Information Additional

Glossary

Surround sound

Sound that consists of three elements: direct sound, early reflected sound (early reflections) and reverberative sound (reverberation). The acoustics of the surrounding space affect the way these three sound elements are heard. Surround sound combines these sound elements in such a way that you actually can sense the size of the venue, as well as its type.

• Types of sound

Reverberation

Early reflections

Direct sound

• Transition of sound from rear speakers

Direct sound

Level

Early

reflections Reverberation

Early reflection time

Time

Dolby Pro Logic Surround

As one method of decoding Dolby Surround, Dolby Pro Logic Surround produces four channels from two- channel sound. Compared with the former Dolby Surround system, Dolby Pro Logic Surround reproduces left-to-right panning more naturally and localizes sounds more precisely. To take full advantage of Dolby Pro Logic Surround, you should have one pair of rear speakers and a center speaker. The rear speakers output monaural sound.

Dolby Digital (AC-3)

This sound format for movie theaters is more advanced than Dolby Pro Logic Surround. In this format, the rear speakers output stereo sound with an expanded frequency range and a subwoofer channel for deep bass is independently provided. This format is also called “5.1” because the subwoofer channel is counted as 0.1 channel (since it functions only when a deep bass effect is needed). All six channels in this format are recorded separately to realize superior channel separation. Furthermore, since all the signals are processed digitally, less signal degradation occurs. The name “AC-3” comes from the fact that it is the third audio coding method to be developed by the Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation.

Digital Cinema Sound

This is the generic name of the surround sound produced by digital signal processing technology developed by Sony. Unlike previous surround sound fields mainly directed at the reproduction of music, Digital Cinema Sound is designed specifically for the enjoyment of movies.

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