Surround Sound Format Basics For Home Theater Systems – Dolby Labs Vs Digital Theater

admin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 20:22:35 +0000

Sound systems are a very important component of any home theater – but they are one piece that is often disregarded. Great sound makes all the difference if you are trying to achieve the complete cinematic experience at home.

Great sound for Simple television and DVD enhances the occasion, but with rotten sound – you don’t get that feeling as you would as if you are there in the movie theater itself, you know that almost hypnotic experience the thrills and spills, as you could at the cinema.

Whether you choose to buy or upgrade your home theater aim to buy the very best speakers you can afford and not only will you be reward with quality sound, you will not have to replace them in years to come.

Surround Sound Sources

But If you are want great sound then consider the format that your home theater should have. Home theaters are enhanced by surround sound and there are two major companies to select from: Dolby Labs., and Digital Theater Systems (DTS).

Dolby labs are the creators of Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro Logic while DTS are the providers of the configuration known as Digital Theater Sounds Format.

The range of options provided by both companies is enormous, and trying to select from the two can be dizzy at best.

DTS provides a sound that is clearer and sharper because they use an encoding technology uses more compression than the encoding Dolby uses.

However the market prefers Dolby and is therefore more commonly available on DVD’s and television.

Surround Sound Formats

Surround sound accurately means being encircled by sound in an attempt to imitate life.

And there variations from which to choose from.

5.1 which points out a system using five speakers and 1 subwoofer in order to deliver the sound, also referred as Dolby Digital.

6.1 (THX) the center speaker is located in the center, behind the listener in order to add yet another layer to the sound.

7.1 Surround is the newest version and includes yet another speaker in order to create a more authentic sound.

The supplementary speakers in your surround sound system should provide a more realistic sound quality and you should find yourself right in the middle of the movie action. – as though you are really in the film itself!

Whatever format you go for you will need an A/V receiver

As the central source of power of the home theater system, which is in charge for controlling, surround sound, decoding, signal processing, amplifying as well as being an AM/FM radio tuner. Suitably most A/V receivers will support Dolby and DTS.

As ever the choice of A/V receiver is over whelming, as the variety is vast, and would tempt one to go for the very easy option of purchasing the cheapest one available.

Acquiring a receiver, which costs less than $400, is said to be of poor quality, while a safe choice for excellent quality receiver that won’t break the bank.

Summary

Surround sound enhances the entertainment, you want to invest in a home theater or are thinking of upgrading and you want a great home theater experience then you have to have great sound.

Do your homework on systems available and remember good quality speakers are essential for carrying out the sound, then plan to make a considerable outlay.

Decide what format you want to the receiver to support and how many speakers need to be setup.

By: Robert Cacciatore

Choose The Best Home Theater Sound System

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 09:33:11 +0000

Home theater sound system is a very important component of your home theater. However how will you know that which is the best one for you? Two types of surround system are really popular. They are the DTS surround sound or the DTS and Dolby Digital. You can go for either of these depending on your needs. Most people consider DTS surround sound to be superior to Dolby. But ultimately it’s your own choice. So understand what these sound systems basically are and then make the final decision.

Dolby or DTS

Most of the movies in theaters are played in Dolby digital surround sound. Nowadays even DVD’s have this surround sound. It has a low bit rate but if functions effectively at lower levels. So bit rate should not be the only criteria while choosing the sound system. The data rate is higher in DTS and hence it is usually considered superior. DTS is not the usual sound format in DVD’s. Because of high data rate the encoding process requires less compression and thus you get better sound. The disadvantage with DTS is that it uses a lot of disc’s data capacity. Before you buy the sound system, you have to take many things into consideration; data rate is just one of them.

Compression ratios also decided as to which sound system is better. This gives a clear idea about the efficiency of a sound system. Usually, there is too much data in sound formats and thus it requires efficient compressing. The compressing should also be economical. So always look out for the compression ratio. It should be high. Your sound system may have a high data rate, but it won’t be effective if its compression ratio is low.

So which is the better sound format?

Everyone wants their sound system to have great sound quality. However the issue still remains as to which sound format is better? People use different points to debate over this. Some say that DTS is better because of its high data rate but what they do not realize is the fact that it doesn’t utilize data efficiently. The basic thing is that both DTS and Dolby give almost the same results. So you can buy either of them, depending on your requirements. The bottom line is that both are good in their own ways.

Basically, no one can say that DTS has a better sound quality than Dolby and vice versa. Both have their share of merits and demerits. A sound format may sound good in theaters but it may not sound too good at home. However there is no clear cut criterion to decide on this issue. You should decide as per your requirements. You can change the playback to decide on any changes in the sound format. Listen to each sound format carefully and only then make the final choice.

By: David Faulkner

Home Theater Systems » Dts Sound

Surround Sound Format Basics For Home Theater Systems – Dolby Labs Vs Digital Theater

Choose The Best Home Theater Sound System