Virtual Surround Sound

[Wanderlustus]

Hi Folks.

Recently my LG LDA 730 bit the dust and am thinking of purchasing a Philips DVP 5990 to replace. Things is I have an extremely low-end surround system with ONLY rca inputsl. With the LDA 730 virtual surround was supported and since I have a small telly room (12 X 10) it worked rather nice. Well, good enough for me and my gal.

The one thing about the DVP 5990 is it doesn't support virtual surround, although all the reviews I've read on it make me think this is the one I want, especially when I upgrade to HD.

Out of curiosity though does anyone know if the earlier DVP models supported VSS? Or maybe an entirely different make/model? The only other prerequisite I have for a DVD player is that it must play XVID, as most of my discs are in this format. I do like the fact that the DVP 5990 has USB 2.0 but I can live without it.

Anyhoo, anyone able to help with some input into this? I'd greatly appreciate it.

Cheers

PS. I just read that the DVP 5990 does not support DTS. Does this mean it doesn't support surround sound at all? I'm confused.

[yoda313]

DTS is seperate from Dolby Digital. Dolby Digital is the standard even if it is just stereo. DTS requires a seperate license and processor. Your amplifier also needs to be dts certified for it to work.

Rergarding surround sound - Shouldn't your stereo be able to reproduce it itself? I would imagine your stereo should have a virtual surround mode that would take any input and convert it to seudo surround sound.

[Wanderlustus]

DTS is seperate from Dolby Digital. Dolby Digital is the standard even if it is just stereo. DTS requires a seperate license and processor. Your amplifier also needs to be dts certified for it to work.

Rergarding surround sound - Shouldn't your stereo be able to reproduce it itself? I would imagine your stereo should have a virtual surround mode that would take any input and convert it to seudo surround sound.

No, this cheap system I have has only two settings, 5.1 and stereo and only RCA's in. So, no digital/coax in at all. My LDA 730 had the setting for VSS in the on-screen menu.

[Wanderlustus]

One other thing I likely should have mentioned: Most of my discs are in stereo, not true surround. I guess the big reason I'm hep about VSS.