If you purchase a dvd player that has a Dolby Digital or DTS decoder built-in, will this work with a pro-logic receiver? Will you get the full benefits of the DD/DTS? Do you still need to buy a DD or DTS receiver? Why are decoders built into the dvd players? Thanks in advance for helping me out!!

Welcome http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/biggrin.gif ....I'll try to answer most of your questions(please correct me if I'm wrong).

If you purchase a dvd player that has a Dolby Digital or DTS decoder built-in, will this work with a pro-logic receiver?

Simply answer No(unless you have a Dolby/DTS Ready receiver(more on this later http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif).

Will you get the full benefits of the DD/DTS?

Using the on-board(dobly/dts decoder)on the dvd player with a Dobly Digital/DTS Ready receiver - Yes, you'll experience the full benefits of both DD and DTS.

Do you still need to buy a DD or DTS receiver?

If you have a Dolby Digtal/DTS Ready receiver than the answer is No. IMHO, I recommend buying a receiver with built-in DD/DTS decoders and the money you save from buying a dvd-player w/DD/DTS could go toward your receiver or your growing dvd collection http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/smile.gif.

Why are decoders built into the dvd players?

This was one solution(IMHO)- Where consumers could easily buy inexpensive Dolby/DTS ready receivers than a receiver with built-in DD/DTS decoders. This was in the earlier days where dvd was still a niche market. Now, the market is inundated with very inexpensive receivers with builtin DD/DTS decoders.



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As JBDomain said, you need to DD ready receiver. A "ready" receiver will have 6 inputs on the back, one for each of the speakers in a surround system, including the woofer. This is because the DVD player will 'sort' the signals, and the receiver will simply pass them on to the speakers.
If your receiver is only Prologic, you will not have these connections, and you will not be able to enjoy DD5.1 or DTS.