Billiardicus Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 Hi all, I've got another newbie question for you guys: Are new DVD's recorded in Dolby Digital/DTS or do you have to buy specially recorded ones? I noticed that some of them state "surround sound" while others don't. Just got my Denon 2200, and now it's time start a DVD collection. I don't want to waste money on DVD's that don't have surround sound. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
damonrpayne Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 Any DVD will list the available soundtracks on the back. Anything listing Dolby or DTS 5.1 and/or 6.1 will have surround. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBrennan Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 You mean you don't want to have Gone With The Wind, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Sunset Boulevard, The Searchers, Our Daily Bread and Touch of Evil simply because they don't have surround sound? Hmmm. I suppose Sunrise, Broken Blossoms and Birth of a Nation are out of the question. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 DOLBY DIGITAL or DOLBY 5.1 are synonomous. Look for that on the DVD. DTS is also available, but I've heard rumors that DTS is no longer viable. DD is much better sounding IMO. DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoker Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 Dolby and DTS are two types of sound formats. DTS is either 5.1 or 6.1 channels. If it's in 6.1 it will say on the back DTS-ES. Dobly Digital on the other hand has many different channels. The old Dobly Surround is typically 4.0, but there is 2.0 along with 5.1 and 6.1. The 6.1 Dobly is listed as DD-EX. Dolby Digital is the standard formatt for DVD's. These are special only with only DTS but they are very rare and described as such. Some times a DVD will include DTS along with DD. Check the back of the DVD and it wlll list the sound formats. As far as DTS not viable in another responce, I have not heard of DTS dicontinuing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.4knee Posted August 11, 2004 Share Posted August 11, 2004 Excellent choice for a player I just got the same one. It sounds great; I was astounded at the performance for the price. As stated by others the formats are listed on the reverse side of the case or imprinted on the disk label. I would not exclude all non-surround sound movies, most of your classics were not recorded that way. I would hate to miss out on a chance to get a classic such as the ones T Brennan mentioned or some of the Disney classics just because of their lack of surround sound. These films will be just as enjoyable as they ever were regardless of their audio format. In some cases remixing of the audio track from these old master recordings results in a poorer quality sound. It is largely dependent on the process used and the engineer. I have a DTS CD version of Wings "Venus and Mars" and it sounds like the engineer was severely impaired when he/they remixed it into multi-channel sound. It sounds like they just hap-hazardly picked out which channel would get which instrument/vocal track. Very disappointing IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerohm Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 ---------------- On 8/11/2004 12:47:54 PM D-MAN wrote: DOLBY DIGITAL or DOLBY 5.1 are synonomous. ---------------- Not really! "... Don't assume that the Dolby Digital label is a guarantee of 5.1 channels. A Dolby Digital soundtrack can be mono, dual mono, stereo, Dolby Surround stereo, etc. For example, Blazing Saddles and Caddyshack have monophonic soundtracks, so the Dolby Digital soundtrack on these DVDs has only one channel. Some DVD packaging has small lettering or icons under the Dolby Digital logo that indicates the channel configuration. In some cases, there is more than one Dolby Digital version of a soundtrack: a 5.1-channel track and a track specially remixed for stereo Dolby Surround. It's perfectly normal for your DVD player to indicate playback of a Dolby Digital audio track while your receiver indicates Dolby Surround. This means the disc contains a two-channel Dolby Surround signal encoded in Dolby Digital format." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gcoker Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 jerohm, you said it better then I was trying to say. Dobly Digital has many types of channels. Only DTS is minimum 5.1 sound. There is no 2.0 4.0 or so with DTS. And only DTS 6.1 is true 6 channel sound. DD-EX is a matrixed rear surround. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 ---------------- On 8/13/2004 9:17:01 AM jerohm wrote: ---------------- On 8/11/2004 12:47:54 PM D-MAN wrote: DOLBY DIGITAL or DOLBY 5.1 are synonomous. ---------------- Not really! & ---------------- I think that you are getting previous versions of DOLBY PRO-LOGIC confused with DOLBY DIGITAL. DOLBY specifically renamed and trademarked "DOLBY DIGITAL" as being discrete multiple channel digital recordings of at least 5 channels, i.e., it replaced the previous reference(s) of "DOLBY 5.1" on some earlier DVDs. Other mono tracks, PRO-LOGIC, etc. are not referred to as DOLBY DIGITAL according to the trademark registration with the USPTO. DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Olorin Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 I think that's not necessarily true. I'll dig up the reference later when I have more time, but my recollection is that 5.1 indicates UP TO 5 discrete full-range audio channels plus UP TO 1 low frequency effects channel, with only 1 full range and 0 LFE channels being mandatory. It is therefore possible to have a Dolby Digital 1.0 soundtrack, such as "Blazing Saddles." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jerohm Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 ---------------- On 8/13/2004 12:33:57 PM D-MAN wrote: I think that you are getting previous versions of DOLBY PRO-LOGIC confused with DOLBY DIGITAL... ---------------- Nope - it is an compression technique that can handle 1 to N (I don't know the upper limit) channels of data. My processor will occasionally report Dolby Digital 2.0 or Dolby 3/2 (which has no LFE channel). (the 'Not Really' above is a link ... my response was a quote from that document. However, DOLBY DIGITAL may(?) have been trademarked to mean something different - is a rose by any other name, still not a rose? ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D-MAN Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 I had read something from Dolby Labs about the naming change - somewhere - I can't seem to find it. And the trademark info is pretty vague about exactly what applies (pretty much the world)... So I have no technical ground to stand on! But I did read something about it and what it actually meant...I'm not making it up out of thin air... I give up, maybe you're right. DM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Garrison Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 To quote the Dolby website: "Dolby® Digital is a highly sophisticated and versatile audio encoding/decoding technology developed by Dolby Laboratories. Dolby Digital technology can transmit mono, stereo (two-channel), or up to 5.1-channel surround sound (discrete* multichannel audio). DVD-Video software may include versions of soundtracks that differ in the number of channels or spoken language. For example, a disc may contain a 5.1-channel sound mix with the dialogue in one language, a Dolby Surround encoded two-channel mix in another language, a mono track with the director's comments, and other supplementary information." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IndyKlipschFan Posted August 13, 2004 Share Posted August 13, 2004 I think I will chime in too. DTS has no...( or little) compression. It sounds more alive than DD too. And like DD DTS also has full range into the surrounds too. Depending on the movie, a door opening say behind you 10 feet and a little to the right...on a scarey movie sounds just like the door IS behind you 10 feet back and is scarey how real in the feeling at home it is. Booo I bought my first "Superbit" movie, "The 5th Element." Supposedly better sound and audio.. OMG this is truley a WOW flick to play for friends. (The Diva scene alone cranked on K horns with the Cornwall Center and the RSW 15 just has to be experieneced to be believed. I think it is better at home than it EVER was in the movie theater.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edveen76 Posted August 14, 2004 Share Posted August 14, 2004 You know, I have been wondering how much better those superbit DVD's actually are. I recently picked up the non-superbit 5th Element DVD because I did not want to spend the extra 10 dollars for the superbit. I just didnt beleive in that improved audio and video proclamations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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