How Dolby Surround Works

Where surround sound came from Back in the early 1950s, the film industry introduced a technology so revolutionary and complex that it was to be nearly 30 years before it made it into the home. They called it stereophonic sound. Today we call it surround sound (or less poetically, multichannel audio) to distinguish it from conventional two-channel home stereo. From its outset, movie stereo was multichannel, featuring at least three channels across the front of the …

…near-CD-quality sound over ISDN and LAN. More than 40 companies are currently planning to offer program material utilizing RealAudio 3.0, including major record labels and national broadcasting networks. Liquid Audio has announced a Music on Demand system which will utilize this new technology to allow users to preview music in real time from an Internet server. They will then be able to purchase and download CD-quality versions of their selections, using a customized version of Dolby Digital.