Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Five full-range channels plus a low-frequency channel carry the mix. The figure is taken from Dolby, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a movies & tv fact?

Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

Surround sound uses six separate channels

Five full-range channels plus a low-frequency channel carry the mix A 5.1 mix has left, centre, right, left surround and right surround channels, plus a sixth channel limited to low frequencies for the subwoofer. The decimal point refers to that bandwidth-limited channel rather than to a fraction of a speaker. The layout became standard in cinemas and then in home theatres. It sits in Mondo's movies & tv collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

Dolby

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Movies & Television trivia Technology trivia

More facts like this

Sound pushed film to 24 frames per secondStudios adopted the rate in the late 1920s because optical sound needed it Quadraphonic sound collapsed after a format warFour-channel records arrived with three incompatible ways of decoding them Dolby Digital brought 5.1 surround to cinemasBatman Returns carried the first six-channel digital film prints in 1992 Surround sound adds channels behind the listenerFive point one means three front channels, two rear and a bass channel Actors often re-record their lines after filmingAutomated dialogue replacement fixes noise and rewrites in the edit Early sound films hired musicians to play on setLive orchestras performed behind the camera so actors had a beat to move to

Tags: sound, surround, standards

Surround sound uses six separate channels: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Five full-range channels plus a low-frequency channel carry the mix. The figure is taken from Dolby, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a movies & tv fact?: Yes. It sits on the Movies & TV shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.