuals to the screen, Dolby Atmos delivers captivating sound that places and moves audio anywhere in the room, including overhead, to bring entertainment to life all around you, all in the comfort of your own living room.

Do note that the experience does require an Atmos-enabled home theater setup to work. You can also use Dolby Atmos for headphones via the Dolby Access app on the Xbox Store. Content is important, too; Netflix has outlined its initial lineup of Atmos titles will include:

  • Okja (June 28)
  • BLAME! (July 28)
  • Death Note (August 25)
  • Bright (December)
  • Wheelman (2017)

Xbox One and Xbox One S are actually the first devices to support Netflix's Dolby Atmos streaming, though LG's 2017 OLED TVs will also support Atmos on Netflix when they arrive later this year. Just like 4K streaming, however, you will need to to be on Netflix's premium plan that offers Ultra HD support and streaming on up to 4 screens in order to stream Atmos audio.

Dan Thorp-Lancaster
Dan Thorp-Lancaster

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl. 

22 Comments
  • What about the Windows 10 app?
  • Tell you what Xbox One is by far the best all round media box money can buy.
  • Can they fix the bug of Netflix automatically kicking on HDR when launching the Netflix Xbox app? 
  • It's not a bug. If you have a HDR TV it will sync it. Why would you want it off? The colours are so much better its redicilous.
  • No, its a bug. It globally enforces HDR on app launch, first searing your retinas with the bloody white background they use these days , then ruining the majority of content that isn't hdr yet (or in my case my broadband can't handle even if uhd hdr versions are available). I have to disable the hdr signal on my HDMI if I am using the Netflix app; Amazon video doesn't seem to force it at app launch for instance. The blu-ray app doesn't force HDR on standard bluray either, just (correctly) when you insert a glorious uhd hdr disk (I don't own any non hdr UHD disks to test that, nor would I want to but I believe some do exist)
  • Mine only started displaying the HDR display on my TV when app started when upgraded my account to 4K. But when I use my old Xbox one upstairs it doesn't display hdr at all.
  • Hmm odd, my account isn't even 4k and it literally kicks in straight away. Have a quick search and you find a lot of threads on it. Perhaps its totally random. Seems to occur across brands from what I've seen, mines a Panny. Cheers for the extra detail on your side. Alex
  • A few questions... Do your TV have hdr and is it on? Has it happened on another TV?
  • Sadly I only have one HDR TV. Yep if I've had HDR enabled (games , uhd bluray) and it is still enabled when launch Netflix if immediately acts as if there is an HDR signal, brightness and contrast both to 100% (I have brightness at 10% for non hdr.. ). Seems I'm not alone https://www.reddit.com/r/xboxone/comments/5lndyj/xbox_one_s_netflix_app_...
  • No problem. I'm running LG tvs across my house. If that makes any difference i don't know. Maybe it is a random bug with certain models? Hopefully you can get a fix soon. It seems Netflix value the Xbox users. There must be a significant amount using Netflix through it. So hopefully fixes aren't to far away.
  • Double post.
  • My question is if Atmos audio is only available when watching 4K content?  If you have a regular Xbox One and thus can only watch 1080p content, can you still get the Atmos Audio?
  • I wonder also
  • For streaming it is available. They just need to stream the additional audio channels and let the receiver or XBox decode it. There are also some Blu-Ray (1080) disks that support ATMOS, since Blu-Ray supports multiple channels. All ATMOS is is just an additional audio channels that also has directional vectors encoded into it for placment of the audio in 3D space. Since streaming can be proprietary (NetFlix knows what their data formats are, Amazon knows what their data formats are, etc.) all they need to do is know to look for that additional data in the stream, seperate it from the other data, and send it to the receiver for pass through processing.
  • I get that, but Vudu for example supports Atmos, but only if you are streaming UHD content.  If you buy the UHD version but watch at HDX quality, you get Dolby Digital Plus audio and not Atmos.  
  • I don't get Dolby Digital Plus on Xbox One. Thought it was only limited to standard DD. You get that through VUDU on Xbox? 
  • It is up to the distributer and if they support it in their streaming format. If Vudu is using standard streaming codecs, I would say no because none of the codecs (I know of) that are built into web browsers support Atmos. But for streaming sites that control their streaming format, then they could. Vudu is one of those things, though, where just because the disk supported Atmos, it does not necessarily mean that they are going to stream it with the Atmos channels. THey should since Vudu is made up of the studios, but since a relatively small number of people have Atmos (I do and it is awesome) they probably don't see the need to hurry up and make it available.
  • Sounds good good me!!! I thought Xbox One S only was going to Support Dolby Atmos which is why we bought a UBD player, but Dolby Atmos on Netflix is really good news (if you have a Xbox) but I'm sure it will branch out on other devices sooner or later!!!! I like the fact Xbox keep updating their consoles with these technologies that an entertainment buff like myself cares about!!! Makes me happy to be a Xbox owner!!!! Nice one Xbox!!!!
  • Took them forever to add support for BD-R.
  • Will try atmos tonight!!!
  • a couple of key points, to get the higher quality audio formats on Xbox One, you must enable bitstream pass-through both in the Blu-Ray settings page and audio settings page. I also discovered that VUDU does not automatically select the best performance option when using their app. Within the app itself you need to go to settings and enable HDX or UHD (depending on your display of course).
  • And just in time, Xbox one now also supports Atmos on stereo headphones!