Any Need For More Than 5.1?

[The_Lhc]

JonAJon: Well, i was disappointed to see that most of my bluray collection doesn't have the 7.1 soundtracks. Half the idea of bluray was to have HiDef sound. Being that most of my buray are 5.1, ive told my amp that there are rear speakers are plugged in even though they aren't, so it now outputs 5.1 Dolby TruHD and DTS MA for the majority of my bluray movies. Whenever i come across a 7.1 disc, i simply change the rear speaker setting to none and i get dts/dolby 5.1, so i'm not missing out on any surround effects

Pardon?

Firstly, just because a film "only" has 5.1 channels, doesn't mean it isn't "Hi-Def" If it's Dolby TrueHD or DTS HD-MA then it's Hi-Def, the absence of the suround back channels doesn't change that.

Secondly, telling your amp that it has surround back speakers when it doesn't isn't going to "force" anything to play the HD soundtracks, they'll play anyway, unless you've got something else set up incorrectly.

Thirdly, if you play a 7.1 soundtrack on your setup now, you're actually going to LOSE information, as it'll be sending the surround back channels to non-existant speakers, instead of sending them to the surround side speakers. Although I've just noticed that you turn the speakers off when playing a 7.1 film, if that causes your blu-ray player to only output the old DD/DTS soundtrack then you've got something set up VERY wrongly.

 

[AlmaataKZ]

I would not bother, unless the room is huge (mine is not).

However, some amps with more thatn 5.1 channels can also serve other rooms with the extra channles but that is another kind of benefit and setup.

 

[Anonymous]

I would put it in the same boat as Multi-angled DVD, I believe it was a mid-large selling point of the format when it first came out, similar to PiP on BD, but in theory is a waste of time for Joe Bloggs as they won't, probably never will, have the set-up/need for it.

I could be wrong.