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Surround Sound Glossary Home Theater Glossary Audio and video synchronization (lip sync) Lip sync, an abbreviation for lip synchronization, is a technical term that involves both a problem and a capability of maintaining audio and video signals synchronized during post-production and transmission. Whereas the audio and video latency requires complex end-user adjustments, HDMI version 1.3 incorporates an automatic audio and video syncing capability that allows devices to perform this synchronization automatically and accurately without user interaction. Bi-amplification connection A bi-amplification connection uses two amplifiers for a speaker. One amplifier is connected to the woofer section of a loudspeaker while the other is connected to the combined mid and tweeter section. With this arrangement each amplifier operates over a restricted frequency range. This restricted range presents each amplifier with a much simpler job and each amplifier is less likely to influence the sound in some way. The internal crossover of the speaker consists of a LPF (low pass filter) and a HPF (high pass filter). As its name implies, the LPF passes frequencies below a cutoff and rejects frequencies above the cutoff frequency. Likewise, the HPF passes frequencies above its cutoff. Component video signal With the component video signal system, the video signal is separated into the Y signal for the luminance and the PB and PR signals for the chrominance. Color can be reproduced more faithfully with this system because each of these signals is independent. The component signal is also called the color difference signal because the luminance signal is subtracted from the color signal. A monitor with component input jacks is required in order to output component signals. Composite video signal With the composite video signal, the video signal is composed of three basic elements of a video picture: color, brightness and synchronization data. A composite video jack on a video component transmits these three elements combined. Deep Color Deep Color refers to the use of various color depths in displays, up from the 24-bit depths in previous versions of the HDMI specification. This extra bit depth allows HDTVs and other displays to go from millions of colors to billions of colors and eliminate on-screen color banding for smooth tonal transitions and subtle gradations between colors. The increased contrast ratio can represent many times more shades of gray between black and white. Also Deep Color increases the number of available colors within the boundaries defined by the RGB or YCbCr color space. Dolby Digital Dolby Digital is a digital surround sound system that gives you completely independent multi-channel audio. With 3 front channels (front L/R and center), and 2 surround stereo channels, Dolby Digital provides 5 full-range audio channels. With an additional channel especially for bass effects, called LFE (Low Frequency Effect), the system has a total of 5.1-channels (LFE is counted as 0.1 channel). By using 2-channel stereo for the surround speakers, more accurate moving sound effects and surround sound environment are possible than with Dolby Surround. The wide dynamic range from maximum to minimum volume reproduced by the 5 full-range channels and the precise sound orientation generated using digital sound processing provide listeners with unprecedented excitement and realism. With this unit, any sound environment from monaural up to a 5.1- channel configuration can be freely selected for your enjoyment. Dolby Digital EX Dolby Digital EX creates 6 full-bandwidth output channels from 5.1-channel sources. This is done using a matrix decoder that derives 3 surround channels from the 2 in the original recording. For the best results, Dolby Digital EX should be used with movie sound tracks recorded with Dolby Digital Surround EX. With this additional channel, you can experience more dynamic and realistic moving sound especially with scenes with ?fly-over? and ?fly-around? effects. Dolby Digital Plus Dolby Digital Plus is an advanced audio technology developed for high-definition programming and media including HD broadcasts, HD DVD, and Blu-ray Disc. Selected as a mandatory audio standard for HD DVD and as an optional audio standard for Blu-ray Disc, this technology delivers multichannel sound with discrete channel output. Supporting bitrates up to 6.0 Mbps, Dolby Digital Plus can carry up to 7.1 discreet audio channels simultaneously. Supported by HDMI version 1.3 and designed for the optical disc players and AV receivers/amplifiers of the future, Dolby Digital Plus also remains fully compatible with the existing multichannel audio systems that incorporate Dolby Digital. Dolby Pro Logic II Dolby Pro Logic II is an improved technique used to decode vast numbers of existing Dolby Surround sources. This new technology enables a discrete 5-channel playback with 2 front left and right channels, 1 center channel, and 2 surround left and right channels instead of only 1 surround channel for conventional Pro Logic technology. There are three modes available: Music mode for music sources, Movie mode for movie sources and Game mode for game sources. Dolby Pro Logic IIx Dolby Pro Logic IIx is a new technology enabling discrete multichannel playback from 2-channel or multi-channel sources. There are three modes available: ?Music mode? for music sources, ?Movie mode? for movie sources (for 2-channel sources only) and ?Game mode? for game sources. Dolby Surround Dolby Surround uses a 4-channel analog recording system to reproduce realistic and dynamic sound effects: 2 front left and right channels (stereo), a center channel for dialog (monaural), and a surround channel for special sound effects (monaural). The surround channel reproduces sound within a narrow frequency range. Dolby Surround is widely used with nearly all video tapes and laser discs, and in many TV and cable broadcasts as well. The Dolby Pro Logic decoder built into this unit employs a digital signal processing system that automatically stabilizes the volume on each channel to enhance moving sound effects and directionality. Dolby TrueHD Dolby TrueHD is an advanced lossless audio technology developed for high-definition disc-based media including HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Selected as a mandatory audio standard for HD DVD and as an optional audio standard for Blu-ray Disc, this technology delivers sound that is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master, offering a high-definition home theater experience. Supporting bitrates up to 18.0 Mbps, Dolby TrueHD can carry up to 8 discrete channels of 24-bit/96 kHz audio simultaneously. Supported by HDMI version 1.3 and designed for the optical disc players and AV receivers/amplifiers of the future, Dolby TrueHD also remains fully compatible with the existing multichannel audio systems and retains the metadata capability of Dolby Digital, allowing dialog normalization and dynamic range control. DSD Direct Stream Digital (DSD) technology stores audio signals on digital storage media, such as Super Audio CDs. Using DSD, signals are stored as single bit values at a high-frequency sampling rate of 2.8224 MHz, while noise shaping and oversampling are used to reduce distortion, a common occurrence with very high quantization of audio signals. Due to the high sampling rate, better audio quality can be achieved than that offered by the PCM format used for normal audio CDs. DTS 96/24 DTS 96/24 offers an unprecedented level of audio quality for multi-channel sound on DVD video, and is fully backwardcompatible with all DTS decoders. 96? refers to a 96 kHz sampling rate compared to the typical 48 kHz sampling rate. 24? refers to 24-bit word length. DTS 96/24 offers sound quality transparent to the original 96/24 master, and 96/24 5.1-channel sound with full-quality full-motion video for music programs and motion picture soundtracks on DVD video. DTS Digital Surround DTS digital surround was developed to replace the analog soundtracks of movies with a 6.1-channel digital sound track, and is now rapidly gaining popularity in movie theaters around the world. DTS, Inc. has developed a home theater system so that you can enjoy the depth of sound and natural spatial representation of DTS digital surround in your home. This system produces practically distortion-free 6.1-channel sound (technically, front left and right, center, surround left and right, and LFE 0.1 (subwoofer) channels for a total of 5.1 channels). Some receivers incorporate a DTS-ES decoder that enables 6.1-channel reproduction by adding the surround back channel to the existing 5.1-channel format. DTS Express DTS Express is an advanced audio technology for the optional feature on Blu-ray Disc, which offers high-quality, low bit rate audio optimized for network streaming, and Internet applications. DTS Express is used for the Secondary Audio feature of Blu-ray Disc. These features deliver audio commentaries (for example, the additional commentaries made by the director of a film) on demand by the users via the Internet, etc. DTS Express signals are mixed down with the main audio stream on the player component, and the component sends the mixed audio stream to the AV receivers/amplifiers via digital coaxial, digital optical, or analog connections. DTS-HD High Resolution Audio DTS-HD High Resolution Audio is an high resolution audio technology developed for high-definition disc-based media including Blu-ray Disc. Selected as an optional audio standard for Blu-ray Disc, this technology delivers sound that is virtually indistinguishable from the original, offering a high-definition home theater experience. Supporting bitrates up to 3.0 Mbps for HD DVD and 6.0 Mbps for Blu-ray Disc, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio can carry up to 7.1 discrete channels of 24-bit/96 kHz audio simultaneously. Supported by HDMI version 1.3 and designed for the optical disc players and AV receivers/amplifiers of the future, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio also remains fully compatible with the existing multichannel audio systems that incorporate DTS Digital Surround. DTS-HD Master Audio DTS-HD Master Audio is an advanced lossless audio technology developed for high-definition disc-based media including HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Selected as a mandatory audio standard for both HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc, this technology delivers sound that is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master, offering a high-definition home theater experience. Supporting bitrates up to 18.0 Mbps for HD DVD and up to 24.5 Mbps for Blu-ray Disc, DTS-HD Master Audio can carry up to 7.1 discrete channels of 24-bit/96 kHz audio simultaneously. Supported by HDMI version 1.3 and designed for the optical disc players and AV receivers/ amplifiers of the future, DTS-HD Master Audio also remains fully compatible with the existing multichannel audio systems that incorporate DTS Digital Surround. HDMI HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) is the first industry-supported, uncompressed, all-digital audio/video interface. Providing an interface between any source (such as a set-top box or AV receiver) and an audio/video monitor (such as a digital television), HDMI supports standard, enhanced or highdefinition video as well as multi-channel digital audio using a single cable. HDMI transmits all ATSC HDTV standards and supports 8-channel digital audio, with bandwidth to spare to accommodate future enhancements and requirements. When used in combination with HDCP (High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection), HDMI provides a secure audio/video interface that meets the security requirements of content providers and system operators. For further information on HDMI, visit the HDMI website at http://www.hdmi.org/. Line Level and Speaker Level Line level uses RCA cable connections while speaker level uses speaker wire connections. Neural Surround Neural Surround. represents the latest advancement in surround technology and has been adopted by XM Satellite Radio for digital radio broadcast of surround recordings and live events in surround sound. Neural Surround. employs psychoacoustic frequency domain processing which allows delivery of a more detailed sound stage with superior channel separation and localization of audio elements. System playback is scalable from 5.1 to 7.1 multi-channel surround playback. PCM (Linear PCM) Linear PCM is a signal format under which an analog audio signal is digitized, recorded and transmitted without using any compression. This is used as a method of recording CDs and DVD audio. The PCM system uses a technique for sampling the size of the analog signal per very small unit of time. Standing for Pulse Code Modulation, the analog signal is encoded as pulses and then modulated for recording. Sampling frequency and number of quantized bits When digitizing an analog audio signal, the number of times the signal is sampled per second is called the sampling frequency, while the degree of fineness when converting the sound level into a numeric value is called the number of quantized bits. The range of rates that can be played back is determined based on the sampling rate, while the dynamic range representing the sound level difference is determined by the number of quantized bits. In principle, the higher the sampling frequency, the wider the range of frequencies that can be played back, and the higher the number of quantized bits, the more finely the sound level can be reproduced. S-video signal With the S-video signal system, the video signal normally transmitted using a pin cable is separated and transmitted as the Y signal for the luminance and the C signal for the chrominance through the S-video cable. Using the S VIDEO jack eliminates video signal transmission loss and allows recording and playback of even more beautiful images. Subwoofer A subwoofer is a loudspeaker designed for the low frequencies only, often called LFE or low frequency effects or bass sounds. Typically powered, meaning a built-in amp, subs are very versatile and add that boom to the home theater audio enjoyment. x.v.Color A color space standard supported by HDMI version 1.3. It is a more extensive color space than sRGB, and allows the expression of colors that could not be expressed before. While remaining compatible with the color gamut of sRGB standards, x.v.Color expands the color space and can thus produce more vivid, natural images. It is particularly effective for still pictures and computer graphics. • How to hookup Surround Sound |
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