I have a 5.1 setup. If a DVD offers a choice between 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and 6.1 DTS, and I choose the DTS audio track, is the extra rear channel ignored (nothing at all is sent out via that channel) or is the extra rear channel's signal split between the two rear surround speakers?

I have a 5.1 setup. If a DVD offers a choice between 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround and 6.1 DTS, and I choose the DTS audio track, is the extra rear channel ignored (nothing at all is sent out via that channel) or is the extra rear channel's signal split between the two rear surround speakers?What DVD do you have that has a DTS 6.1 soundtrack?

I would think that the 6th channel, if it's truly discreet, would be re-routed to both of the rear speakers, however I don't know this for certain. A DTS 6.1 soundtrack is not very common.

All of the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions have 6.1 DTS tracks.

All of the Lord of the Rings Extended Editions have 6.1 DTS tracks.Oooooh, Sanjay?

DTS 6.1...is DTS-ES...and it's fairly common.

http://www.timefordvd.com/ref/dts-ES.shtml

According to this link, if it's DTS-ES Matrix, the matrixed rear channel info will simply be reproduced by the R/L surrounds in a 5.1 setup. If it's DTS-ES Discreet 6.1, the discreet 6th channel info will be ignored and dropped by a 5.1 setup.

is the extra rear channel's signal split between the two rear surround speakers?No need to downmix, since the information in the discrete surround-back channel is already in the L&R surround channels (for backwards compatibility with 5.1-speaker set-ups and/or early DTS ES matrix decoders).

When played back on a 7.1 set-up, the discrete surround-back information is sent to the speakers behind you. At the same time, that information is actively cancelled from the L&R surround channels before they're sent to the speakers at your sides. This way, rear sounds don't come from the wrong direction.

With a 5.1 set-up, the discrete surround-back channel is simply ignored. Since that information exists equally in the L/R surrounds, it will appear in between your surround speakers, phantom imaging behind you (if your surrounds are placed properly).

You don't get the stability of separate side and rear speakers, but you don't lose any information when listening to DTS 6.1 soundtracks on a 5.1-speaker set-up.

Sanjay

A DTS 6.1 soundtrack is not very common.Between 50 and 60 titles. There's a pretty thorough and well updated list of DVDs, broken down by all 3 formats that use a surround-back channel: DD EX, DTS ES, DTS ES Discrete 6.1 (yes, that long thing is the actual name). Worth bookmarking:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/showthread.php?t=17262

Sanjay

No need to downmix, since the information in the discrete surround-back channel is already in the L&R surround channels (for backwards compatibility with 5.1-speaker set-ups and/or early DTS ES matrix decoders).

With a 5.1 set-up, the discrete surround-back channel is simply ignored. Since that information exists equally in the L/R surrounds, it will appear in between your surround speakers, phantom imaging behind you (if your surrounds are placed properly).

You don't get the stability of separate side and rear speakers, but you don't lose any information when listening to DTS 6.1 soundtracks on a 5.1-speaker set-up. Sanjay, is the link I posted incorrect?

It says:

If it's DTS-ES Matrix, the matrixed rear channel info will simply be reproduced by the R/L surrounds in a 5.1 setup. If it's DTS-ES Discreet 6.1, the discreet 6th channel info will be ignored and dropped by a 5.1 setup.

Between 50 and 60 titles. There's a pretty thorough and well updated list of DVDs, broken down by all 3 formats that use a surround-back channel: DD EX, DTS ES, DTS ES Discrete 6.1 (yes, that long thing is the actual name).Yes, I see I was wrong. I thought there were very few titles with this (these) feature(s).

Sanjay, is the link I posted incorrect?

It says:

If it's DTS-ES Matrix, the matrixed rear channel info will simply be reproduced by the R/L surrounds in a 5.1 setup. If it's DTS-ES Discreet 6.1, the discreet 6th channel info will be ignored and dropped by a 5.1 setup.I don't want to speak for Sanjay, but I'd like to say my $0.02. It seems that the quote does not contradict what Sanjay said. It sounds like a bad thing that the 6th discrete channel is "just dropped", but note that the signal of that channel is already in the surround channels. It's a 6.1 or 7.1 setup that will *remove* that content from the surrounds and just play it thru the rear.

Ed

Sanjay, is the link I posted incorrect?What Ed said. The information in the link doesn't go into detail, but the brief description there is correct. I thought there were very few titles with this (these) feature(s).And you were right. Only 55 DVDs with 6.1 soundtracks since the format was introduced 7 years ago; average 8 titles per year. You don't think that's "very few", especially when you think about how many movies are released on DVD each year?

Sanjay

He probably thought "very few" as in "under 10", but I agree, out of all the titles released (which is what, tens of thousands, if not over a hundred thousand?), 55 is a pretty small number.

If I'm not mistaken, won't the rear surround channels of a 7.1 mix be summed into the single rear channel of a 6.1 playback system? My home was pre-wired for 3 (not 4) surround speakers, and I have 6.1 capability with my system. I have several of the DTS 6.1 ES discs, and they're very good. I believe that future 7.1 playback will simply combine the two rear surrounds into 1 center rear surround. I'm using the Denon 4806 as my preamp and surround amps.

I know this is a bit off-topic of what the poster intended, but I thought it pertinent to discussion of 6.1.

Thanks,

Lee

If I'm not mistaken, won't the rear surround channels of a 7.1 mix be summed into the single rear channel of a 6.1 playback system? It should be.

Ed

Between 50 and 60 titles. There's a pretty thorough and well updated list of DVDs, broken down by all 3 formats that use a surround-back channel: DD EX, DTS ES, DTS ES Discrete 6.1 (yes, that long thing is the actual name). Worth bookmarking:

http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/showthread.php?t=17262

Sanjay

theres also these sites:

http://www.spannerworks.net/reference/10_9a.asp

http://www.dts.com/consumer/hometheater/dvd-titles.php