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DTS 5.1 | 6.1 and 7.1 Surround |
DTS® (Digital Theater Systems) is an alterna- tive digital format competing with Dolby Digital in both movie theaters and home theater markets. The basic features and functions of the DTS system are similar to those of Dolby Digital (for example, 5.1 discrete channels), however the technical details of the compres- sion and decoding processes differ somewhat and a DTS decoder is required.
Like Dolby Digital, DTS can only be used on a digital recording and, therefore, is only available for home use on LaserDiscs, DVDs, or other digital formats. To use the
As with Dolby Digital 5.1, detection and proper decoding of DTS 5.1 signals is automatic.
NOTE: DVDs with a DTS soundtrack almost always have it configured as an option to the standard matrix Dolby Surround format. To use DTS, you may have to go to the setup menus at the beginning of the DVD and se- lect “DTS 5.1” instead of “Dolby Surround” or “Dolby Digital 5.1”. In addition, many DVD players have the DTS digital bitstream turned off by default and cannot output a DTS soundtrack, even if selected on the disc’s menu, until you activate the player’s DTS out- put. If you hear no sound the first time you attempt to play a DTS disc, you may have to go to the DVD player’s configuration menus and turn on the DTS bitstream. This is a one- time setting and need only be done once. See your DVD owners manual for details.
The
IIin that it is designed for playback of any 2- channel stereo recording, either
In 1999, the first Dolby Digital soundtrack was released to theaters with an additional cen- ter back surround channel, intended to increase the directional effects from behind the audi- ence. This additional surround channel is en- coded into the two existing surround channels in Dolby Digital 5.1, using a matrix encod- ing process similar to that used previously in Dolby Surround. This new extended surround capability is called Dolby Digital Surround EX.
DTS has added a similar capability for record- ing this extended surround information called
All of these systems are extensions of the ex- isting Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 digital surround sound formats. Users with one cen- ter back speaker (a 6.1 configuration) or two center back speakers (a 7.1 configuration) can take advantage of this extended surround in- formation. Users with traditional 5.1 channel systems can play Dolby Digital Surround EX or
If you have configured your system with one or two center back speakers, decoding of
The
6.1and 7.1 channel systems. The key ben- efit of Rotel XS is that it works at all times with all multichannel digital signals, even those that might not otherwise activate proper surround decoding for the center back channel(s). Al- ways active in any system configured with cen- ter back speaker(s), Rotel XS monitors the sur- round channels, properly decodes them, and distributes the extended surround channels to the center back speaker(s). Rotel XS works with
as well as
Other Formats
Three other digital formats are not surround sound formats at all, but rather systems for digital
The first is PCM
The second is HDCD® encoding for compact discs. This system uses a variety of enhance- ments to improve the sonic performance com- pared to standard audio CDs. These discs, labeled HDCD, can be played on standard CD players. However, when the digital sig- nal is decoded using an HDCD decoder like that in the
The
PCM
DSP (Digital Signal Processing)
Finally, one more related issue to be addressed is DSP modes. Unlike all of the formats men- tioned above, DSP is not a recording/play- back system. Instead, it is a digital process- ing feature of the
In general, DSP is used to create the ambience of a large listening environment: a jazz club, a concert hall, a stadium, etc. It uses digital processing to delay the signal to various speak- ers and mix in various levels of reverberation. Its use is strictly a matter of personal taste.