DIRECTV’s Gemini Air has been one of the company’s best and most successful product launches. Folks just love the small size, voice-activated remote, and the ability to run DIRECTV’s internet streaming service alongside all the most popular apps. Personally I’m impressed by how easy it is to use and how it runs on USB-C power. The Gemini Air has gotten so popular that even home theater enthusiasts are getting interested in it. And that’s led to the question at the top of this article.
Real quick, what is “Dolby Audio” anyway?
When TV first started, all the sound was mono. In the 1980s, stereo was added. But that was just the beginning. Dolby Labs, a tech company that’s been around since the mid-20th century, has made it a mission to improve audio quality. They originally started with movie theaters but by the late 20th century they had moved on toward adding noise reduction to cassette tapes.
At the same time, Dolby was working on a system for TV that would allow for multiple channels. Just getting stereo from regular TV broadcasts took something of an engineering miracle, and it wouldn’t have been possible to have six channels of audio in a traditional broadcast. Dolby introduced the Pro Logic system which intelligently took two channels of audio and separated it into six channels. That was good enough… for a while.
When television went digital in the US in the 2000s, the broadcast standard was revised to allow for 5.1-channel digital sound using the Dolby Digital audio encoding scheme. As good as that sounded, it wasn’t enough. Dolby introduced ever-more-complex sound schemes until in 2012 when they introduced Dolby Atmos. Dolby Atmos allows for 128 discrete channels, and more importantly uses software to interpret those channels for however many speakers you have.
With today’s Dolby Audio systems, with as little as one sound bar you can get immersive audio… as long as the device you’re using supports it.
Getting back to the question
All of DIRECTV’s current products, including the Gemini Air, support Dolby Audio. This includes the ability to decode TV broadcasts in 5.1-channel, all the way up to decoding content in Dolby Atmos.
However, keep in mind that the sound you’ll actually get depends on the source. If you’re watching DIRECTV Satellite or DIRECTV via Internet, you will get 5.1-channel audio on nearly every channel. (There are a few channels out there still broadcasting in mono to this day.) If you watch a pay-per-view movie, DIRECTV’s menus will tell you if it supports Atmos.
If you’re using another app on your Gemini or Gemini Air, Dolby Atmos is supported, but it’s up to that app to actually provide Dolby Atmos sound. In short, if you can get Dolby Atmos from something on Netflix on any other device, you’ll get Dolby Atmos from something on Netflix on the Gemini Air.
Does it really matter?
Honestly that’s up to you. There are a lot of people who are perfectly fine with the one speaker in their TV. They don’t need or want Dolby anything. But, if you’ve spent years perfecting your home theater, you’ll want Dolby Atmos. A home theater audio/video receiver with Dolby Atmos has the ability to reprocess every signal. That means no matter what the source, Dolby Atmos makes it better.
So, if you’re looking for a device that supports Dolby Audio in all its forms, you’ll be satisfied with the Gemini Air. Period. And if you want a Gemini Air, there’s one place to get it. Shop at Solid Signal for everything you need. If you need help deciding, call the experts! We’re here for you during East Coast business hours. Call us at 888-233-7563. If it’s after hours, no problem! Just fill out the form below. We’ll get right back to you.
