When it comes to setting up your home entertainment center, chances are you’ve come across the question that hounds many who first delve into these waters — which surround sound technology is better, Dolby Digital, or DTS? It’s an important question to answer, not only because it will dictate pretty much all the AV equipment you keep in your house, but also because having an amazing sound experience obviously makes for a better entertainment overall. While platforms like Netflix and Prime Video offer Dolby Digital and DTS for a cinema-like experience at home, the question still remains; which is better, and what’s the difference? Well, if you’re hounded by the same concerns, this article is for you. Let’s take a look at Dolby Digital vs DTS, and compare the two surround sound formats.
While both Dolby Digital and DTS are surround sound formats, there are certain differences in the way they encode audio. In this article we have explained Dolby Digital and DTS so you have a good idea about both the technologies, and we have discussed the differences between DTS and Dolby Digital formats.
What is Dolby Digital?
Dolby Digital is the audio compression tech that was developed by Dolby Labs way back in 1986. Being the first one to provide a surround sound codec, Dolby Digital is most commonly considered the industry standard. Dolby Digital aims to offer a rich and surround sound experience, just the way it was recorded with minimal loss in quality. The company started by providing digital sound for films all over the US theaters. Speaking of which, the first film to be encoded by Dolby Digital’s audio compression algorithm was Batman (1992). It eventually moved to CDs and DVDs.
As of today, Dolby Digital isn’t just limited to cinema halls; it is also available for online streaming services, Blu-ray players, streaming boxes, and more.
What is DTS?
Coming up as a direct competitor to Dolby Digital is DTS. Founded in 1993, the tech (originally Digital Theater Systems) also aims to provide people with a rich sound experience. The DTS tech was first seen in the 1993 Jurassic Park. Much like Dolby Digital, DTS can be found in home theater systems, Blu-ray players, gaming consoles, set-top boxes, and more.
Dolby Digital vs DTS: What are the differences?
Both Dolby Digital and DTS use audio compressing tech to reduce unnecessary audio data while providing high-fidelity audio output. Dolby Digital encodes audio in the AC-3 format and it uses Modified Discrete Cosine Transform (MDCT) algorithm to compress audio and reduce the audio footprint. On the other hand, DTS uses the Adaptive Differential Pulse-Code Modulation (ADPCM) algorithm to bring down the audio file size.
From the looks of it, DTS seems to be winning the DTS Digital Surround vs Dolby Digital battle. So do we finally have a winner? Not really. There’s more to it.
Perhaps, this is the reason why online streaming services are opting for Dolby’s services since saving on data bandwidth is cost-effective for online companies.
In this Dolby Digital vs DTS comparison, two codecs stand out from respective companies — Dolby Atmos and DTS:X. Both surround sound technologies aim to offer incredible sound clarity, isolated vocals and instrumentals, and 3D sound effects. Talking about Dolby Atmos first, it’s mainly used to create object-based surround sound with speakers mounted atop the ceiling. As I mentioned above, Dolby Atmos includes overhead speakers and if you want to truly enjoy multi-dimensional audio at your home, you need all the Atmos-compatible gear and sound system. That’s why Dolby Atmos is currently so popular in the cinema halls where multiple audio channels are available for an immersive sound experience.
Moving to DTS:X, it’s also a surround sound tech that creates an object-based sound environment. However, DTS does not require users to have overhead speakers or height channels. The heavy-duty job of creating multi-directional sound is done by its object processor. You need to buy the special audio system that comes with DTS:X support. Nowadays, affordable soundbars and speakers are also coming with DTS:X support but they are actually using DTS’ new Virtual:X tech that aims to simulate multi-dimensional sound without requiring overhead speakers or a multi-channel system. As for online streaming services, Netflix or Prime Video don’t support DTS:X but it may change in the future. All in all, I would say, Dolby Atmos is winning this war against DTS:X as it’s widely available to general users through cinema halls and online streaming services.
What audio format does Netflix use?
How to know if the movie/show you are watching supports the format?
DTS is available on the latest Xbox Series S and Series X, various TVs, soundbars, and more.
Which is Better? DTS or Dolby Digital
Unfortunately, there hasn’t been any objective study of the two audio standards that can help us determine the best one out of the two. What’s more, since both Dolby and DTS are proprietary codecs and not open-source, no one can simply go through the source code and see what makes them tick.
