DTS

About DTS

DTS is a series of multichannel audio technologies owned by DTS, Inc. (formerly known as Digital Theater Systems, Inc.), an American company specializing in digital surround sound formats used for both commercial/theatrical and consumer grade applications, pretty much like Dolby.

DTS Digital Surround

The basic and most common version of the format is a 5.1-channel system, similar to a Dolby Digital setup, which encodes the audio as five primary (full-range) channels plus a special LFE (low-frequency effects) channel for the subwoofer.

DTS-HD High Resolution Audio

DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, along with DTS-HD Master Audio, compose the DTS-HD extension to the original DTS audio format. It delivers up to 7.1 channels of sound at a 96 kHz sampling frequency and 24-bit depth resolution. DTS-HD High Resolution Audio is selected as an optional surround sound format for Blu-ray Disc, with constant bit rates up to 6.0 Mbit/s. It is intended to be an alternative for DTS-HD Master Audio where disc space may not allow it. DTS-HD High Resolution Audio is implemented as a core DTS stream plus an extension containing the two additional channels plus deltas to enable 96/24 sound reproduction.

DTS-HD Master Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio, previously known as DTS++, is the second of two DTS-HD audio formats. It supports a virtually unlimited number of surround sound channels, can downmix to 5.1 and two-channel, and can deliver audio quality at bit rates extending from DTS Digital Surround up to lossless (24-bit, 192 kHz).

DTS-HD Master Audio is selected as an optional surround sound format for Blu-ray, where it has been limited to a maximum of 8 discrete channels. DTS-HD MA supports variable bit rates up to 24.5 Mbit/s on a Blu-ray Disc, with up to 6 channels encoded at up to 192 kHz or 8 channels encoded at 96 kHz/24 bit. If more than two channels are used, a "channel remapping" function allows for remixing the soundtrack to compensate for a different channel layout in the playback system compared to the original mix.

All Blu-ray players can decode the DTS "core" resolution soundtrack at 1.5 Mbit/s, however, as DTS-HD Master Audio is also implemented as a standard DTS core plus extensions. DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD are the only technologies that deliver compressed lossless surround sound for these new disc formats, ensuring the highest quality audio performance available in the new standards.