Glossary of audio decoding format

This is a glossary of the technical terms related to audio decoding format used in this manual.

Dolby Atmos

Introduced first in the cinema, Dolby Atmos brings a revolutionary sense of dimension and immersion to the Home Theater experience. Dolby Atmos is an adaptable and scalable object based format that reproduces audio as independent sounds (or objects) that can be accurately positioned and move dynamically throughout the 3 dimensional listening space during playback. A key ingredient of Dolby Atmos is the introduction of a height plane of sound above the listener.

Dolby Atmos Stream

Dolby Atmos content will be delivered to your Dolby Atmos enabled AV receiver via Dolby Digital Plus or Dolby TrueHD on Blu-ray Disc, downloadable files and streaming media. A Dolby Atmos stream contains special metadata that describes the positioning of sounds within the room. This object audio data is decoded by a Dolby Atmos AV receiver and scaled for optimum playback through Home Theater speaker systems of every size and configuration.

Dolby Digital

Dolby Digital is a compressed digital audio format developed by Dolby Laboratories, Inc. that supports 5.1-channel audio. This technology is used for audio on most DVD disc.

Dolby Digital Plus

Dolby Digital Plus is a compressed digital audio format developed by Dolby Laboratories, Inc. that supports 7.1-channel audio. Dolby Digital Plus remains fully compatible with the existing multichannel audio systems that support Dolby Digital. This technology is used for audio streaming services on the Internet and audio on BD (Blu-ray Disc).

Dolby Enabled Speaker

A convenient alternative to speakers built into the ceiling, products utilizing Dolby speaker technology employ the ceiling above you as a reflective surface for reproducing audio in the height plane above the listener. Dolby enabled speakers feature a unique upward firing driver and special signal processing that can be built into a conventional speaker, or a standalone speaker module, minimally impacting the overall speaker system footprint while providing an immersive listening experience during Dolby Atmos and Dolby surround playback.

Dolby Surround

Dolby surround is a next generation surround technology that intelligently up mixes stereo; 5.1 and 7.1 content for playback through your surround speaker system. Dolby surround is compatible with traditional speaker layouts, as well as Dolby Atmos enabled playback systems that employ in-ceiling speakers or products with Dolby speaker technology.

Dolby TrueHD

Dolby TrueHD is an advanced lossless audio format developed by Dolby Laboratories, Inc. to offer a high-definition home theater experience with the quality of the studio master. Dolby TrueHD can carry up to eight channels of 96 kHz/24-bit audio (up to six channels of 192 kHz/24-bit audio) simultaneously. This technology is used for audio on BD (Blu-ray Disc).

DTS 96/24

DTS 96/24 is a compressed digital audio format that supports 5.1-channel and 96 kHz/24-bit audio. This format remains fully compatible with the existing multichannel audio systems that support DTS Digital Surround. This technology is used for music DVDs, etc.

DTS Dialog Control

DTS Dialog Control allows you to boost the dialog. This can be useful in noisy environments to help make the dialog more intelligible. People with impaired hearing may also benefit. Note that the content creator may disable the use of this feature in the mix, so that DTS Dialog Control may not always be available. Note that updates to your AVR may add more functionality to DTS Dialog Control or increase the range of the feature.

DTS Digital Surround

DTS Digital Surround is a compressed digital audio format developed by DTS, Inc. that supports 5.1-channel audio. This technology is used for audio on most DVD discs.

DTS-ES

DTS-ES creates total 6.1-channel audio from 5.1-channel sources that are recorded with DTS-ES. This decoder adds a surround back sound to the original 5.1-channel sound. In the DTS-ES Matrix 6.1 format, a surround back sound is recorded in the surround channels, and in the DTS-ES Discrete 6.1 format, a discrete surround back channel is recorded.

DTS Express

DTS Express is a compressed digital audio format that supports 5.1-channel audio and allows a higher compression rate than the DTS Digital Surround format developed by DTS, Inc. This technology is developed for audio streaming services on the Internet and secondary audio on BD (Blu-ray Disc).

DTS-HD High Resolution Audio

DTS-HD High Resolution Audio is a compressed digital audio format developed by DTS, Inc. that supports 7.1-channel and 96 kHz/24-bit audio. DTS-HD High Resolution Audio remains fully compatible with the existing multichannel audio systems that support DTS Digital Surround. This technology is used for audio on most BD (Blu-ray Disc).

DTS-HD Master Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio is an advanced lossless audio format developed to offer a high-definition home theater experience with the quality of the studio master by DTS, Inc. DTS-HD Master Audio can carry up to eight channels of 96 kHz/24-bit audio (up to six channels of 192 kHz/24-bit audio) simultaneously. This technology is used for audio on BD (Blu-ray Disc).

DTS Neo: 6

DTS Neo: 6 enables 6-channel playback from 2-channel sources. There are two modes available: “Music mode” for music sources and “Cinema mode” for movie sources. This technology provides discrete full-bandwidth matrix channels of surround sound.

DTS:X

DTS:X is the next generation object-based, multi-dimensional audio technology from DTS. Unbound from channels, DTS:X conveys the fluid movement of sound to create an incredibly rich, realistic and immersive soundscape - in front of, behind, beside and above the audience - more accurately than ever before. DTS:X offers the ability to automatically adapt the audio to the speaker layout that best fits the space, from a television’s built-in speakers to a home surround theater system to a dozen or more speakers in a commercial cinema. Immerse yourself at www.dts.com/dtsx

DSD (Direct Stream Digital)

DSD (Direct Stream Digital) technology stores audio signals on digital storage media, such as SACD (Super Audio CDs). The signals are stored at a high-frequency sampling rate (such as 11.2 MHz). The highest frequency response is equal to or higher than 100 kHz, with a dynamic range of 120 dB. This technology offers better audio quality than that used for CDs.

FLAC

FLAC is a file format for lossless audio data compression. FLAC is inferior to lossy compressed audio formats in compression rate but provides higher audio quality.

MP3

One of the compressed digital audio format used by MPEG. With psychoacoustic technologies, this compression method achieves a high compression rate. Reportedly, it is capable of compressing data quantity by about 1/10 maintaining a certain level of audio quality.

MPEG-4 AAC

An MPEG-4 audio standard. It is used for mobile telephones, portable audio players, and audio streaming services on Internet because it allows a high compression rate of data while maintaining better audio quality than MP3.

Neural:X

Neural:X is the latest downmixing/upmixing and spatial remapping technology from DTS. It is built in to DTS:X to provide upmix of Neural:X-encoded and non-encoded (PCM) data. In DTS:X for AVRs and Sound Bars, Neural:X can produce up to 11.x channels.

PCM (Pulse Code Modulation)

PCM is a signal format under which an analog audio signal is digitized, recorded, and transmitted. This technology is the basis of all other audio format. This technology is used as a lossless audio format called Linear PCM for audio on a variety of media, including CDs.

Sampling frequency/Quantization bit

Sampling frequency and quantization bits indicate the quantity of information when an analog audio signal is digitized. These values are noted as in the following example: “48 kHz/24-bit”.

  • Sampling frequency
    Sampling frequency (the number of times the signal is sampled per second) is called the sampling rate. When the sampling frequency is higher, the range of frequencies that can be played back are wider.
  • Quantization bit
    The number of quantization bits indicate the degree of accuracy when converting the sound level into a numeric value. When the number of quantized bits is higher, the expression of the sound level is more accurate.

WAV

Windows standard audio file format, which defines the method of recording the digital data obtained by converting audio signals. By default, the PCM method (no compression) is used, but you can also use other compression methods.

WMA (Windows Media Audio)

One of the compressed digital audio formats developed by Microsoft Corporation. With psychoacoustic technologies, this compression method achieves a high compression rate. Reportedly, it is capable of compressing data quantity by about 1/20 maintaining a certain level of audio quality.