What about 6.1, 7.1 ... ？

[dyanglp]

Hello, I'm wondering if anybody could give me an idea about 6.1 channel, 7.1 channel ....x.1 channel. What are the hardware and software that support them ? How are they incorporated into DVD world ? Any standalone palyer out there ?

[waheed]

OK, the majority of dvds are 5.1 surround sound meaning 5 speakers and a LFE (Low Frequency Effect) which refers to the subfoofer and is the X.1 as in 5.1.

6.1 is 6 speakers and LFE and so on...

to take advantage of 6.1 surround, you need 6.1 speakers and your source needs to be 6.1.

currently, the only true 6.1 surround format thats exists in dvds in 6.1 DTS ES (discrete). An example of this is found in the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions.

Obviously, you will need a decoder thats supports them either software or hardware, eg powerdvd deluxe can decode DTS ES as well as Audigy 2 ZS sound cards.

For the dvd player side of things, many players will output sound digitially, and an external decoder is required.

[Sillyname]

Anything above 5.1 is merely implemented in hardware or amplifiers. The actual mix is always going to be 5.1.

[dyanglp]

[/quote]Anything above 5.1 is merely implemented in hardware or amplifiers. The actual mix is always going to be 5.1.

In another word, no encoder is able to produce more than 6 channels so far ?

[dyanglp]

Sorry, previous message was quoted wrongly. What happened with quote function!

[Deekkeed]

I think DTS-ES 6.1-discrete is a six channel encode. Denon has recevers that do DTS-ES 6.1-discrete as aposed to matrixed DTS 6.1 .

[Sillyname]

In another word, no encoder is able to produce more than 6 channels so far ?

You got it backwards. The amplifiers can "produce" more than 5.1 (6-channels). It's the actual recording itself that is still only 5.1. The other channels on the amp are summed and sonically conditioned to simulate the phantom channels that do not exist discretely in the recording. Not quite as primative or as muddy sounding as Dolby Surround, however.