Modern Surround-Sound Systems

With the advent of the DVD (Digital Versatile Disc) it has become possible to store more than two good-quality sound channels with onto a userfriendly medium. This in turn has given an impetus to surround-sound reproduction in the average living room. This article takes a look at the facilities of the two currently most important surround-sound systems: Dolby Digital and DTS.Since stereo reproduction can provide a realistic spread of sound over an arc of only about 60 degrees in the horizontal plane, full-scale, threedimensional surround sound became popular in the 1970s in the cinema. This popularity led to its adoption in television broadcasts, video tapes and compact discs (CDs). Microphone techniques are basically the same as those used for stereophonic reproduction by the use of quadraphonic panpots to control music and other sounds.