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I got a DVD player 2 or 3 months ago, and finally got the chance to sit down and watch my first DVD movie last night. HT isn't my thing, but I reviewed my equipment that I have. I have an Onkyo receiver that does Dolby Pro Logic. I understand the differences between the old Dolby surround and Dolby Pro Logic, and I also know that all of the digital stuff out there is much better. So I did a quick internet peek at what is currently on the market and I got confused. I see stuff about Dolby Digital, Dolby 5.1, AC-3, DTS, DVD-A. Is there a one stop webpage that explains all of this? All I want is a new receiver that has some digital goodies on it!My other HT equipment is typical mid-fi stuff. A JBL Cinema Series non-powered sub/satellite setup, Toshiba DVD player, and a decent 4-head/stereo VCR. The TV is a run of the mill 36", I can't remember what brand, but I don't think it even has an S-video jack, just RCA input.
Thanks!
McCracken
Follow Ups:
Quick run down:
Dolby Digital, Dolby 5.1 and AC-3 are one of the same. Back during Laser Disc days they called it AC-3 which was confusing when the theaters were using the Dolby 5.1 so they decided to reduce the confusion by calling it Dolby Digital...confused yet. In a word all three is the same....it's compressed audio with discreet left, right, center, left surround and right surround with a sub out (.1). It's what you hear alot in the movies.There is a new version of the Dolby Digital that was introduced with Star Wars Phantom Menace called Dobly Digital EX which creates a back speaker (Left, center, right, left & right surround, and back with a sub out). Some DVDs out there have DOLBY DIGITAL EX, goto the Dolby website.
Then You have DTS, Dolby's competitor. DTS is compressed audio as well just not as much and they claim to have better audio then Dolby. You can read about the debates. They came out with there version of EX as well.
DVD Audio is a new format competing with SACD. This is the music industry playing music that is recorded in discreet L,C,R, Surrounds. You must have an DVD-Audio player or SACD to play the recorded music. Some feel it will replace the music CD that are being bought now because of their supior output of music vs the traditional CD. We'll have to wit and see what happens. It's still rather new.
Did I forget anything?......
There is SDDS by Sony but it's not for the consumer. Another format with differnt compression ratios created by SONY for the movie industry.
If you want good stuff with knowledgeable sales people to help with your decision, goto a special audio/video store. Don't goto BEST BUY or Circuit City or SAMS. You'll find that the specialty audio video stores have more knowledge and have components that are cost competitive to the above named stores. Just look in the yellow pages under STEREO. They can show you the differances or rather hear the differances between the differnt format.
Good luck.
If I forgot anything, I'm sure someone here will tell you.
Just a small clarification. Dolby Digital supports up to 5.1 channels. A Dolby Digital encoded source may be mono, stereo, 5.0 or any combination of channels up to 5.1.
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