Dish Network currently only provides Dolby Digital soundtracks on their ‘home theater’ Pay-Per-View channels 512-513 on the 119 satellite and PPV channels 520-525 on the 110 satellite. You can look for the “DD” symbol in the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) to see if the movie is broadcasted in Dolby Digital. These channels also show some movies in their original letterbox format. DISH Network will expand their DD offerings through time.

Dolby Digital AC-3 is a technology developed by Dolby Laboratories that allows us to store much more CD-quality audio in much less space than traditional CD-audio. Dolby Digital also allows us to present soundtracks in the home that offer a complete surround sound experience, just like at the movie theatre, with left, centre, and right channels, stereo surround channels and a subwoofer.

Dolby Digital (AC-3) is a digital sound compression technique developed by the Dolby Laboratories Licensing Corporation. Supporting 5.1-channel surround sound, as well as stereo (2-channel) sound, this technique enables a large quantity of sound data to be efficiently recorded on a disc. However, nowadays, the understanding has become to be Dolby Digital (AC-3) = Dolby Surround = Dolby Digital 5.1.

Dolby Digital can be enjoyed via DVDs, DVD recordable and playback discs for computers, laser discs, digital cable systems, direct broadcast satellite (DBS) and direct-to-home (DTH) systems, and digital broadcast television (DTV/DVB). Sources are usually identified with the Dolby Digital logo.

Most DVD-Video discs contain Dolby Digital soundtracks. However, it's not required. Some discs, especially those containing only audio, have PCM tracks. It's also possible for a 625/50 (PAL) disc to contain only MPEG audio, but so far MPEG audio is not widely used. 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.

Both methods are what's known as lossy data compression schemes where some information that is masked by more prominent data is thrown away. This is done in order to fit a lot of data through a small data pipe. Dolby Digital (formerly called AC-3) takes 6 channels of 48kHz/24 bit information and compresses it at about an 11 to 1 ratio to an a maximum bit rate of 640kbps, although 384 is the average data rate used. DTS compresses at about a 3 to 1 ratio at an average data rate of 1.4Mbps.

Dolby Pro Logic takes its information from a two-track-stereo format. When a movie is recorded in Dolby surround, the Stereo soundtrack is recorded on the tape. Certain sounds (the surround-channel information) are encoded. Inside the Dolby Pro Logic receiver, the Pro Logic circuitry decodes the surround information and sends it to the rear channels. The center channel is derived by removing what is equal or nearly equal in the left and right channels and sending it to the center.

Yes, DVD-V200K does have a built-in decoder with Dolby Digital (Surround) (AC-3) processing; however, the output is only 2-channel stereo. No, from the modem day definition/understanding of a so-called built-in AC-3 decoder. Regardless, you can attach the DVD-V200K to a Dolby Digital-ready (i.e., 5.1-ready) A/V receiver/processor/amplifier to enjoy the benefits of 5.1 channel surround sound audio.

Some discs (many from Columbia TriStar) put 2-channel Dolby Surround audio on track one and 5.1-channel audio on track two. Unless you intervene, the player will play the default 2-channel track. Use the audio button on the remote or select the 5.1 track from the menu. (Note: The Sony 3000 has a feature to automatically select the first 5.1 track.)

You will find free utilities at www.VideoHelp.com or you can use your favorite Internet search engine to find many commercial products to do the same thing. [edit]

Most DVD-Video discs contain Dolby Digital soundtracks. However, it's not required. Some discs, especially those containing only audio, have PCM tracks. It's also possible for a 625/50 (PAL) disc to contain only MPEG audio, but so far MPEG audio is not widely used. 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.

Dolby® Digital technology is an advanced form of digital audio coding that makes it possible to store and transmit high-quality digital sound far more efficiently than was previously possible. First used in movie theaters in 1992, Dolby Digital technology is the result of decades spent by Dolby Laboratories developing signal-processing systems that exploit the characteristics of human hearing.

Dolby Digital programs can deliver surround sound with up to five discrete full-range channels: Left, Center, Right, Left Surround, Right Surround-plus a sixth channel for powerful low-frequency effects. As it needs only about one-tenth the bandwidth of the others, the LFE channel is referred to as a ".1" channel (and sometimes erroneously as the "subwoofer" channel).

Discs in countries such as the US that use the NTSC broadcast TV standard must provide at least one soundtrack in either of two formats: Dolby Digital or PCM (the format used on CDs). In countries using the PAL TV standard, including much of Europe, the discs must include at least one soundtrack in any one of three formats: Dolby Digital, PCM, or MPEG. Due to these requirements and the options they permit, not all discs may have Dolby Digital soundtracks.

The technology behind 5.1-channel Dolby Digital provides two surround channels, instead of the one from Dolby Surround, for more precise localization of sounds and a more convincing, realistic ambience. Also, Dolby Digital's surround channels cover the entire audible range (20 Hz-20,000 Hz), whereas the range of Dolby Surround's single surround channel is limited (100 Hz-7,000 Hz). The increased range of Dolby Digital further heightens realism and gives sound mixers more creative freedom.

Dolby Digital audio is available via laser discs, DVD-Video discs, DVD-ROM discs for computers, digital cable systems, direct broadcast satellite (DBS) systems, and digital broadcast TV (DTV). They are usually identified with the Dolby Digital logo.

AAC is a state-of-the-art audio compression algorithm that provides compression superior to that provided by older algorithms such as AC-3. AAC and AC-3 are both transform coders, but AAC uses a filterbank with a finer frequency resolution that enables superior signal compression.

No. Dolby Digital soundtracks can provide anything from mono to full 5.1-channel surround sound. DVDs of movies can even carry multiple versions of the soundtrack that differ in number of channels. A disc might contain a 5.1-channel sound mix with the dialogue in one language, a two-channel mix encoded in Dolby Surround in another language, and a mono track with the director's comments or other supplementary information.