Home Theater: Surround Sound Formats teaches you about the many standards employed by TV and movie producers to encode the audio in the shows and films you watch. Your home theater equipment--AV receivers and Blu-ray players--then decode the audio to give you the effect you want. Tired of boring two-channel stereo? Apply a matrixed surround sound format like Dolby Pro Logic II or DTS Neo:6 and use *all* of your speakers!

2. Surround Sound
From the Kindle book
Home Theater
for the Internet Age
Formats

3. What are They?
 Surround sound formats = encoding/decoding
standards for home theater audio
 These formats are used by TV and movie
producers to enable surround sound in your
home theater (they encode this way)
 Equipment manufacturers, like for your AV
receiver or Blu-ray player, integrate decoding
hardware/software

4. Stereo Into Multi-channel
 Some audio encoding standards turn two-channel
stereo into multi-channel surround sound!
—This is called matrixed surround
—I call it “fake” surround sound, but it’s still great!
—I use it every day for streaming music from Pandora
 Dolby: Dolby Pro Logic II (DPL II)
– Takes standard stereo and creates 5.1
 DTS: DTS Neo:6
– Takes standard stereo and creates 6.1

5. True Surround Sound
 Some standards take multi-channel (5.1 or
greater) and reproduce it in your living room
 This is called discrete surround sound
– Other type: Matrixed = stereo into “fake” surround
 Examples: Dolby Digital and DTS Digital Surround
– Other discrete surround sound formats include
Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio

6. Why Should I Care?
 You can enjoy enveloping surround sound
instead of suffering with stereo
 You can choose from competing Dolby and
DTS standards to get the sound you want
 Utilize all of your surround sound speakers,
not just one or two
—You paid for them, after all

7. The Standards
 The following standards are built into most AV
receivers
 You can apply these standards to music as well
as movies
—Pandora or Spotify sounds bland? Put streaming
music through all of your home theater speakers
—Apply these to compact disc music also
 Use the right standard for the right type
of entertainment

8. Dolby Pro Logic II
 Turns stereo (two-channel) into 5.1 surround
—Known as DPL II
 Also Dolby Pro Logic IIx
—Turns stereo into 7.1 surround sound
—Uses rear center channels
 Also Dolby Pro Logic IIz
—Turns stereo or 5.1 into 9.1 surround sound
—Uses front height channels

9. DTS Neo:6
 Turns stereo signal into 6.1 surround
—Similar to Dolby Pro Logic II (5.1) or IIx (7.1)
 Most AV receivers support DTS Neo:6
—And Dolby Pro Logic II, so compare them
 Works fine on a 5.1 setup
—All of these standards are backward compatible

10. Dolby Digital
 Used by many movies on DVD, Blu-ray, or Netflix
—Dolby Digital is a discrete format, meaning 5.1 >> 5.1
 Not a matrixed format, meaning true 5.1
—No faking 5.1 surround from a two-channel signal
 Media encoded in DD sounds better than stereo
—This is genuine 5.1 surround sound; uses all speakers

11. DTS Digital Surround
 Identical to Dolby Digital in function
—5.1 surround encoded by film/TV producers
—Then decoded by your AV receiver or Blu-ray player
 True discrete 5.1 surround encoded
—5.1 surround encoded by film/TV producers
—Then decoded by your AV receiver or Blu-ray player
 Media encoded in DTS Digital Surround sounds
better than stereo
—True 5.1 surround sound; uses all speakers

12. Dolby Digital Plus
 Enhanced version of Dolby Digital
—Better compression for streaming media (Netflix) and
mobile devices (your tablet or smartphone)
 Can be decoded by any component with Dolby
Digital built in
—Also true discrete 5.1 encoding/decoding
 Common on Neflix; built into most components
—Better optimization of internet connections

13. Dolby Digital EX
 Like Dolby Digital, but for 6.1 surround
—Simply adds an additional rear channel to
compliment standard 5.1 surround sound
 Co-developed with THX
—Sometimes called THX Surround EX
 The evolution of the Dolby Digital standard

14. DTS-ES
 The “ES” stands for “Extended Sound”
—A 6.1 discrete format; true 6.1 encoding/decoding
—Simply adds an additional rear channel to
compliment standard 5.1 surround sound
 Just like Dolby Digital EX
—Both companies moving forward in surround
 The evolution of DTS surround standards

15. DTS Neo:X
 Takes stereo, 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1 and makes it 11.1!
—A matrixed system; not true 11.1 encoding
 You must own 12 speakers to utilize this
—Very few people have an 11.1 system
—This is a largely unused format unless more 11.1
systems are adopted by consumers
 Try convincing your spouse to install more
speakers (good luck)

16. Dolby TrueHD
 Lossless 7.1 discrete encoding/decoding standard
— The big deal here is not the 7.1, but rather the lossless
(uncompressed) audio
 Featured on most Blu-ray-based movies
— Blu-ray discs have the storage capacity for Dolby TrueHD
— Lossless audio is very big
 Not used for streaming media (Netflix and Hulu Plus)
— Uncompressed, lossless audio is simply too big to stream,
even on fast broadband internet connections

17. DTS-HD Master Audio
 Lossless 7.1 discrete encoding/decoding standard
—Just like Dolby TrueHD
 Featured on many Blu-ray-based movies
—Most Blu-ray movies support either Dolby TrueHD
or DTS-HD Master Audio
—Some movies on Blu-ray are encoded in both
and you get to decide (in setup menu)
 Not used for streaming media, like Netflix
—Like Dolby TrueHD, too big for streaming

18. These slides are
derived from
the Amazon
Kindle book
Home Theater for
the Internet Age

19. Other Books by Curt Robbins
 Understanding Personal Data Security
 Understanding Cutting the Cord
 Understanding Digital Music
 Understanding Home Theater

20. About Curt Robbins
 Blog: Middle Class Tech
 Flipboard magazine: Middle Class Tech
 Twitter: @CurtRobbins