[rolou21]

If anyone can answer this;
Noticed during the Starz free preview awhile back, when they didn't have a 5.1 movie and they showing a 2.0 movie, why does my amplifier (Pioneer Elite VST33TX) show left and right symbols along with a center channel. With HBO during a 2.0 movie it shows only left and right symbols. What is the difference and are both providers some sort of Dolby Digital encoders or is it from E* the way they are transmitting the signal. Correct me if I am wrong but is DD using around 30 khz for the transmission?

My amp;

Ls Rs Ls Rs
Cntr Hbo East
Starz East 2.0 DD 2.0
DD

 

[Lyle_JP]

Hi rolou,

I own the Pioneer Elite 39TX. If your unit was actually showing the L,C, and R lights lit up, then that means the programming you were watching was a discrete 3.0 presentation. I find this highly unlikely. I've only seen one piece of 3.0 software out in the wild, and it was a Dolby Digital laserdisc (Day of the Dolphin). More than likely, the L, R, and S lights were lit up, which indicates a Dolby Digital 2.0 signal that has been flagged as Dolby Surround.

On Pioneer receivers any Dolby Digital 2.0 signal will go through surround sound processing if "Standard" is selected. But on some other receiver models (most notably older Kenwood and Sony units) a 2.0 track flagged as Dolby Surround would get Pro-Logic processing while a 2.0 track flagged as stereo would only play out of the left and right speakers.

So it would appear that Starz is flagging their 2.0 signals as "Dolby Surround" while HBO is flagging theirs as "Stereo".

-Lyle J.P.