When it comes to choosing a home theater sound system one of the biggest issues is deciding between Dolby and DTS surround sound. You will often hear that the DTS home theater sound system provides better sound quality than the Dolby home theater sound system, but in order to make your own decision you should understand the difference between the two systems and determine which works for your home theater sound system needs.

The Differences

Many feel the DTS home theater sound system is superior because it has a higher data rate than Dolby which normally implies better sound since there is less compression in the encoding process. Although the Dolby home theater sound system doesn’t have a high bit rate they make up for it in more efficient operation at lower levels. This means you can’t simply view the bit rate and determine if one home theater sound system is better than the other. Rather you need to consider all the main difference between these two options to help you determine which is the best for your home theater experience.

You start to get a feeling of the real difference between the two home theater sound system formats when you consider compression. Surround sound formats always have too much data to store which means the system needs to process it in an efficient and economical manner during playback of your movie. Therefore, looking at compression ratios along with bit rates is very important. Without a good compression ratio you won’t be able to enjoy your bit rate no matter how high it is.

The Bottom Line

When it comes to choosing a home theater sound system you want sound quality but it isn’t always easy to determine what has better sound. When it comes to Dolby and DTS you will hear many arguments and debates over which is the better home theater sound system and how they differ. The bottom line is basically that you can get similar results for your surround sound whether you are using Dolby or DTS. You cannot look entirely at the bit rate since DTS has a higher bit rate, but you lose out on the efficiency of data utilization.

This means you can’t specifically point to one home theater sound system as being better than the other when it comes to sound quality. It is even difficult to determine which of these sounds better in movie theaters compared to home theater applications. When dealing with these two formats there is no straightforward answer as to which one is the best home theater sound system. Rather you should listen to each system separately and change the playback to see if you notice any changes in the sound quality. In order to have superior sound quality it is best to listen for yourself and determine what you like.