Everyone wants to hear true-to-life sound when they’re enjoying the latest blockbuster, but how can you tell what sound format will give you ear-splitting, jaw-dropping, mind-blowing audio? Along with the advent of HD video came a whole host of HD audio to match. Blu-Ray discs and players offer special audio formats like surround sound and THX-certified sound. If you find yourself scratching your head when trying to decipher the difference between sound formats, read on.
There are some basic differences between all of the sound formats available for home theaters. Some require, for the best sound, multiple speakers. Others require at least five or seven, which make them surround sound. The two main audio companies that produce the majority of the sound formats for today’s movie DVDs and Blu-Ray discs are Dolby Laboratories and Digital Theater Systems. They are very similar, with two main differences: DTS audio is usually compressed at a lower rate than Dolby, meaning that it will sound clearer once it is uncompressed, but Dolby is more popular and more widely used across the board for both DVDs and Blu-Rays. And within each of these labels is a whole array of different sound formats designed for different experiences.
Dolby Surround audio format uses four speakers – the two front speakers and two rear ones to give a surround sound feeling. You’ll be amazed at what those two rear speakers can do if you have a properly configured home audio setup. Dolby Surround Pro Logic uses five speakers. It builds on the four speakers in the Dolby Surround setup, and adds a single center channel for a more robust sound. This center channel will also improve the quality of dialog, and of the more subtle nuances in your movie sound. DTS makes a 5.1 channel surround sound format as well, and it is the basic standard when considering non-HD sources.
A step above these sound formats is the Dolby Digital Pro Logic II, which is a 5.1 surround sound format. It basically includes three front speakers (one center, one left and one right), and adds two rear surrounds. Moving up from the 5.1 surround sound, Dolby has created Dolby Digital EX and DTS has a format known as DTS-ES, which are both 6.1 channel surround sound formats. Not being very popular, these format adds a center rear speaker to the two rear left and right surround speakers.
Moving up is the 7.1 surround sound. This is the standard high definition sound format, and it includes the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. If your Blu-Ray offers these formats, you can be assured that you’ll get the best, lossless, most true-to-life sound possible. These formats add an additional two rear channels to the 5.1 surround sound basic setup. But that’s not why these audio formats are the best – they are encoded exactly like the master audio that the studio created, meaning that you will not lose a single whisper of a blade of grass when the sound is transferred from production to your disc.
Be sure to keep in mind that not all DVD or Blu-Ray players can decode all audio formats. Because of different compression rates, you may need an external decoder to play the top-of-the-line audio formats. Your home theater speaker layout will also determine the level of audio quality you achieve.
Tags: audio/video, Home Theater, Speakers
