5.1 - Yes, no and how much?

[FearlessFreep]

I'd like to get an ATV to use in my home theater setup and particularly to rent HD movies and stream from iTunes while ripping my DVD collection.

I've seen conflicting information about ATV's ability to do 5.1 sound.

I will be passing the audio stream to my receiver via the TOSLINK port.

1. Will ATV pass 5.1 sound?
2. Are HD movies in 5.1? If so, how many (rough guess)
3. If not, is it stricly Prologic 2-channel?

Getting HD movies without the 5.1 sound seems like only half of the experience to me.

 

[Cliff3]

My understanding is that all the HD movies available for rent (and only rent - you can't buy them right now) from the iTunes store have a 5.1 soundtrack, while the SD movies are all stereo only. The AppleTV definitely handles a 5.1 soundtrack.

 

[mallbritton]

Yes, TV will pass DD 5.1 to your a/v receiver. You can get non-conflicting information on the TV tech specs page:
http://www.apple.com/appletv/specs.html

Not all HD movies available for rent have DD 5.1 sound. This is because this is how the movies were provided to Apple. The default sound is stereo, but of course your a/v receiver can mix that to Dolby Pro Logic-type surround sound.

Regards,
Michael