If they're used at all, the center rear channels are designed primarily for ambient sound to fill in the back soundstage, not for specific directional effects. Using 2 rear speakers helps to dispurse the audio better.

Even if there is meant to be a discrete effect to those channels, human hearing is not particularly distinct when it comes to noises directly behind your head. It's better that the sound come from slightly off to each side.

98% of all Hollywood movies are mixed for 5.1. Most professional sound designers don't put a lot of credence into the usefulness of 6.1 or 7.1.

To date there are only 2 Blu-ray discs with 7.1 audio (The Descent, and the Japanese release of Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence), and no HD DVDs.

They're not literally butting up against one another. Here's how mine are positioned.



My chair sits right in between them.

Thanks for your help and the picture!

I'm curious though... There's a scene in Disney's "The Haunted Mansion" where musical instruments chase Eddie Murphy. At one point, a drum can be heard as if it were directly behind the viewer (via the rear center channel). The sound matches where the drum is off screen. (I believe both the DVD and the BD are only 5.1, so I think my receiver is working its magic and creating a DD EX experience.) My question is, if I watch this same scene with 7.1 channels, will the drum still sound like it's directly behind me, or will I hear 2 drums over my shoulders instead of one directly behind me?

Why don't studios offer uncompressed audio on all HD discs? Don't they go back to the master when they make HD versions of movies? Why do consumers have to settle for DD+ and DTS HD instead of getting lossless audio? (And in some cases, consumers don't even get DD+ or DTS HD: for instance, we have to settle for DD EX and DTS ES on the "Terminator 2" BD, which is exactly the same as the DVD.)

Why don't studios offer some form of Dolby and DTS on every HD disc, especially if the DVD version of the same movie did? Don't HD discs have the storage space for it?

Technically speaking, how does 5.1 Dolby Digital Plus compare to 5.1 DTS? DD+ is offered on many HD discs, but sometimes I'm more impressed with the DTS track on DVDs. Case in point, the DTS track on "Jurassic Park" kicks more ass than the DD+ tracks on several HD DVDs I own.

If the sound is sent to both speakers in equal amplitude at the same time, it will sound like one drum.

Will I see a noticible improvement in PQ if I play Blu-Ray movies on my 46" Samsung 720P DLP over my current SD DVDs?

Very likely yes, but it will depend on your seating distance, as explained in this chart:
http://www.carltonbale.com/wp-conten...tion_chart.png

(But bear in mind that a well upscaled SD DVD will look somewhat better than just 480i or 480p.)

YES.

It's curious to me that they'd have 1440p on that chart. That's not a standard. It's not available now. I don't see it becoming available in the future.

Chi Mei Optoeletronics has announced that it will be releasing a 47 Inch 1440p LCD display in the second quarter of 2007:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/10/17...p-lcd-in-2007/

BTW, while 1440p is not yet an approved standard, the HDMI 1.3 specs can handle up to 1440p video bandwidth. It has been reported that the Sony PS3 will be able to handle 1440p displays.

Even if 1440p doesn't get adopted as a video standard, such displays ought to be able to upscale lesser inputs, such as 1080p, and look pretty good.

You didn't really think that 1080p was the end, did you?

What's the difference between MPEG-2/MPEG-4 and AVC MPEG-4?

Sorry if this was asked before, but I couldn't find the answer using search and reading this FAQ so...
I'm interested in two things. First - will one of the formats (HD-DVD or BluRay) eventually push another out of the market so that only one remains? And second - will DVDs be finally replaced by any of these formats so that no DVDs will be produced at all?

No one knows. One HD format will probably prevail eventually, but it's going to be a long time before DVDs are not produced. My guess is that DVD will be around for another 8-10 years (remember, it was only a couple of years ago that new releases stopped being available in VHS).

Thanks a lot, Drexl. My only consolation is that DVD discs themselves will last if not forever, but for a very long time. VHS tapes' life term was quite short, but DVDs will be playable even when I'm old

So long as your player doesn't die.

I just hope there'll always be handymen who can fix anything. As long as they exist people will be able even to watch VHS in 31st century (if some cassettes are still alive )

Josh, do you really think not being able to play DVDs would be a problem later on? Would they drop the capability from HD disc players?

No, they wouldn't drop the feature from HD players. But many people continue to predict that all forms of physical media will eventually be phased out in favor of internet downloads. I don't exactly agree with that, but it's the fear.

I don't agree either. We can download now too, but we still choose to buy discs. Many people like all those fancy covers besides it's this feeling of having something physical that can be put on a shelf. Movie collection on a hard disc? That's lame.

In addition, they will produce things like steelbooks and tins where people will pay extra solely for the special packaging.

Amen

I saw references in other threads that Fox is in the Blu-Ray camp... but is not releasing any titles.

Can the FAQ be updated with:

1. Why they made the decision not to release titles?
2. Is there is any official word or speculation when they will start releasing Blu-Ray discs?

Thanks.

That would be nice, if anyone actually knew. Fox hasn't said anything other than something vague like "production issues" (which curiously don't seem to be affecting the output of Warner, Sony, or Paramount). The speculation is that they're waiting for BD+, which isn't supposed to be ready until this fall at the earliest.

Ah... Thanks for the info.

According to a sony insider, BD+ is finished. It was about to be released on a few discs, but the 3rd gen BD players were finished so they decided to test them thoroughly on them (BD-J 1.1 PiP) and now that it is complete, we should see some fox releases at some point. Copy protection WAS the reason they stopped releasing, but they should be back soon and with TrueHD as the audio codec of choice now.

I've got a stupid newbie question.

I just ordered a Toshiba HD-A2. My TV is a Hitachi 57F510 with an HDMI input. Do I need a Home Theater set-up for the audio, or can the sound play through my TV speakers? Are there any HD-DVD audio formats that require a home theater?

I don't know much about the HD audio formats. I know that without a home theater, I'm unable to play SD DVDs with DTS audio. So I'm wondering if I'll have a similar problem with HD-DVDs.

Thanks in advance.