5.1 Surround Sound is encoded on most DVDs, yet there are many ways that a system can be set up that causes the system to not correctly send out the sound.

I will assume that in this setup there is an individual DVD player, a surround sound stereo, and an HDTV. Some of these instructions will not work if using a HTiB (Home Theater in a Box) in which the stereo and DVD player are one piece of equipment.

Often, the surround sound doesn't work simply due to the wires used to connect the DVD player to the stereo. There are a number of settings on the DVD player that often default to the wrong settings and have to be adjusted. The stereo also has settings which can effect the sound. If all of this is correct, it can occasionally be as simple as a setting the the individual DVDs Title menu. This troubleshooting can apply to most Blu-Ray players as well as DVD players.

We used the same kind of wires to connect sound to our stereos for so many years that people do not realize surround sound requires a digital connection to get "true" surround sound (not a stereo created Pro Logic or processed surround sound). DVD players can have 4 different ways to output audio, but only 3 of these methods can carry a Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 surround encoding. The most often used audio connection CANNOT carry a 5.1 sound, that being the analog RCA red and white connections that everyone is the most used to using. Another way to connect your DVD player to your stereo is Coaxial Digital, which uses the same kind of RCA as the red and white audio but is Orange and has only one RCA connection. The coaxial digital connection can carry 5.1 surround to your stereo. You can also use the Toslink Digital Optical connection, which also can carry 5.1, but needs the fiber optic toslink cable to make the connection. Some newer DVD players, including all Blu-Ray players, and some stereos can carry audio and video using HDMI. Some stereos only support HDMI pass-through, which means it will not transfer the audio, only the video, and thus still needs a Coaxial Digital or toslink optical cable for the surround sound. Also, if connecting your DVD player to your HDTV using HDMI, I warn that you should never use the Digital Out from the HDTV to the Stereo, as this will only output 5.1 surround when watching OTA antenna fed HDTV. While it seems that a digital out should output 5.1 surround, it almost always only outputs 2-channel sound. The easiest method to connect digitally without buying new cables is to move either the red or white analog RCA cable to the Orange Coaxial digital (yes, you can use the old wires to carry the digital signal) from the red or white sound to the digital output of the DVD player. You must then also move the same color wire to the Coaxial Digital input on the stereo.

Still not getting surround sound? Now its time to dive into the DVD players settings. Different brand DVD players will have different menus, so I am just going to describe the most often seen DVD settings. First, you must take the DVD out of the player. Often you cannot enter the DVD players menu when there is a disc in the player. Press the menu button on the remote. This will often bring up the "quick setup" menu, which you probably need to go through to get to the extended setup menu. Once in the extended setup, check your Digital Output setting. This often defaults to PCM, which you want to change to Dolby Digital (or DTS if you prefer). While here, you should also check the video output setting. While this article is not about video, check to make sure you are getting the best video out of your player. You should always use the Component video connections which use the Green, Blue, and Red RCA connections (or HDMI if available) and never use the Yellow video connection. Once you connect Component Video cables, you must tell the DVD player to turn Progressive Scan on. It will warn you that your TV must be compatible with the signal. In this step it is making sure that you do not turn progressive scan on when only using the Yellow video cable, which is not compatible with progressive scan. This ups the video resolution from 480i to 480p, which is a much better picture. Once this is done, your Stereo should recognize it is getting a Dolby Digital signal.

Sometimes after making these settings, your DVD player still only shows a 2-channel signal. You must, at this point, load a DVD and in the main DVD menu, select a Dolby Digital 5.1 or DTS 5.1 output in the DVD movies menu. This can be found sometimes in Settings, Audio, or Language, depending on which movie. Some movies default to stereo instead of 5.1. Some DVDs do default to surround sound, some movies don't have the option at all. No matter what movie you watch, you should always look in the DVD movie menu for a surround sound setting.

Last, but not least, is the Sound setting on the stereo. Stereos these days have dozens of different sound settings, including horrible effects like Hall, Orchestra, and others you should never use. Typically you want your stereo on ALC, Auto, Direct, or some Dolby Digital setting which will recognize the 5.1 surround input and will output the surround music format which it receives. You want the stereo to process your sound as little as possible, you want to hear whatever format is input to the receiver.

If you are still having problems, there could be a setting which is still causing problems. Try getting your stereo to output a Test Tone which will make each of the speakers make noise to guarantee that the speakers are wired correctly.

In conclusion, make sure you have a digital connection from the DVD player to the stereo, guarantee that the DVD player is set to output Dolby Digital, check that the DVD is set to output 5.1 sound, and be sure the Stereo is set to a Dolby Digital ALC or Direct output. If you have questions beyond this, feel free to write me an email and I will check that your equipment is set up.