fullsurround

Fullsurround is a marketing and technical concept describing an integrated approach to immersive media that aims to deliver 360-degree coverage of sound and vision. In a fullsurround system, media content is captured, encoded, and played back using multiple channels and sensors to create a sense of being surrounded by sound and imagery. The term emphasizes seamless coverage around the listener or viewer, often incorporating head tracking or position tracking to maintain correct orientation as the viewer moves.

The term does not refer to a single standardized specification. Different manufacturers and studios may use fullsurround to describe their own configurations of cameras, speakers, and software. In practice, it commonly overlaps with 360 video, spherical audio, and immersive cinema concepts, drawing on technologies such as ambisonics or object-based audio, multi-speaker arrays, and spatial audio processing.

Key components typically include: panoramic video capture using 360-degree cameras; spatial or object-based audio with speakers arranged around a listening/viewing space; processing that aligns audio with video and viewer movement; and playback devices, including VR headsets, projection-based domes, or multi-display setups. Calibration and room acoustics are important for convincing immersion.

Applications span home theater, immersive cinema, virtual reality experiences, simulation training, and theme parks. Challenges include content availability, latency between capture and playback, cost and complexity of equipment, and the lack of universal standards. As technologies converge, fullsurround concepts often compete with or complement established formats such as 360 video, VR, and spatial audio ecosystems.

Related topics include 360 video, spatial audio, immersive cinema, and virtual reality.