Dolby Pro Logic IIz

Dolby Pro Logic IIz
Dolby Pro Logic IIz introduces the dimension of height to your audio playback, making the sound you hear from your movies, TV shows, and games more spacious and true-to-life.

Dolby Pro Logic IIz Benefits
Front Height Channels
Dolby® Pro Logic® IIz introduces two front height channels to expand the possibilities for surround sound in your home theater.
A Deeper Audio Experience
The addition of height to the traditional surround sound setup creates more depth and dimension for an audio experience closer to real life.
Speaker Placement Options
The flexibility built into Dolby Pro Logic IIz provides you with a wide range of choices for speaker positioning to optimize the sound in almost any room.
Interpreting Spatial Cues
Dolby Pro Logic IIz identifies and decodes the spatial cues in any type of content—stereo, 5.1, or 7.1—and then directs certain effects and ambient sounds to the front height speakers.

The addition of height channels opens up new possibilities for home theater sound.

A Lifelike Soundstage

Conventional 5.1- and 7.1-channel surround sound systems deliver a horizontal soundfield—sound is directed at you from only one vertical plane. Dolby Pro Logic IIz adds a pair of speakers positioned above the front left and right speakers to create front height channels. The result? A surround sound experience with more depth and dimension, and one that more accurately represents the way you hear in everyday life.

With Dolby Pro Logic IIz, rain in a movie sounds like it’s actually falling on your roof. A concert video in Dolby Pro Logic IIz sounds more like an actual performance—think of the stacks of speakers that frame a concert stage, or the tiers in an orchestra.

How Dolby Pro Logic IIz Works

Most surround sound solutions use digital signal processing (DSP) to artificially model listening environments. Expanding on proven Dolby Pro Logic IIx technology, Dolby Pro Logic IIz identifies and decodes spatial cues that occur naturally in all content—stereo and 5.1 broadcast, music CDs, DVDs, 5.1- and 7.1-channel Blu-ray Discs™, and video games. It then processes ambient sound and certain amorphous effects such as rain or wind and directs them to the front height speakers.

Movie and game producers can even mix specific height channels into a soundtrack, and Dolby Pro Logic IIz will faithfully reproduce the vertical placement of those sounds. That means you’ll hear lifelike sound that comes at you from varying heights, compelling you to follow the action with your eyes and ears—above, below, and all around you—precisely as the producers intended.

Built-in Flexibility

By expanding the soundfield vertically, Dolby Pro Logic IIz lets you create a 7.1-channel playback system from your 5.1 surround system, or a 9.1 system from your 7.1-channel setup. Dolby Pro Logic IIz even makes speaker positioning and wiring easier.

How flexible is Dolby Pro Logic IIz? If you already have a 5.1-channel system and buy a new 7.1 A/V receiver with Dolby Pro Logic IIz, you can put the two additional speakers above your left and right front speakers for 7.1 height, or at the back for a traditional 7.1 setup.

Or you can stay with 5.1 channels and use the extra amplifier channels for stereo speakers in another room. With a 9.1-channel setup, you have even more choices, including state-of-the-art 9.1 playback with both surround and back speakers and two front height speakers.

Dolby Digital Plus: Surround Sound Anywhere, Everywhere
Dolby Digital Plus™ delivers a definitive surround sound experience for all your devices from home theaters to smartphones.
Dolby Digital Plus

Dolby Pro Logic IIz for Professionals
Dolby Pro Logic IIz expands the audio possibilities and flexibility of the home theater by adding two front height channels, increasing the realism and depth of home theater audio. Based on extensive listening research and proven Dolby technologies, Dolby Pro Logic IIz works with all types of content—movies, music, TV, and games.
Dolby Pro Logic IIz for Professionals
Dolby Pro Logic IIz expands the audio possibilities and flexibility of the home theater by adding two front height channels, increasing the realism and depth of home theater audio. Based on extensive listening research and proven Dolby technologies, Dolby Pro Logic IIz works with all types of content—movies, music, TV, and games.
Dolby Pro Logic IIz for Professionals
Dolby Pro Logic IIz expands the audio possibilities and flexibility of the home theater by adding two front height channels, increasing the realism and depth of home theater audio. Based on extensive listening research and proven Dolby technologies, Dolby Pro Logic IIz works with all types of content—movies, music, TV, and games.
Understanding the Importance of Height
With the addition of height channels, Dolby Pro Logic IIz provides a significant competitive differentiator for A/V receivers as well as home entertainment and game products.
The added dimension of height complements the sound from the rear surround speakers, increasing spaciousness while staying true to the original intent of the content creator.
As is the case in Dolby Pro Logic IIx technology, the height extensions don’t require new kinds of program content to drive the height channel outputs. Instead, the extensions are designed to effectively add depth and dimension to existing program material.
Extensive listening research has established that adding a height dimension to a home theater with a 7.1 system brings a greater sense of realism than the addition of surround speakers in the horizontal plane.
Because it processes only nondirectional sounds for the height channels, Dolby Pro Logic IIz maintains the integrity of the source mix, so the effects are always appropriate to the material.
Because Dolby Pro Logic IIz is based on proven Dolby Pro Logic IIx technology, it’s just as easy to implement in A/V receivers, with height channels offered as another option on the speaker setup menu.

Dolby Pro Logic IIz Specifications

Dolby Pro Logic IIz incorporates all of the features and capabilities of Dolby Pro Logic IIx. The following information summarizes existing Dolby Pro Logic IIx implementations and what’s added for Dolby Pro Logic IIz.

Ability to generate up to 7.1 channels from stereo and 5.1 sources

Supported decoding:

Pro Logic mode

Virtual Compatible mode

Music mode

Movie mode

Matrix mode

Dolby Digital EX mode

Supported upmixed output configurations based on stereo sources:

2 to 3 [L, R to L, C, and R]

2 to 4 [L, R to L, R, Ls, and Rs]

2 to 5.1 [L, R to L, C, R, Ls, and Rs]

2 to 6.1 [L, R to L, C, R, Ls, Rs, and Cs]

2 to 7.1 [L, R to L, C, R, Ls, Rs, Lrs, and Rrs]

Supported upmixed output configurations based on 5.1 sources with independent Ls and Rs channels:

5.1 to 6.1 [Ls, Rs to Ls, Rs, and Cs]

5.1 to 7.1 [Ls, Rs to Ls, Rs, Lrs, and Rrs]

The features listed above allow Dolby Pro Logic IIx to provide a true surround sound experience from a variety of sources. However, all the outputs derived by existing Dolby Pro Logic IIx decoders are located in a horizontal plane. The Dolby Pro Logic IIz extensions to Dolby Pro Logic IIx allow it to derive height channel outputs that significantly enhance the spatial experience.

In addition to the features already described, the height extensions offer the following new features and configurations:

Ability to generate audio of up to 9.1 channels that include height channel outputs from stereo, 5.1, and 7.1 Back sources

Supported upmixed output configurations based on stereo sources:

2 to 7.1 Height [L, R to L, C, R, Ls, Rs, Lvh, and Rvh]

2 to 9.1 [L, R to L, C, R, Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lvh, and Rvh]

Supported upmixed output configurations based on 5.1 sources with independent Ls and Rs channels:

5.1 to 7.1 Height [Ls, Rs to Ls, Rs, Lvh, and Rvh]

5.1 to 9.1 [Ls, Rs to Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lvh, and Rvh]

Note: For 5.1-channel sources, Dolby Pro Logic IIz height extensions operate only on the Ls and Rs channels; L, C, R, and LFE channels are bypassed.

Because new formats (such as Blu-ray Disc) allow content to contain up to 7.1 discrete channels from Dolby Digital Plus and Dolby TrueHD audio programs, the height extensions support 7.1 Back sources and offer the following upmixed output configurations:

7.1 Back to 7.1 Height [Ls, Rs, Lrs, and Rrs to Ls, Rs, Lvh, and Rvh]

7.1 Back to 9.1 [Ls, Rs to Ls, Rs, Lrs, Rrs, Lvh, and Rvh]

Note: For 7.1-channel sources, Dolby Pro Logic IIz height extensions may operate only on the Ls, Rs, Lrs, and Rrs channels; L, C, R, and LFE are bypassed.

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