Question With the new formats from DOLBY and DTS designed for 6.1 surround and todays AVR'S with 6.1 And 7.1 setup capablities.. Is it required for DVD's to be encoded with the new formats or does the AVR and DVD players assign a 6th or 7th channel to carry the signal back to your backsurround speaker.. I want to add an additional QS4 for 6.1 set up.. But would wait to buy a back surround if DVD's have to be encode with the newer formats. I havent seen any DVD menu audio setup with the newer formats?

DTSROCKS:Yeah, DVD's have to be encoded with DD-EX or DTS-ES in order for your receiver/preamp to play back in either format. HERE is a complete list of what is currently out for both the DD-EX and DTS-ES formats. Troy is also very good at verifying and updating the list as new releases come out. As for getting a rear speaker now, I would say it is totally worth it, but at the same time your theater won't suffer with out it. In the end, it is up to you.

To add to what MiniRock said, I believe (someone please correct me if I'm wrong) that the latest flavors of Dolby and DTS synthesize a rear channel on discs that don't have a discrete channel.
There has been some discussion in the past couple of months as to whether listeners have found 6.1 or 7.1 advantageous, with mixed reviews. A Search in the forums will turn up some valuable opinions from those that have walked the path before you!

Mark,

you are right, there are 2 flavours of DTS-ES and DD-EX - Discrete and Matrix. If the disc has a 6.1 soundtrack then Discrete mode will allow this disc to play in true 6.1, or 7.1 if you have 2 rear speakers (there are still only 6 channels of data, channels 6 and 7 are identical). Any normal 5.1 DVD can be played in Matrix mode where the rear channels are synthesized and play all of the in-phase (mono) content from the side surrounds with a phase lag (if I understand it correctly).

Stuart

Guys,
Would it help if I play DD5.1/DTS5.1 movies through the new DPLIIx(cinema) or Neo(cinema) formats? That would merely cause the receiver to copy the feed from the surround speakers to the surround back speakers, correct ...?

Thanks,

Ananth

pro logic IIx will take any 2 channel source or upto 5.1 channel signal and process it into 7.1 discrete channels.

Let me jump in real quick. The Dolby PLIIx processor does allow you to take any 2 channel or higher encoded material and play it in 7.1. The results vary in the rear center channels.

For example, in DPLIIx, the two rear speakers will play the 6th channel info when a DTS 6.1 encoded DVD is played. It will also play the 6th channel from a DD-EX encoded disc. In both instances, the rear two channels will be mono.

However, the DLPIIx will "create," a 6th and 7th channel in the erar using steering technology based on cues from the left and right surround channel signals. The information will not really be any different than what is contained in the surround channels (that is, you're not losing info if you only have a 5.1 set-up), but the 6th and 7th channel will help to spread the side surrounds into the rear.

I think that the benefit is minimal, especially given the dispersion characteristics of the QS series. But, in a larger room, with some extra room in the rear, the 6th and 7th channel can really help to "open up" the surround field, and make the experience more enveloping.