At the entrance of Dolby headquarters in San Francisco, a ribbon of television screens plays synchronised videos that change in time to sound effects.
The display mirrors Dolby’s recent efforts to move beyond sound enhancement to improve what people see when they watch films.
Several of the movies up for Oscars on Sunday in Los Angeles were made with Dolby Vision, which has become an industry standard for image quality in movies.
Best picture nominees The Martian and The Revenant,” as well as Pixar’s animated film Inside Out used the technology.
“We’re predominately known and associated with audio, but we spent the last decade working on imaging,” Dolby director of content and creative relations Stuart Bowling told AFP.
Since the company launched its Dolby Vision in 2014, an array of television makers and major Hollywood studios have adopted the technology, which produces wider ranges of colour and contrast.
Even though the number of pixels that can be captured in films has exploded, “we found something was missing everywhere: contrast,” Mr Bowling said.
“Adding more contrast makes a significant impact on the image; it looks sharper, more vibrant, more colour-saturated and then almost 3D,” he added.
The difference becomes clear watching two high-definition televisions side-by-side.
