What's that Dolby Digital/Pro-logic Stuff?
Surround Sound can transform your family room or any other room you like into a home theater of your very own. Why fight the crowds, when you can relax at home without worrying if you'll get a good seat?
Often people acknowledge this what they want, but when the words Dolby Digital or Pro-logic come up, the simplicity seems to go out the window. Simplicity is what I want to bring you. So first I'll give you the simplest descriptions.
Dolby Pro-logic is great. Dolby Digital is even better. They both aim to accomplish the same thing, to fool your auditory senses into believing you are inside the movie and part of the action.
Dolby Digital and Dolby Pro-logic are sound processing systems created to produce the most realistic Sound possible. Almost all television channels currently broadcast TV Shows & Movies in one of these two formats. You can receive them through Cable, DSS (Digital Satellite Systems), or a simple television antenna.
Dolby Digital has become the standard audio signal for HDTV (High Definition Television). 99% of HDTV channels are broadcast in Dolby Digital currently.
So to get this great sound, you first need to have the equipment, namely a Pro-logic receiver and at least one of these components: Hi-Fi Stereo VCR, DVD Player, Blu-Ray, Cable Box or Satellite system. Also, you need speakers and of course speaker wire. The number of speakers you need is five. One speaker for each of the following: left front channel, right front channel, center front channel, left rear channel and right rear channel. If you really want excellent sound, a sub-woofer will greatly enhance your speaker system.
If you want to watch a movie and hear it in Dolby Digital, then you must use a digital source. These would include Blu-Ray, DVD, Laser disc, Cable & DSS systems if your satellite receiver has a digital audio out.
Besides one of the components I just mentioned, you will also need five speakers using the same speaker locations as Pro-logic, but this time the separate sub-woofer is essential. You must have a separate sub-woofer with Dolby Digital or you will not get the low frequency sound that the director of the movie intended you to hear and feel.
All of these speakers will get independent sound fed to them if you use a Dolby Digital receiver and one of the listed digital components. One other thing, the material you are watching must be encoded in Dolby Digital, so be sure to look for the name on the back cover of any DVD. If it doesn't say Dolby Digital then you will not get that Surround Sound. You can, however still listen to it in Pro-Logic since all Dolby Digital Receivers have Pro-logic built in as well.
Dolby Digital and Pro-Logic are two of the most used Surround Sound Processing Systems in the United States Today.