Just keep in mind in all this channel escalation to "27.1" or who knows what else - movies are mixed at a maximum of 5.1 'hard' channels. Dolby EX adds a _matrixed_ back surround channel to this. This is _not_ going to change in the forseeable future. All those 'channels' added after the fact by the pre/pro are 'synthesized' and are actually 'distrortions' of the original intent of the film mix. They may sound just fine - but just remember that the original source is just 5.1 actual channels. Sony's SDDS is a variation to this that is _only_ heard in _some_ theatres; they have 5 hard channels behind the screen instead of 3, for an actual channel count of 7.1. To tell the truth, having heard this format in a mixing situation, it _does_ add to the seamlessness across the screen to have those extra 2 channels between the far left and far right speakers.