When you are about to buy your new home theater, you are exposed to a few familiar but you do not know exactly what they mean. For example DTS, Dolby Digital etc. After all, a home theater is all about good sound reproduction.

If you frequently watch movies in well-equipped theaters, you have some idea about these sound systems. In case you are clueless, surround sound literally surrounds the listener. Sound moves with the objects making sound. If a car moves across the screen, the car sound also moves with the car. This gives a realistic experience for a movie. Surround sound is a way of engaging the audience. Though the evolution of sound technology was slower in earlier days, it has been improving quite rapidly in recent times. You do not want to miss that in your home theater system, right.

There are many different surround sound formats on the market today. Many home theater systems support all of them and some home theaters support only one of them. The good news is that most devices that interpret the formats do so automatically. You will however need a good AV receiver and even better speakers in order to get the maximum enjoyment from your home theater and surround sound system.

Let us take a look at the most common surround sound formats that are supported in home theater systems. Dolby Digital AC-3 is by far the most commonly seen surround sound format. It is a 5.1 channel format (this means five speakers plus one subwoofer). This is what most DVDs will include and some programs that are found on digital cable or satellite channels will have this type of surround sound as well. You can use Dolby Digital for older mediums that do not include surround sound in their format, as surround is not required in order to use the system.

Pro Logic is a system used by Dolby in order to translate or decode the signals from other mediums such as old videocassette tapes or television broadcasts. This is becoming widely known for its ability to take two speaker sounds and turn them into shockingly realistic surround imitations. This is also useful when you watch older movies or movies with sound not mastered in 5.1-channel digital format.

DTS is the largest competitor for Dolby when it comes to sound. DTS is this company's answer to Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound. This is mostly seen only on DVDs.

DTS-ES is the above-mentioned company's answer to Dolby's 6.1 surround system (this is 6 speakers plus 1 subwoofer). Of course, DTS is also going to answer Pro Logic and that answer would be DTS NEO:6, which is said to produce great imitations of surround sound from existing 2 channel mediums very much like Pro Logic.

Now you understood about different sound formats and you need to make sure that you purchase home theater and DVDs that are compatible with one another. Failure to do so could result in a sound that is of less than desirable quality. Most home theater systems will at the very least support both Dolby Digital and DTS; however, you should make sure that you are aware of the format your system requires from the start in order to make the proper decisions when purchasing. More speakers result in great sound quality, however poor quality speakers can ruin the sound experience. Therefore, you should really pay attention to the quality of speakers.

Nothing can give you a better idea about speakers than listening to them. No amount of reading or researching online gives you inkling about a speaker's quality. Do not get so caught up in researching these systems online that you neglect to walk into your local stores and actually hear the sound systems you are considering for purchase. Do not hesitate to ask your friends who have a good home theater systems installed.