Page 1 of Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono - what`s this please?

I`ve just bought what I thought was the R3 release of Serenity from ebay, but it is probably a knock-off :(
It has all the features of the R3, but with extra French and Spanish Sound Tracks, a cover that is actually Joss Wheedon`s Book cover, typos on the back, and here`s the kicker - "recorded in Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono".
Is this going to sound as bad as i think it will? :p

Kind Regards
Dig

This item was edited on Thursday, 2nd February 2006, 21:21

? Doesnt 2.0 and Mono contradict it self?

I wouldnt hold out much hope. ;)

Dolby digital is only a standard.
The 2 means it is two channel which are either stereo or identical mono channels.
I have several discs-legitimate- that are dolby digital mono.

Dolby Digital starts at 1.0 channel mono and goes up to 6.1 EX.
But a film like Serenity should be at least 5.1 so it sounds like a pirated disc

It`s a completely idiotic phrase, by nature anything that`s mono cannot be described as 2 channel as mono recordings will only ever have ONE channel of sound information, doesn`t matter how many speakers it comes out of it`s still only one channel!

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My DVD`s

Quote:
Dolby Digital starts at 1.0 channel mono and goes up to 6.1 EX.

Pedeantic I know, but it`s actually 5.1 EX, not 6.1. Unlike DTS, the sixth Dolby channel isn`t discrete and they themselves refer to it as 5.1 EX, not 6.1. DTS are odd as they have DTS ES 6.1, but they make the distinction between matrix and discrete (well usually). I`ll get me coat...

Is it true that a lot of the 5.1 Dolby Digital films sound better than the DTS soundtrack?

If so how come? Also what`s an LFE and why do a lot of sound geeks harp on about it in their reviews.

Also why can`t we just have a stand alone 100% full on DTS movie with no other soundtrack or extras on the DVD?

floyd

LFE = Low Frequency Effects. Subwoofer in other words.

Most people will swear blind that DTS sounds better than Dolby, but I`m not so sure. For one thing you have to be comparing like for like. A lot of reviewers write Dolby or DTS mix, but technically neither Dolby or DTS mix anything. They just encode what`s given to them using their own compression algorithoms. If the sources are different then it`s highly likely that one will sound better than the other. I believe this is the case with the DTS Saving Private Ryan that everyone goes on about.

DTS can have a significantly higher bitrate than Dolby (more than twice in fact), but generally only uses half of the available rate because of storage issues. The reason you don`t see many DTS-only DVDs is bcause most hardware owners can`t play DTS soundtracks. It`s more cost effective to put both on the same disc than to make separate discs. Dolby, of course, will play on anything. With that said,

Using the term LFE doesn`t make anyone a geek. It`s the correct terminology and the limitation is not theirs. Why should reviewers dumb down there reviews for those who can`t be bothered to read a glossary of terms?

Just to throw my two-pennethworth in, I prefer to see a mono soundtrack reproduced as DD2.0 rather than DD1.0 because your average amp setup will push DD2.0 out of the front pair of speakers as it`s supposed to. The result is a nice, balanced sound with some weight behind it. DD1.0 on the other hand inevitably gets passed (again as it should) to the centre speaker. To my ears at least this produces a less satisfactory sound through my amp system. I tend to watch DD1.0 movies with the sound from the tv speakers as the tv duplicates the 1.0 signal to both its speakers and again it sounds better.

Chris has pointed out that Dolby and DTS don`t mix the sound, they do however treat the mix they are presented with differently, and the term "mix" is a handy generic term rather than "soundtrack". From personal experience, DTS soundtracks (if you want to be pedantic) are usually more aggressive than DD5.1, and I suspect that the compression algorithms are biased in some way to effect that. If you don`t believe me, do a side-by-side comparison of the DD and Dolby soundtracks of Shrek and/or Die Hard.

J Mark Oates