Virtual Home Theater (VHT) is a multimedia player and desktop mirroring VR software that simulate the audio channels as virtual sound objects or virtual speakers, delivering true 3D spatial audio in VR, replacing the old 'head-locked' stereo audio technology.

The demo version has all the features of the purchased version, except that the utilization duration for each media file playback and desktop mirroring is limited to few minutes.

HARDWARE LIMITATIONS FOR VIDEO PLAYBACK IN VR

For 6K, 7K or 8K VR videos playback you need to have an NVIDIA GPU.

NVIDIA graphics cards:

• can play VR videos

• the maximum playback capability is up to 8K at 60 fps

• the maximum VR videos playback capability is up to 8K

AMD graphics cards:

• can’t play 6K+ VR videos

• can play 1080p and 4K videos

• the maximum videos playback capability is up to 4K at 60 fps

• the maximum VR videos playback capability is up to 5K

With Virtual Home Theater you can:

• watch 2D or 3D movies (up to 8K (7680x7680) 60fps, 4K 120fps, 10-bit, YUV 4:2:0) on a virtual big screen with virtual audio speakers (stereo, 5.1, 7.1, etc.) and subtitle

• listening to stereo, 5.1 and 7.1 surround channels music as on a real audio home theater system

• switch the audio track or the subtitle track

• listening to ambisonics audio

• watch VR videos in 180°, 200° fisheye and 360° format

• play non-VR games with 7.1 surround audio on a 7.1 virtual audio speakers

• play 3D stereoscopic SBS non-VR games on a stereoscopic virtual screen

• browsing or watching a media stream on a virtual desktop big screen with your default Windows audio device mirrored as virtual audio speakers inside of VHT

• mirror desktop multi-monitors layout and orientations

• view and slide show images (2D/3D, flat/180/360/fisheye)

• view transparent alpha channel 2D/3D PNG images or VP9 videos in a new way

• create, edit, share, load and enjoy themed environments or dioramas

• view in VR scenes from Daz Studio and Blender CGI software using VHT tools

Highlited advanced features:

• 6 DoF binaural audio rendering

• use of static and dynamic audio objects

• support for any discrete audio channel-to-speaker layout (e.g. 5.1.4, 9.1.6)

• HRTF selection

• virtual speakers playback

• ambisonics audio playback

• direct playback to a 5.1 or 7.1 surround home theater audio setup

• gamut mapping for video and images

• viewer for 3D stereoscopic transparent alpha channel images or videos

• 3D stereoscopic SBS non-VR game play support

• 3D stereoscopic VR 180 or 360 degree panoramic real-time bridge viewer for the following 3D modelling software: Daz Studio and Blender

• Advanced SubStation Alpha (ASS/SSA) V4+ subtitle format

It is recommended to use a quality flat-response studio/monitor headphones for a good audio soundstage.

Virtual Home Theater can use software or hardware video decoding.

Virtual Home Theater has one launch mode for SteamVR (OpenVR) API and another launch mode for Oculus API (PC VR HMD only; not for Quest).

Virtual Home Theater has many settings controls for a customized playback experience and performance tweaking.

Some of the main features are:

• HRTF-based 6 DoF real time binaural sound scene rendering for multiple sound sources and listener's head orientation (roll, pitch, yaw) and position (x, y, z)

• direct playback to a real home theater audio setup (stereo, quadraphonic, 5.1 or 7.1 surround real speakers)

• 200° FoV Fisheye VR videos (MKX200 and MKX22 lens support or any FoV possible lens type in mono, stereo or 360° format)

• VR 180° front dome, 360° sphere Equirectangular (EQR) and Equiangular cubemap (EAC) video mapping/projection

• multiple audio and video formats support

• stereoscopic 3D MPO (Multi Picture Object) image viewer

• multiple 3D video/image/desktop formats: half SBS, full SBS, etc. (MVC is not supported)

• opus, flac, DSD, AV1 and VP9 codecs support

• high-resolution audio format (>48kHz) playback support

• support hardware video decoding playback up to 8K (7680x7680) 60fps, 4K 120fps, 10-bit, YUV 4:2:0

• support software video decoding up to 8K (7680x7680), 10-bit, YUV 4:4:4

• support BT.601, BT.709 (sRGB), BT.2020 and DCI-P3 color space (auto sellection or manual overide)

• gamut mapping to BT.709, DCI-P3 or to the HMD's color gamut

• display video's native frame rate up to the HMD's frame rate

• up-sampling the video's native frame rate to the HMD's refresh rate by using frame interpolation

• smooth-playback capability to reduce flicker, judder and stutter for videos with different fps than the VR headset's fps

• video image filters (sharpen, etc.) and color correction

• support first-, second- and third-order ambisonics in the AmbiX and FuMa formats

• ambisonics + head-locked stereo audio format playback

• multiple HRTFs selections to match your head auditory characteristics

• 32 audio channel masks (simulated as virtual speakers, mirroring the audio output channels from played media's audio track)

• support for any non-standard discrete audio channel-to-speaker layout up to 16 channels (e.g. 5.1.4, 7.1.4, 9.1.4, 9.1.6)

• 27 audio channel layouts for non-ambisonics audio: mono, stereo, 2.1, surround, 5.1, 6.0, 7.1, Hexadecagonal (16 audio channels), etc...

• use a lower or higher order ambisonics fields (virtual speakers layouts) to play an ambisonics audio

• playback support for recorded binaural audio track

• change the virtual speakers position

• use your preferred headphones by selecting a different audio output device

• subtitles: internal (bitmap, text) and external: (.idx + .sub), .sup, .srt or .ass (v4+) format

• set the subtitles 3D depth

• track selection for audio, video and subtitle

• Unicode font support for non-Latin character used for subtitle and for media folder/file name

• support access to SMB network shared folders from a NAS (Network Attached Storage) system

• azimuth, zoom level and objects apparent size change for 180° and 360° videos

• change the audio offset azimuth from video image for 360° videos

• have a 'sneak peek' of your PC desktop (e.g. for internet browsing) when you watch a movie or listening to music within VHT

• desktop mirroring will mirror (show inside of VHT) your PC desktops screens (limited to the number of physical displays connected to your main GPU)

• desktop mirroring will mirror (simulate inside of VHT) your Windows default audio device channels output (no need to have real speakers connected to your PC) as virtual speakers

• play a non-VR 3D game in stereoscopic mode (Side-by-Side or interlaced) if the game support it

• virtual speakers layout and video screen re-position for a more comfortable experience in any sited position (e.g. lying on bed)

• show in real time a 3D surface or volumetric graph representation of sound waves pressure amplitude propagation from each virtual speaker

• support for 2D/3D, 180/360/fisheye images

• support for transparent alpha channel PNG images

• support for transparent GIFs

• support for transparent alpha channel videos

• file and folder keyword search filter

• filter files by media type

• sort files by name, date (created, modified or last accessed), size, duration or image resolution

• sort folders by name, date (created, modified or last accessed), size, files or folders content

• copy, move, rename or delete files or folders

• save time codes (timestamps, chapters) or favorite scenes (play segments) for a media file

• add a file or folder to favorites

• thumbnail preview for videos and image files

• thumbnail cover art preview for videos and audio files

• thumbnail scrubbing preview for videos, zoom and pan for images

• capture a 2D/3D video frame as a photo

• capure the VR view as a photo

• designed to render the media's video original encoded picture quality and format without degradation (original resolution, picture details, colors and frame rate)

• designed to render the media's audio track original encoded sound quality and layout without degradation or enhancements, as intended by media creator

• optimized code for speed and low installation folder size

• support for hybrid graphics systems

Benefits of Virtual Home Theater over a real home theater system:

• is less expensive

• you don't need to build it

• you can change position, size and shape of the screen

• you can change position of the virtual audio speakers

• no need to do a real mic calibration for your audio system

• high contrast and wide color gamut due to OLED technology used for some HMD displays

• no disturbed neighbors

• no heavy equipment to carry with you if you change your home location

• environment friendly due to less energy consumption than a complex audio/video system equipment

• other family members can enjoy their normal activity in the same room (no need to turn off the lights or lower the audio volume)

• no sound attenuation by obstructions

• no sound denaturation by walls reflections

• you can experience ambisonics audio