MATRIX stereo vs. Stereo??....
 

I was cycling through my settings menu for my Digital cable and i noticed the option to run either in Stereo mode, or Matrix stereo mode. Both sound pretty much the same to me....

My tv is an older Sony Trinitron 27"...... What's the difference between the 2? Matrix and without? Would Matrix only be useful in surround sound setups?


Thanks.

Sony's manuals are usually pretty good at explaining this stuff (unlike Panasonic). My guess would be that it simulates surround sound with Dolby Pro-Logic-encoded material.

If it's like my Sony TV, the matrix mode will sound alike on most channels, but will sound dramatically different with a Pro-Logic channel. The only question is whether or not your cable company is passing the signal through to you. Not all do.

Well damn, it's been many a year since I bought that TV... The manual could be long gone :(

My cable company is Shaw, formally Rogers, but they sold to Shaw...

I also didn't know it was channel specific, thanks.

No problem!

I can be startled out of my chair sometimes if I forget and leave the matrix surround of my Sony TV turned on. If I'm watching my local CBS affiliate I can't tell any difference because it isn't transmitted in stereo. If I switch over to ABC I can be blasted from behind with poorly-mixed audience reaction sounds on sitcoms.

You can come to appreciate just how poorly a lot of TV show surround sound is mixed when you hear it with this artificial processing.