Audio

The applications of surround sound have expanded to encompass much more than just movies. Digital TV broadcasts and high-fidelity music, have evolved to take advantage of the dramatically intensified experience that multichannel audio provides. Literally and figuratively, surround sound adds a new dimension to home entertainment. You won't want to miss out on its many advantages... so let's get you up to speed.

HDTV surround sound

HD for your ears, the the visual advantages of HDTV are so astoundingly apparent, it is very easy to forget that HDTV offers yet another dimension of improvement over the TV experience to which we have become accustomed.

HDTV

HDTV offers the capability to broadcast riveting 5.1-channel Dolby Digital surround sound. So not only can movies on TV deliver the same auditory impact as on DVD, but your favorite prime-time shows, concerts and sporting events can now benefit from the enhanced realism of Dolby Digital 5.1 audio.

Dolby Digital 5.1

This is also the industry-standard surround technology used for movies on DVD. You can learn more about Dolby Digital 5.1, and the equipment needed to reproduce it, in the following section.

Surround Sound for movies

For most surround systems, the first job is the authentic replication of the cinema experience at home. Here, we will discuss the most common surround formats for movies, and how they work to make movies come alive in your living room.

As enthusiasm for home theatre has spread, more and more people are replacing their old 2-channel stereo systems with full multichannel systems. Here, we'll discuss technologies that expand the usability of multichannel systems to enhance the experience of stereo music, analogue TV broadcasts and other 2-channel media: