DTS stand for Digital Theater Systems Digital Sound and is a product of DTS, Inc.
DTS is a multichannel audio compression format similar to Dolby Digital/AC3 used in DVD-video discs, DVD-audio, 5.1 channel audio CDs, and some movie theaters. DTS differs from Dolby Digital in that it generally uses higher data rates and many have the opinion that DTS is better quality. DTS can only be on a DVD-video disc if accompanied by a Dolby Digital or LPCM track (for North America ) or mpeg audio and LPCM (European Community) to ensure compatibility, because DVD players are only required to decode those standards in those regions.
Digital Theatre System (DTS) is a multi-channel surround sound format used for both commercial and consumer grade applications (with slight technical differences between home and commercial variants). It is primarily used for in-movie sound both on film and on DVD. The company which created it, Digital Theater Systems, is also often referred to simply as DTS. The company is co-owned and was co-founded by film director Steven Spielberg, who felt that theatrical sound formats up until the company's founding were no longer state of the art, and as a result were no longer optimal for use on projects where quality sound reproduction was of the utmost importance. Work on the format started in 1991, about the same time Dolby Labs was starting work on their new codec, Dolby Digital. The basic and most common version of the format is a 5.1 channel system, supporting five primary speakers and a subwoofer, referred to as an LFE (Low Frequency Effects)channel. However, other newer variants are also currently available, including versions that support up to 7 primary audio channels. DTS's main competitors in multichannel theatrical audio are Dolby Digital and SDDS, although only Dolby Digital and DTS are used on DVDs and implemented in home theater hardware. Spielberg debuted the format with his 1993 production of Jurassic Park, which came slightly less than a full year after the debut of Dolby Digital. In addition, Jurassic Park also became the first home video release to contain DTS sound when it was released on Laserdisc in late '93, pre-dating the first Dolby Digital home video releases which debuted in 1995.
In theatrical use, information in the form of a modified time code is optically imaged onto the film, a DTS processor in the projection booth uses this timecode to synchronize the projected image with the soundtrack audio, which is recorded in compressed form on standard CD-ROM media at 1.5 Mbit/s. The processor also acts as a transport mechanism, it holds and reads the audio discs. The units can generally hold 3 discs, allowing a single processor/transport to handle 2-disc film soundtracks along with a 3rd disc containing sound for theatrical trailers. In addition, specific elements of the imprinted timecode allow identifying data to be embedded within the code, ensuring that a certain film's soundtrack will only run with that film.
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