No ATMOS streaming from Tidal
I signed up for Tidal today after finding that they were streaming music in ATMOS and was happy to see it available on my ROKU. I can get ATMOS through DD2 from Disney+ so I know my set up is capable...
Forum Discussion
When will Atmos on Tidal be supported by Roku? All the other appropriate apps can handle Atmos, please make it happen!!
Ya, can it be just Roku update Tidal capable Dolby Atmos music streaming via their Firmware update.
Yazid wrote:
Ya, can it be just Roku update Tidal capable Dolby Atmos music streaming via their Firmware update.
A firmware update wont update the Tidal app, though they could be linked (some apps/app versions are in fact - they are updated immediately following the firmware update, as the newer app version/build requires a newer firmware version/build)
The real limitation/issue with Tidal Atmos on Roku devices are how Tidal packages Atmos and the RokuOS itself.
Tidal requires a HiFi Plus subscription in order to get Atmos, and HiFi Plus requires a device capable of 24-bit/192Khz playback for the highest quality.
Recent Roku hardware (e.g. Realtek RTD131x SoCs) is more than capable of 24-bit/192Khz playback, but RokuOS itself does not expose/allow that functionality via APIs/etc to apps.
(Ironically the Atmos content itself is streamed via EAC3/JOC (DD+/Atmos) and doesnt even use/require the 24-bit/192Khz playback, and all Roku devices going back several years are easily capable of such bitstreamed playback output, but due to how Tidal arbitrarily (not technically) links Atmos to HiFi Plus and its 24-bit/192Khz capable devices requirement, Roku devices are excluded)
This in fact limits all sorts of apps/content/scenarios on the Roku platform, most of which are high/higher/highest quality music/audio oriented (this includes all the highest playback levels of music services such as Amazon Music/Tidal/etc as well as user-provided content via local playback)
Roku would need to do a significant redesign of RokuOS itself, and that is unlikely to happen (Roku releases very incremental updates to RokuOS). The good news: if that ever did happen, it would not only open the Tidal Atmos/HiFi Plus door fully, but the Amazon Music Ultra HD et al doors as well.
Again, the likelihood of any of that happening soon (within the next year or three) is very low, but you can always petition Roku: https://community.roku.com/t5/Suggest-a-Feature/bd-p/Wishlist
