Why would the Dolby Theater have a fantom center?
The theatre would have a discrete centre, but the content being played isn't using it, because the mixer mixed to a phantom centre.
Dr Olive posted similar content on FB:-
Sean Olive on FB, 21/5/23:
"Dear ATMOS mixers: please give me a real center channel vocalist. My center channel is up to the task and I have it at the right height. I appreciate the stable localization, low coloration, better intelligibility, and freedom to move out of the sweet spot. I sometimes have friends over who also appreciate hearing proper spatial audio without having to sit in my lap. Thank you."
Sean Olive on FB, 22/5/23:
"X (way off stage) is where I approximately heard the main vocalist at Dolby Theater HQ in San Francisco when a mixer played his ATMOS mix with phantom center. When I asked him (the mixer) if that is what the artist intended he said he doesn't mix for people sitting outside the sweet spot. Apparently the 100+ other people in the audience not sitting in the sweet spot don't matter. Only a select few who arrived early and knew where to sit heard what the artist intended. …The people on the stage that day repeated the claim that atmos translates what they hear in the studio to outside the studio no matter the playback setup or space. Consumers hear what the artist intended.
"But the phantom center only guarantees that 1 person sitting in the correct seat will hear what the artist intended. The rest will hear a distortion of their intent. What I am repeatedly told by mixers and record labels is that consumers not sitting in the sweet spot don't matter.
"So we are essentially listening to an enhanced version of 75 year old technology called stereo because of archaic mixing practices mandated by record labels. Maybe call it ATMOS Stereo with Ambience?"
[edit: please note that Dr Olive is referring to
music mixes to Atmos, hence both his posts mention "the vocalist". It is not a generic criticism of all Atmos AV soundtracks or of the format itself.]