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Ed's AV Handbook
Batting Practice for the AV Professional
and primer for the novice


Chapter 1  Page 2

AV Terminology
Multi-channel Audio Mini History

This page briefly departs from the discussion
of AV terms to add perspective to the next page,
Home Theater Surround Sound Formats.

Disney's Fantasia Title Photo

1940 Disney's Fantasia was the first movie to
employ multi-channel audio with eight optically read audio reels synced with the picture.


1952
Cinerama Theaters, in select major cities, featured seven channels of audio synced with several projectors that created a panoramic 146 degree wide screen image.

1953
20th Century Fox unveiled the The Robe in Cinemascope, an anamorphic 2.35:1 aspect ratio widescreen film that included surround sound audio.

1970
Music only quadraphonic four-channel audio added a pair of rear speakers to the home stereo arrangement.


1976
The movie A Star is Born introduced Dolby Stereo Surround, a more commercially viable multi-channel audio system in neighborhood theaters. The Dolby debuts of Star Wars and Close Encounters of a Third Kind soon followed.

1982
The HiFi VCR escorted Dolby Surround into consumers homes.  Dolby Surround evolved into Dolby Pro Logic.

1992
Dolby Digital and DTS launched digital surround sound in neighborhood movie theaters.

1997
The DVD is released and includes the Dolby Digital and DTS digital surround sound formats.

1999
A revised LaserDisc adds DTS and Dolby Digital audio.

2007
The High Definition BluRay disc launches with the lossless Dolby Digital HD Audio and DTS HD Master Audio formats.

2014 / 2015
Dolby Atmos and DTS-X introduces a more immersive surround sound experience via above channels and speakers.

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Ed's AV Handbook   
Copyright 2007 Txu1-598-288 Revised 2024


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