Sonos, Inc.

Richard Jackson

Hilmar Lehnert

Paul MacLean

Chris Davies

Roberto Maria Dizon

Andrew Lindley

Paul Peace

Multichannel audio playback devices and associated systems and methods are disclosed herein. In some examples, a first playback device is configured to receive a source stream of audio content comprising left, right and center input channels. In a first mode, the first playback device is configured to play back audio via a plurality of transducers based on the left, right, and center input channels. In a second mode, in which the first playback device is bonded to second and third playback devices, the first playback device is configured to (i) play back audio via the plurality of transducers based on at least the center input channel, (ii) cause audio to be played via the second playback device based on at least the right input channel, and (iii) cause audio to be played via the third playback device based on at least the left input channel.

Multichannel playback devices and associated systems and methods

An example computing device is configured to: display an interface that enables configuration of an audio subsystem within a local media playback system and includes one or more configuration options for the audio subsystem based on available playback devices of the local media playback system; receive a first input indicating a selection of a given configuration that comprises a given number of component playback devices each having a respective playback role; determine a set of playback devices that are available for selection as the component playback devices; display a respective visual representation for each component playback device; receive a respective input selecting a given playback device for each component playback device; configure the audio subsystem in accordance with the given configuration based on the selected playback devices; and cause the playback devices in the audio subsystem to play back audio content in synchrony based on their respective playback roles.

Techniques for intelligent home theater configuration

Embodiments disclosed herein address technical challenges arising when configuring a playback device and a display device to interoperate with each other in an entertainment system. Some embodiments include a playback device (i) receiving data from a display device connected to the playback device, (ii) sending a request for configuration instructions to a cloud computing system, wherein the request comprises the data received from the display device, and (iii) in response to sending the data received from the display device to the cloud computing system, receiving configuration instructions from the cloud computing system, wherein the configuration instructions are associated with the display device connected to the playback device.

Growing community of inventors

Boston, MA, United States of America

Richard Jackson