Circle Surround EX For ""6.1"" Home Theatres To Be Released By SMART Devices

SMART Devices, Inc will release their home version of the popular Circle Surround EXô adapter used in movie theatres around the world. This product not only decodes a center surround channel from specially encoded soundtracks, but also has the ability to send ""phantom"" center material found on most DVD or LaserDisc DolbyÆ Digital and DTSÆ Digital Surround discrete 5.1-channel motion picture soundtracks to a separate amplifier and speaker channel in home theatre systems. The new ""Surround EX"" soundtrack encoding is being first introduced with the May 19 premiere of ""Star Wars, Episode IóThe Phantom Menace."" Only selected theatres equipped with a Dolby Digital Surround EX or SMART Devices CS-EX or DTS ES (for Extended Surround) or a Panastereo SP23 adapter will be able to play back the soundtrack with the added third-surround dimension. When the new ""Star Wars"" and other films to follow are released to DVD and LaserDisc the Circle Surround EX adapter will provide the necessary decoding circuitry to decode the third-surround channel. The result will be an expanded, panoramic surround experience, transforming a 5.1 home theatre system into a ""6.1"" surround system. The patented Circle Surround matrix technology is said to be extremely stable and allows the extra sound material to be channeled to the center surround channel without the drifting or collapsing effect found in similar products. The Circle Surround EX has a suggested retail price of $399 and will be released in July.See the next Issue 32 of Widescreen Review for a complete behind-the-scenes report on surround EX.For more information, contact Norm Schnieder, President, SMART Devices, at 800 457 6278 or visit the companyís Website at www.smartdev.com.