"jim" wrote in message arthlink.net...
Hi, does Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround means it's in Stereo Sound?

Thanks.
_________________________

The general public, at least, has developed a narrow definition of
"stereo" resulting from it's genesis over 50 years ago during the
'primitive' vinyl era. The laws of physics governing stylus movement
specified movement in two directions, up-down(Y) and (X). The
combination of these two movements is what enables two-ch. SEPARATION,
which became the definition of stereo in most peoples minds. You can
have two discrete channels. Heck you can have twenty channels and
it'd still be mono!

The pure Greek deafenition of the root "stereos" is SPATIALITY. And
for most of us consumers, that spatiality was defined via the two
channel system developed for records, and later transferred to
cassette, video, and CD. The Greeks' spatial means how sound relates
to what comes from all directions, above you, below you, behind you,
to one side, etc.

So idealistically, the "stereo" world is ALL AROUND you, not just in
front, as with a 2-ch setup, or even in "surround" - matrixed,
digital, or otherwise. You'd need speakers above you as well as in
front & back to come even close to that level of realism.

So technically, yes, 5.1 is the closest thing to the Greek defenition
of stereo sound(what you hear when you head out the door everyday),
but the format, acc. to the site Eberhard posted, will support mono,
"traditional" 2-ch, and so forth.

-CC