What's the difference between Dolby Digital and DTS?
Answer
Dolby
Digital and DTS are similar in that they are both digital lossy
audio coding technologies, which means they use “perceptual”
data reduction techniques that are based on the characteristics
of human hearing to mask the process, thereby preserving high
fidelity sound. This is necessary in order to fit the typical
5.1-channel bitstream into a given storage space or transmission
bandwidth. Beyond those basic similarities, the two formats
are very different.
The main difference is that Dolby Digital is designed to handle
anything from mono to full 5.1-channel sound formats, and typically
runs at data rates of 192 to 448 kbps depending on the number
of audio channels and the application. DTS was originally designed
for a data rate of 1411 kbps, and typically runs at data rates
of 754 or 1509 kbps depending on the data capacity available.
In order to achieve lower data rates than DTS with no sacrifice
in sound quality, Dolby Digital uses many sophisticated data
reduction technologies that DTS lacks.
The most commonly used data rate for Dolby Digital on DVDs has
increased to 448 kbps, thus assuring optimal sound quality.
Meanwhile, DTS data rates have been cut in half for most new
DVDs, down to 754 kbps, potentially decreasing sound quality.
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