How well is 5.1 downmixed on regular TV broadcasts?

[yepimonfire]

today most everything is broadcasted in 5.1 surround sound, but i have a stupid a$$ cable company who wants to charge me extra for a box supporting it. using Dolby PLII to up-mix it, how accurate would it be to the original 5.1 broadcast? when 5.1 is mixed into stereo does it retain those natural cues accuratley? do the cable companies actually even down-mix it or do they receive a stereo feed.

 

[markw]

Don't expect DPL to accurately recreate a 5.1 experience from a mixed-down to two-channel signal. It was created to synthetically create the sensation of a multi-channel experience from a two channel signal.

If you expect an accurate re-creation, be prepared to be disappointed. ...but it's generally better than nothing.

 

[yepimonfire]

somewhat true and somewhat not true, i took it upon myself to test just how well it decodes downmixes, i first used the actuall surround sound, then did two-channel downmix, sounded very close to the original