What is AC3 5.1?

[rack04]

Can someone explain to me what AC3 5.1 is? Is it the same as dolby 5.1? The reason that I am asking is because I am trying to label my DVD-R movies with the audio format and so far all are AC3 5.1. How does this compare to DTS?

 

[Rÿche 1]

AC3 is dolby digital (I think).

 

[Rob Babcock]

It's Dolby Digital. AC3 is an early designation, but it's the same thing.

 

[rack04]

How does this compare the DTS?

 

[Rock&Roll Ninja]

Dolby AC3 is exactly the same at Dolby Digital. They just stopped calling it AC3 around the time DVD caught-on. Don't lose any sleep over it.

The DD/AC3 vs. DTS debate is largely a personal opinion. some people can hear a difference, some people cannot. Of course the DD and the DTS tracks don't always have the exact same mix (such as Apollo 13 or Jurassic Park). This has caused some confusion, but most new releases use the same mix.

Of course the quality of your HT equipment will likely factor into how much, if better DTS supposedly sounds

Personally, I only have 1 or 2 DVD's that I can tell a difference with, and even then it isn't night & day.

 

[Unregistered]

AC3 (Audio Codec 3) was the original internal name for the codec and was changed to Dolby Digital when it was commercialized. Dolby Digital sounds better for marketing purposes than AC3. I believe AC2 is the Dolby Pro Logic codec.

AC3 is still used when talking about connecting laser disc players to a receiver via an RF input. Laser discs are labeled as having an AC3 soundtrack, but DVDs of course use the commercial name Dolby Digital.

 

[rack04]

So I guess where the problem lies is in the software (DVD-Shrink) to read the name of the format, whether DD or AC3.