Pepsi to Dolby's Coke, DTS is also a digital surround format that's most often encoded at 5.1-channels for program material. On Blu-ray and HD DVD Dolby Digital maxes out at 640kbps. On broadcast and DVD it's common for DD soundtracks to max out at 384kbps for all six channels in a 5.1-channel program (though they occasionally go as high as 448kbps). Even a mono (single-channel) soundtrack can be encoded as Dolby Digital.ĭolby Digital is what's known as a "lossy" compression format because it employs massive amounts of data reduction. In addition to being ubiquitous on DVD, DD is currently found on HDTV broadcasts over-the-air, on cable and satellite, as well as gaming, next-gen HD media and many more applications.Īlthough Dolby Digital can, and most often does carry up to 5.1 channels, this does not mean that all programs carry a 5.1-channel soundtrack.
When done correctly, this combination can transport the listener to wonderful places.ĭolby Digital first became available on Laserdiscs, but went on to become the official audio standard for DVD, meaning that all DVDs are required to carry audio in the Dolby Digital format. The LFE channel is (usually) reproduced by a subwoofer, which can be placed in a variety of locations. The front soundstage is comprised of a left, right, and center channels, with left and right surround channels at the sides or rear as well. If you ever wondered, here's what it means: The number refers to an array of five full-range channels capable of cleanly reproducing both the highs and lows of a typical movie soundtrack, plus a low-frequency effects (LFE) channel that operate within a fraction (".1") of the audio spectrum, producing deep bass only. You've been hearing the term "5.1" applied to home theater for years now. Both companies offer a variety of ways to decode 5.1-channel soundtracks, and both companies offer decoding features that can decode stereo and 5.1-channel soundtracks to 6.1- or 7.1-channels.
Two companies dominate the surround sound decoding business, offering all-digital, 5.1-channel surround sound in two primary formats- Dolby Digital and DTS. You don't really have to pick and choose among them since they're all included, but we thought that you might want to know what you're buying in all those little logos that appear on your AVR's front panel, and also get a basic primer on surround sound in general. Shopping for an AVR you're going to be confronted with sheer tonnage of surround sound decoding options.
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