Dolby Digital is the marketing name for a series of lossy audio compression technologies developed by Dolby Laboratories.

Dolby Digital, or AC-3, is the common version containing up to six discrete channels of sound, with five channels for normal-range speakers (20 Hz ¨C 20,000 Hz) (right front, center, left front, right rear and left rear) and one channel (20 Hz ¨C 120 Hz) for the subwoofer driven low-frequency effects. Mono and stereo modes are also supported. AC-3 supports audio sample-rates up to 48KHz. Batman Returns was the first film to use Dolby Digital technology when it premiered in theaters in Summer 1992. The LaserDisc version of Clear and Present Danger featured the very first Home theater Dolby Digital mix in 1995.

This codec has several aliases, which are different names for the same codec:

* Dolby Digital (promotional name, not accepted by the ATSC)
* DD (an abbreviation of above, often combined with channel count: DD 5.1)
* Dolby Surround AC-3 Digital (second promotional name, as seen on early film releases and on home audio equipment until about 1995/1996)
* Dolby Stereo Digital (first promotional name, as seen on early releases, also seen on True Lies LaserDisc)
* Dolby SR-Digital (when the recording incorporates a Dolby SR-format recording for compatibility)
* SR-D (an abbreviation of above)
* Adaptive Transform Coder 3 (relates to the bitstream format of Dolby Digital)
* AC-3 (an abbreviation of above)
* Audio Codec 3, Advanced Codec 3, Acoustic Coder 3 (These are backronyms. However, Adaptive TRansform Acoustic Coding 3, or ATRAC3, is a separate format developed by Sony)
* ATSC A/52 (name of the standard, current version is A/52 Rev. B)

Dolby Digital EX is similar in practice to Dolby's earlier Pro-Logic format, which utilized Matrix technology to add a center and single rear surround channel to stereo soundtracks. EX adds an extension to the standard 5.1 channel Dolby Digital codec in the form of matrixed rear channels, creating 6.1 or 7.1 channel output. However, the format is not considered a true 6.1 or 7.1 channel codec because it lacks the capability to support a discrete 6th channel unlike the competing DTS-ES codec.

Dolby Digital Live

Dolby Digital Live (DDL) is a real-time encoding technology for interactive media such as video games. It converts any audio signals on a PC or game console into the 5.1-channel Dolby Digital format and transports it via a single S/PDIF cable.[1] The SoundStorm, used for the Xbox game console and certain nForce2-based PCs, used an early form of this technology. Dolby Digital Live is currently available in sound cards from manufacturers such as Turtle Beach[2] and Auzentech[3] using C-Media chipsets, as well as on motherboards with codecs such as Realtek's ALC882D,[4] ALC888DD and ALC888H. A similar technology known as DTS Connect is available from competitor DTS.

An important benefit of this technology is that it enables the use of digital multichannel sound with consumer sound cards, which are otherwise limited to PCM stereo or multichannel analog.

Dolby Digital Surround EX

Dolby Digital Surround EX was co-developed by Dolby and Lucasfilm THX in time for the release in May 1999 of Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace. It provides an economical and backwards-compatible means for 5.1 soundtracks to carry a sixth, center back surround channel for improved localization of effects. The extra surround channel is matrix encoded onto the discrete Left Surround and Right Surround channels of the 5.1 mix, much like the front center channel on Dolby Surround encoded stereo soundtracks. The result can be played without loss of information on standard 5.1 systems, or played in 6.1 or 7.1 on systems equipped with Surround EX decoding and additional speakers. Dolby Digital Surround EX has since been used for the Star Wars prequels on the DVD versions and also the remastered original Star Wars trilogy. A number of DVDs have Dolby Digital Surround EX audio option.

Dolby Digital Plus

Main article: Dolby Digital Plus

E-AC-3, more commonly known as Dolby Digital Plus, is an enhanced coding system based on the AC-3 codec. It offers increased bitrates (up to 6.144 Mbit/s), support for more audio channels (up to 13.1), improved coding techniques to reduce compression artifacts, and backward compatibility with existing AC-3 hardware.

Dolby TrueHD

Main article: Dolby TrueHD

Dolby TrueHD, developed by Dolby Laboratories, is an advanced lossless audio codec based on Meridian Lossless Packing. Support for the codec is mandatory for HD DVD and optional for Blu-ray Disc hardware. TrueHD supports 24 bit, 96 kHz audio channels at up to 18 Mbit/s over 8 channels (although HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc standards currently limit their maximum number of audio channels to eight, Dolby TrueHD can output up to 14 sound channels simultaneously). It also supports extensive metadata, including dialog normalization and Dynamic Range Control.

Channel configurations

Although most commonly associated with the 5.1 channel configuration, Dolby Digital allows a number of different channel selections. The full list of available options is:

* Mono (Center only)
* 2-channel stereo (Left + Right), optionally carrying matrixed Dolby Surround
* 3-channel stereo (Left, Center, Right)
* 2-channel stereo with mono surround (Left, Right, Surround)
* 3-channel stereo with mono surround (Left, Center, Right, Surround)
* 4-channel quadrophonic (Left, Right, Left Surround, Right Surround)
* 5-channel surround (Left, Center, Right, Left Surround, Right Surround)

All of these configurations can optionally include the extra Low Frequency Effect (LFE) channel. The last two with stereo surrounds can optionally use Dolby Digital EX matrix encoding to add an extra Rear Surround channel.

Many Dolby Digital decoders are equipped with downmixing functionality to distribute encoded channels to available speakers. This includes such functions as playing surround information through the front speakers if surround speakers are unavailable, and distributing the center channel to left and right if no center speaker is available. When outputting to separate equipment over a 2-channel connection, a Dolby Digital decoder can optionally encode the output using Dolby Surround to preserve surround information.

The '.1' in 5.1, 7.1 etc. refers to the LFE channel, which is also a discrete channel.