For the millions of consumers who have home theaters hooked up to their digital cable boxes, when a show broadcasts in Dolby Digital, their receiver will clearly indicate so. Much information about this can be found on their site,. 1” is because it only plays back a fraction (the lows) of what a full range speaker would.ĭolby Digital, also often referred to as AC-3, is the most common delivery method of 5.1 surround sound to the consumer. 1” represents the LFE channel, which is played back by your home theater system’s subwoofer.

The “5” represents the five main speakers and the “. The term “5.1” is a common one that signifies discrete Left Front, Center, Right Front, Left Surround, Right Surround and LFE (Low Frequency Effects) channels. So let’s step behind the scenes and see what it takes to get started doing surround sound production. In addition to network shows (and even commercials), most DVD’s, Blu-rays and video games are also delivered with surround audio.

On my Verizon FIOS network for example, there are not only concert channels (such as FUSE HD) that are produced in surround sound – sports networks, nature shows, movies and entertainment programming have all begun featuring multichannel content. But what does DTV have to do with us PG readers, you may ask? Well, a quick flip through any cable, satellite or fiber network will reveal an increasing number of channels broadcasting in 5.1 surround sound. When Februrolls along, all analog broadcasting is scheduled to stop.

This month we’ll jump off the neck a little bit and talk about some music technology that’s becoming more and more relevant as we move towards the big switch to DTV (digital television). Five audio channels, plus a LFE (low frequency effects) channel, complete the 5.1 surround sound setup.

Dolby 5.1 amp