On Oscar Night, nominees and VIPs seated in the orchestra and parterre of the Dolby Theatre will be the first to celebrate in the exclusive Dolby Lounge since it was redesigned to show “what sound looks like.” On one of the walls, Ray Dolby's 1988 Oscar statuette sits behind glass.
A fabric ceiling was designed to create the "look" of a sound wave.
The Dolby Lounge has a 7.1 Surround Sound installation. Behind the bar is an 84-inch display that will show a live feed of the Oscars broadcast.
The 85th Academy Awards will be presented on Feb. 24. Final voting for the Oscars ends at 5 p.m. PT Feb. 19.
The Oscar ceremony will be televised live on ABC and in more than 225 countries worldwide.
The Academy Awards have previously been broadcast in 5.1, but this year “the amount of material going out [that originates in] in 5.1 is greater, including the nomination clips," according to David Gray, Dolby’s vp of worldwide production services. “Even [when it is played in] stereo it seems to have better quality.”
Following the Oscar telecast, 1,500 guests will attend the Governors Ball in The Ray Dolby Ballroom on the top level of the Hollywood & Highland Center. Academy governor Jeffrey Kurland, event producer Cheryl Cecchetto and master chef Wolfgang Puck will create the event.
The 85th Academy Awards will be the first Oscar ceremony to be presented in 5.1 surround sound inside the theater. After Dolby obtained naming rights to the theater in 2012, it installed a new sound system.
Dolby's assistance in the 5.1 broadcast of the Academy Awards started in at the venue then know as Kodak Theatre in 2002.
Pictured at the June 11 unveiling of the rechristened Dolby Theatre are Tom Sherak, then-president of the Academy; Kevin Yeaman, Dolby’s president and CEO; and Ramzi Haidamus, executive vp marketing and business development at Dolby.