What is DTS and how different from SACD 5.1/DVD-A

DTS is an acronym for Digital Theater Systems. Regarding multichannel sound, it's a system of compression and delivery of 6 channels* of audio via DVD-Video that uses less compression than the Dolby Digital soundtrack that is required on every DVD-V. Data-transfer rates for DTS peak at, I believe, c. 1.5megabits (Mb, not MB which is megabytes which is 8 times as much) per second compared with DD's c. 400Mb/s.

DTS is the premium, high-quality choice for DVD-Vs but NOT for DVD-As or SACDs, altho the former may have DTS (and/or DD) 5.1-channel soundtracks which enable the DVD-A to be played on DVD players which do NOT play DVD-As.

Don't restrict multichannel audio to just your kids; my multichannel audio/video system was a 2-channel audio system that then got 3.1 channels added to it and sounds GREAT with the multichannel classical stuff I have.

* Five full-range channels plus a Low-Frequency-Effects channel.

DTS is just another flavor of audio for DVDs--that is, video DVDs. Like Dolby Digital (and MP3s), it uses lossy compression (i.e., low resolution). These days, I think most AV receivers can read both DTS and DD soundtracks, so you're covered.

DVD-A and SACD are high-resolution audio-only formats. Completely different beasts, for which you need a DVD player that can read either, or both.

one article I read said: DTS regards the compression for the rear/surround channel information, it is higher quality than other compression schemes available.

For a good description go to dtsonline.com.

Mike