Rear speaker sound with Dolby Digital 2/0 ? (1 Viewer)

[Christopher Chung]

I don't have rear speakers yet, but is sound supposed to come out when a DVD is encoded with 2/0 sound as opposed to DVD's encoded in 3/2 sound?
If it doesn't come out, is there any way to make audio come out just as it is with the front right and left?
Thanks,
Chris

 

[Ken Seeber]

It depends on how the soundtrack is encoded.
If it's a simple two-channel stereo track, then no, you only get sound from the front left and right speakers. If it's a matrixed two-channel Dolby Pro-Logic-encoded track, then yes. Pro-Logic has four channels of sound encoded into two stereo channels: Left, center and right front channels, then one mono back channel that is sent to two rear speakers.
With a two-channel stereo track, there is probably some way of getting sound to come out of the rear speakers too, but trust me when I say you wouldn't want that. That isn't what surround sound is about. It's very disorienting hearing sound that should be coming from in front of you (that accompanies on-screen action) to be coming from behind.
[Edited last by Ken Seeber on August 04, 2001 at 02:12 AM]

 

[Henry W]

It depends on your receiver and the modes offered. Almost any receiver on the market today offers a number of modes which enable you to have sound from all your speakers irrespective of the recorded mode.
Best regards-Henry
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