I just saw an advertising for a new format called Dolby Digital Plus, able to carry over 13 channels. It's the new standard for HD HDTV. It is supposed to be backards compatible. Is it really backards compatible? or are all our systems going to become obsolete soon? Does anyone know? Thanks.

Dolby Digital Plus is available on HD-DVD and Blu-ray, and while it is capable of 13.1 channels it is currently only implemented for 7.1 (and, for that matter, there's been no studio support for more than 5.1 so far). It is "backward compatible" from the standpoint that it can be output as multichannel analog or downmixed by the player to Dolby Digital 5.1 (although Toshiba's HD-DVD players are actually downmixing to DTS instead because it requires less compression). My HDMI FAQ (in my sig) has some more details - suffice to say that I don't think we're likely to see Dolby Digital and DTS become obsolete in the near future.

I have to say that the DD Plus tracks I've heard on HD DVD are quite good, adding just an additional bit of ambience and atmosphere (and openess) to the sound.

The winner, however, is DD TrueHD which is a lossless scheme that sounds superb. However, only a few of the HD DVD releases have these tracks.

Wow.. that's cool stuff.. but do we really need 13 channels of audio some day to watch a movie.. and we'll one day scoff at those that still only have 5.1 or 7.1?

Do hardware manufactures really have a pluse on what consumers what these days? Or are they just releasing anything they want, and suffer the consequences later?

Kind of like DVD-Audio and SACD. We now know who won that battle... SACD.

Seeing as studios aren't even using the seven offered by the new formats (all of the HD-DVD and Blu-ray releases to date have been 5.1), I doubt we'll see any widescale use of 13.1 anytime soon. It's more a matter of including the infrastructure because they can.

As for the DVD-A/SACD war, I'd question that either side won. New DVD-A releases have ceased, and while there are still some new SACD titles appearing they are almost entirely from smaller labels like Telarc - even Sony has pretty much left SACD for dead.

SACD releases to date is slightly over 4000. yeah.. i don't think DVD-Audio approached that at all.

kinda get the feeling that the ol' "quality not quantity" is going to come into play here pretty soon. I mean, even if 13 were possible, would it really be more than a gimmick? Why not 30 channels?

I don't see it at all. Besides could you imagine 13 speakers in your listening area. How congested would that be.

Sony? Really? Someone said that they're even omitting iLink on thier newest ES recievers too...

Blu-Ray buyers beware!

Sony is still supporting SACD on the hardware side (as are many others, mostly in the form of universal DVD-A/SACD players), but the last time I checked on the format their new disc releases had ceased. While it's true that SACD came out ahead of DVD-A, neither really "won" much of anything...

Have to agree w/you Gonk on this. The two consortiums and their respective formats were more concerned about beating each other up then providing a wonderful high fidelity format for music lovers. I feel so betrayed by these two groups - I hope they lose their shirts on their new fight with HD DVD and Blu-ray...Personally, I won't support either until this industry comes to it's senses and agrees on one format.

It's Beta VS VHS all over again. really when you think about it. didn't they learn from that ?

One format was superior over the other, and the lesser of the one survived. Crazy isn't it?

It's like a holy war with these guys!...killing each other to see the last man standing.
Personally I'm fine with SD DVD's. I care more for the music on music/concert DVD's and DVD-Audio/SACD's.
I enjoy the occasional movie on DVD, however I watch more movies and TV series on the HD Cable RX/PVR now. I've wondered if the "little silver disc" will be outdate in the future in favour of alternate delivery streams. Anyways I digress.
Summing up the format wars...the old adage...
"Insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result"!

We might think about all this more clearly if we stop seeing "this industry" as an "it". In terms of how decisions are made, there is no "it". There are a bunch of different groups of people trying to survive economically in the only way they can think of - by competition for our money. If that means slamming what the other guy's offering, so be it.

I think 13.1 is something the studios will use for movie theaters. Comercially it makes perfect sense to have 13 independent channels. Just think of the possibilities in a room so large. I think you guys are right for the home though. 7 is plenty.

I think 13.1 is something the studios will use for movie theaters. Comercially it makes perfect sense to have 13 independent channels. Just think of the possibilities in a room so large. I think you guys are right for the home though. 7 is plenty.

This works for some economic models such as different manufacturers making their own amplifiers and speakers to compete for consumer dollars, but not for formats. Manufacturers and consumers only come out ahead when formats are standardized or at least compatible. History will attest to the success of the DVD because there was one standard and compatibility with all the software produced for it. Best to keep it simple and cheap for mass market consumption I believe.

The movie studio offers the best rationale for the extra channels, but there are issues that make it unlikely even there. In a theater, the mix must allow for similar sound experiences for each movie-goer, whether he's sitting in the front row or the back row. That means that the side speakers really need to all get the same signal. As a bit of evidence of this trend, all of the DD Plus tracks currently showing up on HD-DVD and Blu-ray have been 5.1, and the information I've seen indicates that this is because that's all sound editors want to mix to for theatrical release.