Really simple question regarding surround...

[T-Rage]

I've done my research on the video portion of HD but I'm lacking on the audio side of things.

I don't have surround. I simply use the L and R channels out of my DVD player which feed into my tv. I'm quite happy with the sound. My question is this...

If I'm using just stereo out of the DVD and have the DVD player setup to output analog stereo what should I be setting the audio to through the DVD itself?

For instance when the DVD menu is up there is a "Setup Audio" menu that allows you to select English Dobly 5.1, English Dolby 2.0, etc.

In a sentence or two what are the differences?

[BrianW]

The setting on the movie refers to the audio tracks stored on the disk. DD5.1 has the audio track split into 6 distinct channels. DD2.0 has only two distinct channels.

The DVD player settings may override the settings and take anything that is DD5.1 and merge the signals onto just the two channels. This may result in slightly unbalanced sound. Setting the movie to match (DD2.0) should result in a better balanced sound as it was originally mixed that way (possibly, they may have just merged the 5.1 to 2.0 for you).

FYI the numbers after Dolby Digital refer to the number of distinct channels not to a version. This should also be number of speakers you have. The number after the dot is the subwoofer.

[57U]

You should set up your DVD for DD2.0 (stereo).

The analogue outputs from the DVD player may override this setting, but it's better to set the DVD for DD2.0 to make sure.

DD5.1 sends out 6 discrete channel signals. They are:

1. Left Front
2. Center
3. Right Front
4. Left Rear
5. Right Rear
6. Subwoofer (the ".1" signal) The reason it's ".1" is because it's a line level signal (low power that needs further amplification) rather than a "speaker" signal like the other 5. This LFE (low frequency effects) signal is also "assembled" from the other speakers depending on how you set up your receiver... (Bass Management)

If you were to set the DVD for DD5.1 and only have two speakers, then you might only be listening to the left-front and right-front channels instead of the proper stereo mix.

Many people consider the surround sound experience just as important as the picture and spend as much or more for the audio as video.

Hope this is what you were looking for.

[T-Rage]

Thanks all! The makes sense now. Now I'll make sure I set it up correctly for all future movies.