- Eclipsa Audio is a new rival to Samsung and Google’s Dolby Atmos
- LG TVs will support the audio format involved, but not the name
- It all depends on which bit is open source and which requires a license
Recently, I covered the news of a report that LG is adding Eclipsa Audio support to its 2026 TVs and some 2025 TVs. However, LG has now clarified to TechRadar that while Eclipsa Audio sources should work technologically on its TVs, the company does not support the Eclipsa Audio name.
What exactly is happening? There are four layers to this onion, so let’s peel them one by one.
1. What is Eclipsa Audio in general terms?
Eclipsa Audio is the name of a new 3D audio format to rival Dolby Atmos. It is based on a new free and open technology. The idea is to reduce the financial barriers to entry into spatial audio for small creators in particular, and to enable broad use of spatial audio across all types of video and audio.
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Samsung was one of the companies most involved in its creation, and you can learn more about the logic behind it in our interview with the VP of Samsung Audio Labs.
2. What is the technology behind Eclipsa Audio?
The audio technology behind Eclipsa Audio is called IAMF (Immersive Audio Model & Format), and it is an open source audio data container for adding 3D feel position information to audio formats, including pitch information. Its development was led by Samsung and Google.
As a free and open format, anyone can implement it without paying any fees or royalties for its use, as long as they follow the rules of the open source license under which it is available.
3. What’s up with the name Eclipsa Audio?
Eclipsa Audio is the name that Google and Samsung have chosen as a user-friendly brand for the IAMF 3D format. However, even though IAMF is free for all, the name Eclipsa Audio is not.
It is part of a “brand certification and licensing program” run by Google and Samsung, to “provide quality assurance to manufacturers and consumers for products supporting Eclipsa Audio.”
So if companies want to claim they support Eclipsa Audio, they need approval from Google and Samsung, including providing access to upcoming products for certification.
4. So what does LG support?
LG fully supports IAMF technology, but has chosen not to participate in Google and Samsung’s certification and licensing program, so the Eclipsa Audio name will not appear on its products.
It’s confusing, but it makes sense. If you were LG’s TV team, would you want to send your latest new products to Samsung before launch for approval?
As it stands, anything that supports IAMF should work fully with LG-compatible TVs – meaning if a video on YouTube says it supports Eclipsa Audio, it should deliver the full experience on an LG TV. It’s just that LG can’t call it Eclipsa Audio in its settings or info screens while playing.
5. Which LG TVs support Eclipsa Audio?
According to the original report from FlatpanelsHD, all 2026 LG TVs will support IAMF audio, and it will also be added to select 2025 TVs: the LG G5, LG C5, LG CS5, and LG QNED9M.
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