Two mono channels

[Digiface]

Is it same as stereo? Or is it same as 2.0 mono?

[Cornucopia]

Depends on the context, but while both "Stereo" and "Dual mono" both have the same number of channels, how a sound is assigned to each channel in a "linked/similar" (ST) or "unlinked/disssimilar --or IDENTICAL" (M) condition is really what determines. Obviously, if it's just 1 channel, it's mono.
These similarities can be panning/volume balances and/or timing/echo/reverb or filtering/effects applications, sometimes in very intricate relationships.

RE: Compression
MPEG audio supports "Stereo" "Joint Stereo" and "Dual Mono" , the main difference here is in mid/side balancing and bitrate interdependency.

HTH,

Scott

[redwudz]

Just to mention, with a few rare video files, there may be two separate mono audio channels, each with a different language. Some video/audio formats don't allow multiple channels and they use this method for multiple languages.

[Digiface]

Well, this file is AVI file with MP3 audio. Only one language stream.

[guns1inger]

Stereo implies that there is different information in each channel, which is what causes the separation effect that we associate with stereo.

2.0 Mono means that both channels are identical, and therefore there is no separation effect.