ROTEL RSP-1068 - Manual (Page 24)

24
The most common use of Dolby Digital in
newer films, in both the film industry and in
home theater, is Dolby Digital 5.1. Instead of
encoding multiple surround channels on a two-
channel recording, Dolby Digital 5.1 records
six discrete channels: front left, front center,
front right, surround left, surround right, and a
Low Frequency Effects (LFE) channel containing
ultra-low bass signals intended for a subwoofer.
A Dolby Digital decoder extracts the channels
from the digital bitstream, converts them to ana-
log signals and routes them to the appropriate
amplifiers and speakers. All channels provide
full frequency response with total separation
between all channels and large dynamic range
capability. A Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack can
provide more impressive surround sound than
matrix Dolby Surround.
Decoding of Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtracks is
automatic. When the RSP-1068 detects a Dolby
5.1 signal on one of its digital inputs, it activates
the proper processing. Keep in mind that Dolby
Digital is only available from digital sources (a
DVD, a LaserDisc, or a Digital TV/Cable/SAT
tuner). Also, you must connect the source with
a digital cable (coax or optical) to an active
digital input on the RSP-1068.
NOTE: Many DVDs have a Dolby Digi-
tal 2.0 matrix soundtrack as the default,
which should be decoded with Pro Logic
II. The Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack may
have to be selected as an option from the
setup menus at the beginning of the DVD.
Look for a Dolby Digital 5.1 selection
under “Audio” or “Languages” or “Setup
Options” when you insert the disc.
DTS 5.1
DTS 96/24
DTS ® (Digital Theater Systems) is an alternative
digital format competing with Dolby Digital in
both movie theaters and home theater markets.
The basic functions of the DTS system are
similar to those of Dolby Digital (for example,
5.1 discrete channels), however the technical
details of the compression and decoding
processes differ somewhat and a DTS decoder
is required.
A recent extension of the DTS encoding system
is DTS 96/24. These recordings provide the
performance of a 96kHz sampling rate while
still using actual 48kHz sampling rate of
standard DTS discs.
Like Dolby Digital, DTS can only be used on
a digital recording and, therefore, is only
available for home use on LaserDiscs, DVDs,
or other digital formats. To use the RSP-1068’s
DTS decoder, you must connect your DVD player
to the RSP-1068’s digital inputs.
As with Dolby Digital 5.1, detection and proper
decoding of DTS 5.1 signals is automatic.
NOTE: DVDs with a DTS soundtrack
almost always have it configured as an
option to the standard matrix Dolby Sur-
round format. To use DTS, you may have to
go to the setup menus at the beginning of
the DVD and select “DTS 5.1” instead of
“Dolby Surround” or “Dolby Digital 5.1”.
In addition, many DVD players have the
DTS digital bitstream turned off by default
and cannot output a DTS soundtrack (even
if selected on the disc’s menu) until you
activate the player’s DTS output. If you
hear no sound the first time you attempt to
play a DTS disc, go to the DVD player’s
configuration menus and turn on the DTS
bitstream. This is a one-time setting and
need only be done once.
DTS Neo:6
The RSP-1068 features a second type of DTS
surround sound decoding: DTS Neo:6. This
decoding system is similar to Dolby Pro Logic
II and is designed for playback of any 2-chan-
nel stereo recording, either matrix-encoded or
not. The Neo:6 decoder can be used with any
conventional 2-channel source such a stereo TV
or FM broadcast or a CD. It can also be used
as an alternative method of decoding matrix-
encoded Dolby Surround recordings or TV
broadcasts. Activate the DTS Neo:6 decoding
with the DTS Neo:6 button as detailed later in
this section. DTS Neo:6 is not used with DTS
5.1 digital sources and the button need not be
pressed for those recordings.
Dolby Digital Surround EX
DTS-ES
6.1 and 7.1 Surround
In 1999, the first Dolby Digital soundtrack was
released to theaters with an additional center
back surround channel, intended to increase
the directional effects from behind the audience.
This additional surround channel is encoded
into the two existing surround channels in Dolby
Digital 5.1, using a matrix encoding process
similar to that used previously in Dolby Sur-
round. This new extended surround capability
is called Dolby Digital Surround EX.
DTS has added a similar capability for record-
ing this extended surround information called
DTS-ES
® 6.1 Matrix. They have also taken it
one step further and developed the capability
to record this extended surround information as
a discrete channel in a system called DTS-ES
®
6.1 Discrete.
All of these systems are extensions of the existing
Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS 5.1 digital surround
sound formats. Users with one center back
speaker (a 6.1 configuration) or two center
back speakers (a 7.1 configuration) can take
advantage of this extended surround informa-
tion. On traditional 5.1 channel systems, Dolby
Digital Surround EX or DTS-ES 6.1 discs sound
exactly the same as 5.1 channel discs in each
respective format.
If you have configured your system with one or
two center back speakers, decoding of DTS-ES
discs is automatic, just as it is with standard
DTS soundtracks. Likewise, decoding of Dolby
Digital Surround EX discs is automatic with one
exception. Some Surround EX titles do not have
the detection “flag” encoded on the disc. To
activate the Dolby Digital Surround EX features
for these discs (or for standard 5.1 channel
Dolby Digital discs), you must manually activate
Dolby Surround EX processing.
Dolby Pro Logic IIx
6.1 and 7.1 Surround
The latest technology from Dolby uses advanced
matrix decoding for the surround channels in
a 6.1 channel or 7.1 channel system. Working
with any 2.0 channel or 5.1 channel recording,
Dolby Pro Logic IIx processing distributes the
surround channel information among three or
four surround channels, with a Music mode
optimized for musical recordings and a Cinema
mode optimized for film soundtracks.
Rotel XS
6.1 and 7.1 Surround
The RSP-1068 also features Rotel XS (eXtra
Surround) processing provides extended sur-
round performance on 6.1 and 7.1 channel
systems. The key benefit of Rotel XS is that it
works at all times with all multichannel digital
signals, even those that might not otherwise
activate Dolby Digital EX or DTS-ES surround
decoding for the center back channel(s). Al-
ways available when center back speaker(s)
RSP-1068 Surround Sound Processor