Does 7.1 channels travel through a digital cable?
If I bought an amplifier that was 7.1 channels, and I had software that 7.1 channel - does my 4 year old DVD player have to be 7.1 to get those signals as well? Will the digital output send through a 7.1 signal? How about (theorteically!), a 9.1 or 11.1?
Are there 7.1 DVD players?
Basically - does one ever have to upgrade a DVD player?
This is a common misunderstanding about Home Theater
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolby
If I bought an amplifier that was 7.1 channels, and I had software that 7.1 channel - does my 4 year old DVD player have to be 7.1 to get those signals as well? Will the digital output send through a 7.1 signal? How about (theorteically!), a 9.1 or 11.1?
Are there 7.1 DVD players?
Basically - does one ever have to upgrade a DVD player?
7.1 home theather does NOT have 7.1 discrete channels. DVD carries at MOST 6.1 channels. It doesn't matter the player.Even this TRUE 6.1 is only on DTS-ES encoded DVD's, and there are precious few of these. That being said, digital surround processing has become very sophisticated, and the DSP generated rear channels, although not discrete, have a lot of spatial cues to add to the soundfield. As to; 9.1, 11.1, or 22.2, they are just dreams at the moment, but I would not discount the ability to add several more discrete channels using the newer DVD-HD, and BlueRay tech.