Pismo Mac Posted September 3, 2006 Posted September 3, 2006 Are there any 7.1 DVDs out in the market? So far, I have only seen 5.1 DVDs.
armoury Posted September 4, 2006 Posted September 4, 2006 No such thing. DVDs currently only go as "high" as 6.1, as in all 6+1 channels are discrete -- e.g. DTS6.1-ES (-EX is matrixed, i.e. the centre-rear is mixed into the surround channels, in effect just like plain old stereo or Dolby Pro-Logic). There are no DVDs with 7+1 discrete channels. A "7.1" system in reality just uses two speakers in place of a single centre-back, so as to avoid having one single speaker directly behind the listener. Apparently, a sound directly behind you can sound like it is coming from directly in front of you, but using two to create a "phantom centre" avoids this problem.
Pismo Mac Posted September 4, 2006 Author Posted September 4, 2006 Thanks for the information. Sorry, I am a newbie, and just bought a 7.1 setup, but only set it up in a 5.1 configuration since I only had 5.1 DVDs. I was just wondering whether I should go ahead to set it up in a 7.1 configuration if I don't have DVDs that could take advantage of it.
armoury Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 When you say you "bought a 7.1 setup", do you mean that you already have all 7 speakers (+sub)? If so, you might as well make use of it, since including the additional two centre-backs is bound to improve rear separation. If you only have 5 speakers +sub, then you'd have to consider whether the extra money spent on getting the 2 speakers is worth it. Personally I only have 5.1, partly because of the layout in my living room (no wall behind, the dining table is behind the sofa), so I have no plans to go to 7.1, but that's partly due to the limitations.
Pismo Mac Posted September 5, 2006 Author Posted September 5, 2006 Yes, I have all 7 speakers, including the sub, but I've only set up 5 speakers + sub. So if I play a 5.1 DVD, the rear separation is noticeable if I had the 2 additional rear speakers? My AVR can support 7.1. I think this thread going off topic, should move to HT forum.
armoury Posted September 5, 2006 Posted September 5, 2006 Yes, it would be more noticeable, i.e. anything that is supposed to be directly behind will sound more like it is directly behind. In the same way that a front-centre speaker anchors dialog to the centre better than the front left/right pair would. (Of course, this is assuming non-ideal set-ups; stereo audiophiles will correctly point out that a proper hi fi set-up would create the "phantom centre" perfectly, just as if there was a centre speaker. But this is of no help in an HT set-up where several people watch and some sit away from the "sweet spot".) For the ideal test of this sort of thing, find a scene where something flies overhead from back to front, e.g. the airplanes in Snatch when Ari is flying back and forth between London & New York.
Pismo Mac Posted September 5, 2006 Author Posted September 5, 2006 Ah, OK. Thanks again. Bringing this back to topic then, which DVD titles are 6.1 encoded?
armoury Posted September 6, 2006 Posted September 6, 2006 Look for anything with DTS6.1-ES (not EX, which is a 5.1 matrix). That's about it, I think. DD5.1EX is also matrixed. Go to http://www.dtsonline.com/consumer/hometheater/dvd-titles.php and search for 6.1ES.
Pismo Mac Posted September 6, 2006 Author Posted September 6, 2006 For those who are interested, I found some 100+ Region 1 6.1-ES encoded titles (some repeats) on the DTS website. Armoury, thanks again for your hep.
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