Eclipsa Audio Eclipsa Audio (built on AOMedia IAMF, Immersive Audio Model and Formats)

What Eclipsa Audio is

Eclipsa Audio is a brand, and IAMF is the specification underneath it. Google's open source blog describes Eclipsa Audio as "the brand name for a new, open-source 3D spatial audio technology" built on the Alliance for Open Media's IAMF. IAMF stands for Immersive Audio Model and Formats, and the AOM page calls it an audio container specification for streaming, gaming, AR, VR and broadcasting. Google and Samsung developed it with other contributors inside AOM, and the January 2025 launch post says IAMF is released under the AOM royalty-free license.

The distinction matters for searches and for shopping. "IAMF" is the standard a developer implements. "Eclipsa Audio" is the consumer badge Samsung and Google planned to certify with the Telecommunications Technology Association (TTA) in Korea, so a TV or soundbar that carries the badge has passed a quality program. Samsung's January 2025 announcement states that it is the first company to adopt the format and that the certification work is under way with Google and TTA.

How IAMF works

Google is blunt about the architecture: "IAMF itself is not a codec but a container format." It can carry audio compressed by Opus, PCM, AAC and FLAC, and the specification text says this version supports four codecs (Opus, AAC-LC, FLAC and LPCM). The model is built from Audio Elements that are rendered and mixed into one or more presentations, and an element can be channel-based, scene-based, or object-based.

Channel-based elements use loudspeaker layouts. The specification lists Mono, Stereo, 5.1, 5.1.2, 5.1.4, 7.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.4, 3.1.2 and Binaural, plus expanded layouts including 9.1.6 and 10.2.9.3. Google cites Rec. ITU-R BS.2051-3 for layouts like 5.1.2 and 7.1.4. Scene-based elements are ambisonics: the spec adopts the AmbiX format, which uses ACN channel ordering and SN3D normalization.

Profiles cap how much a stream can carry. IAMF v1.0 (Simple profile) allows 1 audio element and up to 16 channels. IAMF v1.1 Base allows 2 audio elements and up to 18 channels. IAMF v1.1 Base Enhanced allows 28 audio elements and up to 28 channels. Counting channels in the listed layouts shows what that means: 5.1.2 is 8 channels, 7.1.4 is 12 channels and 9.1.6 is 16 channels, so v1.0 Simple's 16-channel cap just fits a 9.1.6 layout, while the 10.2.9.3 layout needs the larger profiles. The specification defines six profiles in total (Simple, Base, Base-Enhanced, Base-Advanced, Advanced-1 and Advanced-2), and the AOM page links both v1.0 (with errata) and v1.1.

Ambisonics shows how the caps bite. A full-sphere ambisonic scene of order N needs (N+1)^2 channels, which is arithmetic rather than a figure from the specification: first order is 4 channels, second order 9, third order 16, fourth order 25 and fifth order 36. The 16-channel Simple profile therefore tops out at third order, the 28-channel Base Enhanced profile at fourth order, and a fifth-order scene would exceed every profile named above.

Eclipsa Audio vs Dolby Atmos

Both are immersive formats that describe where sound should come from rather than which speaker plays it. The practical differences sit in licensing, tooling and content.

Licensing: IAMF is royalty-free under the AOM license, with an open source reference decoder and test streams on AOMedia's GitHub. Dolby Atmos is a licensed Dolby technology. Tooling: Google points creators to the open source iamf-tools, which turn ADM-BWF, WAV or video inputs into MP4 files with IAMF audio using ffmpeg, plus the libiamf reference renderer and a browser-based binaural demo for checking a file. Google also announced a free Eclipsa plugin for Avid Pro Tools, expected in spring 2025.

Content is the weak point. The sources checked confirm one distribution path: YouTube began accepting Eclipsa Audio (IAMF v1.0) files in January 2025, and you can confirm a video carries it by finding "Eclipsa Audio" in the Settings menu or "iamf.001.001.Opus" under Codecs in Stats for nerds. Those sources do not confirm a catalog of Eclipsa movies on subscription streaming services, whereas DD+ JOC is the transport behind most streaming Dolby Atmos. Whether the format sounds better is untested here: no listening comparison was found, and the codec inside the container (Opus in YouTube's case) sets the bitrate, not IAMF itself.

For a deeper look at the incumbent, see Dolby Atmos and audio objects vs bed channels.

Where Eclipsa Audio lives

Samsung is the anchor. Its newsroom says Eclipsa Audio "will be available across Samsung's 2025 TV lineup, from Crystal UHD to Neo QLED 8K" and in the 2025 soundbar range. In 2026 soundbars, an eCoustics roundup reports that the HW-Q990H supports Dolby Atmos and DTS:X as well as Eclipsa Audio, with an 11.1.4 layout (three front channels, two side-firing, two wide-firing, four rear, four upfiring, and a subwoofer) at a $1,999.99 launch price. The same roundup lists the HW-QS90H as supporting all three formats, while the HW-Q900H and HW-Q800H support Eclipsa and Atmos but not DTS:X.

On the platform side, Android 16 for TV adds platform Eclipsa Audio codec support, but Google's developer page notes this is only available on Android TV hardware; for earlier platform versions it points to ExoPlayer's IAMF decoder module. Google's launch post also listed native playback in Chrome and a future Android AOSP release as planned, and neither was confirmed as shipped in the sources loaded for this entry. Check a specific model's spec page before assuming support: Samsung's own product pages and a TV's audio settings are the only reliable confirmation.

Common confusions

Eclipsa is not a codec. A file labeled Eclipsa Audio is an MP4 with an IAMF stream, and the audio inside is still Opus, AAC, FLAC or PCM. A player needs an IAMF renderer, not just a codec.

Channel count is not object count. A 7.1.4 layout is 12 channels (7 bed, 1 LFE, 4 height). The v1.0 Simple profile tops out at 16 channels and one element, so a v1.0 stream such as a YouTube upload is a modest scene compared with what v1.1 Base Enhanced allows at 28 elements and 28 channels.

Having the badge does not mean your sound improves. A soundbar that decodes IAMF still plays a rendered mix through its own drivers. On a bar like the HW-Q990H, the 11.1.4 speaker array decides how convincing height effects are, and the format only supplies the instructions.

Knowledge boundary. The certification and brand licensing program Google and Samsung planned for 2025 had no published terms in the sources checked, so what a manufacturer must meet to carry the logo is not documented here.