 | Dolby Prologic Surround: This option provides full surround sound,
especially for those tape or discs encoded for Dolby, Dolby Surround and THX. It
puts you in the middle of the action, makes you feel like you are in the scene. |
| Studio Effect: This option gives the listener the feeling of being in a
recording studio. The front speakers provide normal stereo while the rear speakers provide
a subtly reverberated sound. This mode is especially good for live music recordings or
stereo movies not filmed in a surround sound format. |
| Simulated Surround: This provides a simulated surround sound for tapes
and recordings made in mono. Try some old movies on this and it will sound like you are at
the old time movie house only better! |
| Dolby 3CH Logic: This option produces a more spacious sound field than
possible with normal stereo playback. It combines the front and rear speakers for a more
spacious feel. The channel's sound is sent to the front speakers. Good if you have not yet
purchased the rear speakers. |
| Dolby 5.1 (AC-3): The holy grail of home theater. Full six channel
surround sound. Make the most of each speaker. Each of six speakers is separately encoded
for the best sound. The 5.1 comes from the five normal speakers (front, rear and center)
while the .1 refers to the effects sub woofer. |
| DTS: This method of audio encoding is becoming more popular especially
with newer DVD players. The sound is crisp and clear but there is a price, it takes up
about four times the space as Dolby 5.1. As such, many DTS encoded discs do not have the
extra features found in Dolby 5.1 discs. As with Dolby 5.1 each of six channels has
it's own encoding. It is downward compatible with other means of encoding so you can play
DTS discs on your current system and upgrade to a DTS decoder later. After obtaining a DVD
player with DTS capabilities I was able to compare DTS directly with Dolby 5.1. The DTS
did seem to be crisper and provide a cleaner separation, especially with the surround
tracks. When playing the DTS disc through a Dolby 5.1 processor some of this clarity
appeared to have been diminished. As my collection of DTS discs grows I'll report more
here. |
| THX: This is not really a sound option but I include it here because
many think of it in such a light. THX is a standard set by LucasSound to
guarantee the reproduction of a film is what the director intended. There are two many
divisions of the THX standard, theater and home. For the home the media must come up to
strict standards of audio and video reproduction. For an explanation of THX see the THX section. |
| Dolby ES 6.1: This format is brand new and not found in home systems,
yet. It made it's premiere with the Star Wars prequel, Phantom Menace. There is an added
channel from 5.1, a center rear speaker. This fills out the sound field and adds to the
realism dramatically. Theatrically, Phantom Menace was released in several formats
including 5.1, DTS, SDDS, and ES 6.1. All are approved for THX. The Haunting was
released with a Dolby ES 6.1 sound track that is downwardly compatible with Dolby 5.1
equipment. The seventh channel is just waiting there for the receiver to catch up with it. |
| DTS 6.1 EX: Similar to Dobly ES 6.1 but with the higher bit rate and
lower compression typical of DTS. Also this format can be either
matrixed or discrete. With matrixed the rear center channel is derived from
the two regular rear channels. With discrete there is a separate channel for
the rear center. Matrixed is also available with the discrete format to
permit downward compatibility with six channel DTS systems. |
| SuperBit: This is a new method of bandwidth allocation and not really a
sound format. It was produced by Sony Labs and released through Columbia/TriStar. In most
DVDs the audio track is highly compressed to permit the addition of extra features. This
results in a lower bitrate to the decoder lower than the 10mbps top rate. With SuperBits
the extras are removed permitting the space for rather uncompressed Dolby 5.1 and DTS on
the same disc. If this is done with the recent trend towards two disc sets. one disc for
the film the second for the extras, then the DVD owner will lose nothing. The first
SuperBit releases were released 10/9/01 and included Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
For a list of Superbit titles click here. |
| Hall: This mode emulates the reflection and spread of a large concert
hall. Use it for recordings of concerts and plays. |
| Club: Get the feel of a small jazz club with the simulation of the hard
reflective surfaces and low ceilings of such a place. The sound from the performers are
enhanced. |
| Live: Mainly for vocal recordings and small groups. Great for use with
your CD collection. |
| Theater: In this mode you can clearly perceive the directions and
source of the sounds. This mode is perfect for stereo sources not encoded with Dolby
Surround. Try it with classical music, plays and for that great old movie theater
sound with mono or stereo films. |
| Simulated Surround: Its just what is sounds like, an electronic
simulation of surround sound. This processes stereo audio sources into something that is
similar to ProLogic. |
| Three Channel Stereo: This mode takes the dialogue and pushes it to the
center speaker. It nicely emulates the sound of a smaller movie theater, like the ones in
most neighborhoods. |
