Dolby Laboratories Inc have two surround systems of relevance to the domestic listener, Dolby MP and Dolby Surround AC-3. Dolby MP is described in the excellent article Introduction to [Dolby] surround sound written by Bob Niland, rjn@csn.net and available by anonymous FTP from ftp.csn.org in the file /Laserdisc/ld03 (ie, from file://ftp.csn.org/Laserdisc/ld03).

A:Your PC or Mac will need to be equipped with a 3rd party 5.1 surround sound card to be fully functional. You may use a 4.1 surround card, or a 2 channel sound card for basic functionality. Simply attach your PC or Mac with an optical output to the Edifier S2.1, S5.1 and S5.1M via RCA cables or optical cable in the case of the S2.1D model. If your PC or Mac supports Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS, the Edifier S5.1 and S5.1M will allow you to enjoy surround sound.

Consumer grade DVD recorders all have the ability to play back all Dolby Digital and DTS source material, when used with an AV receiver. However, DVD recorders only have analog stereo audio inputs for recording audio, which is then encoded into two-channel Dolby Digital. The output of the recorded audio can be accessed either through the analog stereo outputs or the digital audio outputs of the DVD recorder. Although, DVD recorders cannot record in 5.

Thanks to the increasing power and dropping cost of signal-processing chips, sound that appears to come from around the listener is now possible with just two speakers. These audio processing systems, often referred to as "virtual surround," require that the listener be positioned in a specific "sweet spot" in front of the two speakers. As a result, they cannot substitute for multiple speakers in home theater applications.

No. You must hook the Xbox optical output to some device capable of decoding the AC-3 digital audio. There are NO EXCEPTIONS. You need either an AC-3 capable receiver or an AC-3 capable PC sound card with optical input.

This is typically caused because the home theatre receiver is not in Dolby Pro-Logic or Dolby Digital Surround mode. Different brands of home theatre receivers have different methods to put the system in this mode. It is usually controlled from the remote and often called "listen mode" or "mode". Also occasionally you’ll encounter a movie with little or no surround information on the soundtrack. The older the movie the more likely this to be the case.

Yes. Just like a multichannel speaker system, Dolby Headphone technology can be used in conjunction with processors that are intended to give a surround effect on stereo material. For example, Dolby Surround Pro Logic II, the latest Dolby multichannel matrix decoder, provides a wider, more enveloping soundfield on many conventional stereo recordings, which Dolby Headphone technology (in its five-channel mode) will reproduce to great effect.

No, the HDMI outputs on the Movie Player and the Movie Player 2 carry video and PCM stereo audio only. When using HDMI for video, you can use digital coaxial, digital optical, or analog stereo outputs for audio. No. The DVD CCA License does not permit the use of RGBHV video output during DVD playback. The Kaleidescape Movie Player 2 supports both HDMI and component video (YPbPr) for high-quality video output.

Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II and DTS are all supported and processed. Remember all audio is processed by the Cell and developers can use whatever audio codecs they want…so this is only the beginning.

of a few years ago, most consumer off-the-shelf systems feature either 5 identical speakers or 4 identical speakers with a center channel modified for better placement on top of the television. For a home theater system designed primarily for watching movies, the center channel may be of dubious quality and design though. In many older (circa 2000 or so) consumer music-only surround system, the front speakers may be matched direct radiators and the rear speakers may be dipoles (see 1.10).

Initially known as simply Dolby Surround, this is an audio mixing technique that bolts on a rear channel and a centre channel onto a standard two-channel signal. With a two speaker sound system, these extra channels will be automatically mixed into the audio streams for the left and right speaker

That's the steering system of the Dolby Pro Logic decoder in your receiver extracting the rear channel information. Because the process is very phase dependant, the swishing sound (phase shift) can be evident during action scenes with a lot of panning. The latest Pro Logic II is less susceptible to this effect.

Dolby Surround? is the earliest form of surround sound. It is a three-channel process meant to recreate a theatre experience. The Dolby stereo track is channelled into the front left and front right speakers. A mono signal is created electronically by comparing the differences between the left and right stereo signal. This is then fed to both rear speakers. Dolby Pro Logic? is an advanced version of Dolby Surround, adding a centre channel speaker for music and effects.

Your film will be shown in Standard Definition in stereo or mono with an aspect ratio of 4:3. So you may shoot in HD, in widescreen, or in surround sound, but the film will not be projected that way. We require you to submit a Standard Definition, letterboxed, stereo or mono version of your film—anything else can lead to problems during our mastering process.

This is a slightly touchy subject. My original intent in building this site was to celebrate the Dynaco company formed by David Hafler, and crewed by talented folks such as Ed Laurent, Wade Burns, Joe Sparacio, Jim Elliott, Sid Lidz, Bob Tucker, Bill Phillips, Harry Klaus, Erno Borbely, John Ferranti, Doug Hercus, Richard Pley, etc. etc. I wanted to provide detailed info on the equipment they designed, supported, and serviced, right through the end of the company in 1980.