Other B-Format decoding

B-Format as a professional's open ended format is becoming even more common as multi-channel demand grows. The accuracy, simplicity and flexibility of B-Format is unsurpassed by any other system for defining 3 dimensional events in the professional environment. Decoding B-Format beyond 5.1 is not so far off in the future as it would seem. It is possible to decode B-Format right now into 6.1, 7.1, 10.1, 16.1 or even more channels using a sufficiently flexible analog addition/subtraction matrix. Traditional 5 channel (LCR, LR, RR) surround can be defined by using only the W reference and the X & Y components. If we choose to use Z (vertical) information as well, we can derive surround that includes vertical localization.

One example of surround with vertical localization is a B-Format to 10.1 system designed by Thomas Chen we saw at AES in San Francisco in 1998. Basically its an "upper" 5 channel and "lower" 5 channel system, offering similar horizontal localization to traditional surround systems but adding vertical components for precise up/down localization.