Simple Explanation

A surround sound format like Dolby Digital, used in movies, home theaters, and games to deliver multi-speaker sound.

Concise Technical Definition

A lossy multichannel audio codec developed by Digital Theater Systems, designed to provide discrete surround-sound channels for cinema and home use.

Layman-Friendly Analogy

Like Dolby Digital’s sibling—both make sound come from all directions, but DTS is known for sounding a bit richer at times.

Industry Usage Summary

DTS is widely used in DVDs, Blu-rays, streaming media, and cinema. It offers 5.1 or more discrete channels and is a direct competitor to Dolby Digital, often providing higher bitrates. Modern extensions include DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS:X for lossless and object-based formats.

Engineering Shortcut

Competing codec to Dolby Digital; multichannel, lossy (or optionally lossless).

Full Technical Explanation

DTS (originally Digital Theater Systems) is a family of multichannel audio formats developed to deliver high-fidelity surround sound. The core DTS format encodes five full-bandwidth audio channels plus a dedicated low-frequency effects (LFE) channel. Compared to Dolby Digital, DTS typically uses less compression and higher bitrates (e.g., 768 kbps–1.5 Mbps vs. Dolby’s 384 kbps–640 kbps on DVDs). Over time, DTS evolved into advanced formats like DTS-HD High Resolution, DTS-HD Master Audio (lossless), and DTS:X (object-based, 3D sound). DTS decoders are built into most modern AV receivers, Blu-ray players, and home theater systems.