Matrix 6.1 Compatibility?
Dear Gary: In one of your prior issues, you illustrated how to “chain” two receivers together to achieve Surround EX performance. Is this setup compatible with the new crop of DTS-ES® DVDs? These new DVDs feature discrete 6.1. With the daisy chained two receivers can you get matrixed 6.1 from this setup? I refer to your letter in Issue 39.
Smn749@cs.com
Managing Editor Perry Sun Comments:
The answer is yes. DVDs with DTS-ES soundtracks are fully compatible with surround processors and receivers equipped to decode DTS® Digital Surround™ 5.1, and also Dolby® Digital Surround EX™ soundtracks, if so capable. A DVD labeled with the DTS-ES logo actually offers two decoding modes within the DTS soundtrack—DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 and DTS-ES Matrix 6.1. For the latter, the back surround channel is matrix-encoded into the 5.1 surround channels in the same manner as for Surround EX. For DTS-ES Discrete 6.1, audio components which feature the DTS-ES logo will decode the discrete back surround channel within the extension data sectors of the DTS bitstream. This channel is then used to subtract out the matrix-encoded back surround information from the 5.1 surrounds to ultimately obtain 6.1 discrete channels.
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