Many mid to high end televisions are now including surround sound with their sets. Rear speakers are required for full pro-logic mode. The downside to this is a televisions amplifier is quite limited in power, usually 5 to 10 watts per channel, which is why many people that want a good home theater setup opt to purchase a seperate audio receiver to handle this task.
a system that separates the various components of the sound track, then disperses them to speakers placed around the room. Four to five speakers are incorporated, and surround sound processor is used to create the effect. For example, voices could come from behind the screen while other sound effects could come from beside or even behind the viewer.
An audio recording and playback format that uses more than two channels, and is reproduced with two or more loudspeakers located behind the listener in addition to the loudspeakers in front.
Some HiFi systems have a simulated surround sound effect from two speakers. Others have surround sound speaker outputs which allow you to add an extra pair of rear speakers. There are also systems which offer full Dolby ProLogic home cinema sound from 5 speakers.
A speaker system that has speakers both in front and behind the listener. Can mean a variety of channel separation and speaker placement systems. Most commonly, involves left and righ tchannels placed to either side of the front "screen" each with different signal information. A center channel wil be placed in the middle of the front screen but may be either a discrete or summed mono channel (used primarily for speech). Typically in a theater, the side and back speakers are all one discrete channel. In current home theaters, the back speakers are usually a mix of the left and right channels at lover levels. The subwoofers are usually a summed mono signal.
Dolby Laboratories' original motion picture film soundtrack system that encodes four channels of sound (left, center, right and surround) into a two channel photographic sound track, incorporating Dolby A-type noise reduction and extended frequency response.
Properly placed speakers can put you in the center of the sound, thus the surround sound effect.
Recording and playback systems used in theatres to add a directional quality to sound so that the listener is able to perceive the direction or movement of the sound source.
The general term for audio formats that make you feel like the soundtrack is all around you. Some TV sets feature virtual surround sound, which uses two stereo speakers and the complex timing of sounds to give you the feeling that the soundtrack surrounds you. Sony's use of TruSurround(tm) technology is an example of this. It generates the lifelike sounds from the rear speakers using only the stereo pair built in the television cabinet. Dolby® Digital, another surround technology, uses five separate speakers and a subwoofer around your living room for a fuller effect. (See 5.1 and Dolby® Digital technology.)
The popular term used to describe an experience where the sound envelops the listener. This is done using surround-encoded material, a receiver, and surround speakers.
The popular term used to describe an experience where the sound 'surrounds' you. This is best achieved using surround-encoded material, a receiver, and surround speakers.
provides crisp clear 3D sound, giving you a sense of being in the music rather than listening to it at a distance.
The reproduction of ambiance, atmospherics, and occasional special effects anywhere around the listener by means of multichannel sound reproduction.
Generic term to describe a sound system with speakers both in front of and behind the audience. A good surround sound system can make a huge difference to your movie experience. GA VGA is used to define a specific display resolution. Resolution is defined by the number of individual dots that a display uses to create an image. These dots are called pixels. A VGA display has 640 horizontal pixels and 480 vertical pixels giving a total display resolution of 307,200 individual pixels that are used to compose the image delivered by a projector.
A generic term that describes any of several systems capable of delivering multichannel audio that includes channels placed to the sides and/or rear of the listener.
An attempt to recreate the acoustical and ambient information of a particular environment, such as a church, a stadium, a movie theatre, etc using more than a stereo pair of loudspeakers.
Attempt to recreate using more than a stereo pair of loudspeakers the acoustical and ambient information of a particular environment, such as a church, a stadium, a movie theater, etc. A surround sound decoder is a device which extracts the ambient and effects information from a recording or soundtrack and steers this signal to the appropriate amplification channels.
Experience the full three-dimensional effect of a live musical performance or theater with four or more speakers.
Surround sound refers to a sound system arrangement designed to literally “envelop†the listener with sound.
Gives a broader sound field effect, which enhances bass and high frequency sound at lower volumes.
A technique of recording and playback of sound used in film where the sound has a front to back quality as well as side to side perspective.
This feature adds another dimension to the acoustic experience and helps to improve the movie-theater like sound.
Refers to the simulation of the theater or concert experience by surrounding the listener with sound coming from different points around the room.
Sound system which creates the illusion of multi-directional sound through speaker placement and signal processing.
A sound system arrangement designed to place the listener in the center of the sound.
A specific set of speakers designed to surround a listening area in fully dimensional, life-like sound. A typical 5.1-channel surround sound system will consist of five speakers plus a subwoofer (the .1 channel). The five speakers are: front left and right speakers, center channel speaker and rear left and right speakers.
The matrixed, synthesized or discrete rear-, side-, or center-channel outputs that are integrated with the main channels of a stereophonic audio or audio-video system to enhance realism and ambience. Most modern versions have separate amplification for those channels. See also Dolby Surround; Ambisonic; Hafler circuit; Dolby Digital; DTS; Center Channel; DSP; Extraction processors; Synthesizing processors.
A speaker setup which includes rear speakers that receive a different signal than the front speakers. This is meant to create a 3-dimensional effect, allowing you to hear sounds that move front to back and side to side.
A speaker setup in which four or more speakers are placed in various locations around the room.
A multi channel audio system using speakers in front and behind the listener to create a surrounding envelope of sound and to simulate directional audio sources.
A movie recording technique that, when paired with a home theater surround speaker system, puts the viewer in the center of the action with sounds that move front to back, side to side.
Sound extracted from the stereo signal sent to smaller rear or side speakers used in a home theater.
2.1, 5.1, 6.1, 6.2, 7.1 – These are different modes of digital sound and, except for 2.1, represent surround sound. The number before the decimal point represents the number of encoded channels. The number after the decimal point is the number of LFE or Low Frequency Effect Channels. This is almost always one, and represents the subwoofer. For example, 5.1 means two main (stereo) speakers, one center channel (for most voice) and two surround speakers (to the left and right sides, not behind, the movie-watchers) for a total of five channels. The "1," following the decimal point (.1) means there is a channel for LFE (i.e. the floor shaking for an explosion or earthquake). This sound is usually sent to a powered subwoofer. 6.1 and 7.1 mean there are one or two additional speakers. These are placed behind the listener.
A multichannel audio system with speakers in front of and behind the listener to create a surrounding envelope of sound and to simulate directional audio sources.
Audio intended to heighten realism by emanating from behind the viewer. Separate rear speakers required. See Dolby
Multi-channel audio that enables listeners to hear sounds from different parts of the room
More commonly referred to as Dolby Digital, a standard for high-quality digital audio that is used for the sound portion of video stored in digital format, especially videos stored on DVD-ROMs. Dolby Digital delivers 6 channels in the 5:1 format: left, right, and center screen channels, separate left and right sounds, and a subwoofer channel.
Surround sound is the concept of expanding the spatial imaging of audio playback from one dimension (mono/Left-Right) to two or three dimensions.