Home theater sound system is a very important component of your home theater. However how will you know that which is the best one for you? Two types of surround system are really popular. They are the DTS surround sound or the DTS and Dolby Digital. You can go for either of these depending on your needs. Most people consider DTS surround sound to be superior to Dolby. But ultimately it's your own choice. So understand what these sound systems basically are and then make the final decision.
Dolby or DTS
Most of the movies in theaters are played in Dolby digital surround sound. Nowadays even DVD's have this surround sound. It has a low bit rate but if functions effectively at lower levels. So bit rate should not be the only criteria while choosing the sound system. The data rate is higher in DTS and hence it is usually considered superior. DTS is not the usual sound format in DVD's. Because of high data rate the encoding process requires less compression and thus you get better sound. The disadvantage with DTS is that it uses a lot of disc's data capacity. Before you buy the sound system, you have to take many things into consideration; data rate is just one of them.
Compression ratios also decided as to which sound system is better. This gives a clear idea about the efficiency of a sound system. Usually, there is too much data in sound formats and thus it requires efficient compressing. The compressing should also be economical. So always look out for the compression ratio. It should be high. Your sound system may have a high data rate, but it won't be effective if its compression ratio is low.
So which is the better sound format?
Everyone wants their sound system to have great sound quality. However the issue still remains as to which sound format is better? People use different points to debate over this. Some say that DTS is better because of its high data rate but what they do not realize is the fact that it doesn't utilize data efficiently. The basic thing is that both DTS and Dolby give almost the same results. So you can buy either of them, depending on your requirements. The bottom line is that both are good in their own ways.
Basically, no one can say that DTS has a better sound quality than Dolby and vice versa. Both have their share of merits and demerits. A sound format may sound good in theaters but it may not sound too good at home. However there is no clear cut criterion to decide on this issue. You should decide as per your requirements. You can change the playback to decide on any changes in the sound format. Listen to each sound format carefully and only then make the final choice.
