Xperi, parent company of DTS, is at IFA to show off the latest updates to its Play-Fi wireless audio streaming platform. Found in products ranging from wireless speakers and sound bars to AV receivers and TVs, Play-Fi enables listeners to stream up to 24-bit/192kHz high-resolution audio with sub-1ms latency over Wi-Fi. -Fi from your home and also allows songs. Stream simultaneously on 16 separate devices at once.
The main update that Xperi showed off at IFA was wireless playback of immersive movie soundtracks to a 7.1.4 speaker setup. The source of the demo was a Play-Fi enabled Philips TV, streaming audio to a Philips Fidelio FB1 7.1.2 soundbar. Along with the FB1, that company's F1 wireless speakers were used for height and surround sound effects and its W1 wireless subwoofer for low-frequency effects.
Play-Fi can support dual subwoofer setups, which I wasn't aware of before. But we settled for a single sub for the Xperi 7.1.4 demo, which needed to be loud enough to sonically compete with the loud build equipment used to set up a nearby booth. (Ah, the dangers of IFA press day).
What impressed me most about the Play-Fi demo was the TV's simple home theater setup menu. With this, viewers with a Play-Fi-enabled TV (currently limited to Philips TVs) can access an on-screen menu to add soundbars and speakers and configure settings like speaker channels, speakers, levels and delays just as you would in an AV receiver's menu. .
But you don't necessarily need a Play-Fi-enabled TV to set up your 7.1.4 surround sound system, as the Play-Fi app gives you access to those same settings, too. However, if you have a Play-Fi TV, it can be referred to as a "speaker" in a multi-room setup, giving you another end point for whole-house music.
A second Play-Fi feature announced by Xperi at IFA is gapless music playback. This mostly relates to classical music where listeners may not want to experience audible gaps between sections of a symphony. Extended DJ mixes will also benefit from XNUMX/XNUMX Play-Fi.
The DTS Play-Fi product ecosystem now supports 400 products from 30 brands, and the company's licensee list continues to grow. At first, Play-Fi functioned primarily as a way to stream stereo music to all-in-one wireless speakers, but with the addition of multi-channel audio support, first 5.1 and now expanded to 7.1.4, the Play-Fi platform begins to look a viable replacement for hardware like AV receivers.
Using a TV as a wireless playback source for a Dolby Atmos sound bar plus surround speakers and a subwoofer is an easy and affordable way for viewers to access fully immersive, premium sound. And as DTS demonstrated at IFA, the simplicity of this process will make setup overwhelming for even casual users. Simply turn on the TV, select the wireless speakers you want it to sound from from an on-screen menu, and you're good to go.
Along with the updates, Xperi announced a new partnership at IFA with Vestal, maker of Toshiba and JVC-branded TVs, to bring Play-Fi wireless audio streaming technology to their TVs. Other partnership announcements include TCL and Hisense for that company's soundbars. Both brands are also growing rapidly, so if we see Play-Fi being integrated into their TVs in the future as well, it could spell the beginning of the end for the A/V receiver, and the start of a new era where the Immersive Experience Audio is made easier, more affordable, and generally more accessible.