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Are dolby digital and AC-3 the same?

I'm a bit confused by these 2 terms. I've heard about a difference in bit rates, but that's about all. I currently own a Harman Kardon AVR55 reciever, that does AC-3 decoding, and I would like to use it in my home theater setup. I would like to use the money saved to go out and get 2 additional amps for my system, since the receiver has pre-outs. Also, do most DVD movies come with DD and DTS, or just one of the 2?
julpay09f4
massvm
126 posts
 
I believe YOU WILL find ....
tom_munro
162 posts
 
Dolby Digital comes in a few flavors: 2.0/5.0/5.1/EX6.1. AC-3 is the older term for the Dolby Digital format and you normally won't hear that term used today. Any DVD that indicates Dolby Digital will be supported by your receiver. DTS is a digital 5.1/ES6.1 format but not Dolby Digital. Most likely your receiver only supports Dolby Digital 5.1 or less. DTS DVDs normally have a Dolby Digital option that allows your receiver to play DTS DVDs.
kthomas
911 posts
 
I have always been under the impression that AC-3 is the term for the general encoding scheme, and that DD is a specific type of encoding under that scheme. Actually, with all the different "flavors" of DD, it's several different specific types of encoding under the general scheme. In any case, Yes, your receiver will decode the output of your DVD player.
perfectimage
406 posts
 
I thought that DD used data compresion and DTS rearanged the data to fit like a puzzle. Eliminating the need for compresion which degrades the signal.
avguygeorge
2,300 posts
 
As it was explained to me DD uses about 11/1 and DTS uses about 4/1 -compressions.
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