Moth3r said:

danny_boy said:

If my understanding is correct---The original 35mm stereo audio track as it appears on the the 1982 VHS tape(and laserdisc)only has 3 audio channels(if you run it through dolby pro logic)---Left Center-Right.This was how dolby stereo tracks were encoded onto VHS linear stereo tapes prior to 1984-85.

Up to this point the surround (4th)channel was missing!

After 1984-85 new VHS Hifi stereo tracks were released to the public that could be decoded through Dolby pro logic that would reveal that 4rth channel (the surround track).

Not quite.

Dolby tracks (Dolby Stereo® on 35mm film prints, or Dolby Surround on home video formats) have always carried the four channels.

Initial Dolby Surround decoders (c.1982) licensed for consumer use only decoded three channels - left, right and surround. It was the introduction of Dolby Pro Logic decoding (c.1987) that allowed consumers to also decode a separate centre channel.

More info here: http://www.dolby.co.uk/about/who-we-are/our-history/history-4.html

Ahh!

Thanks for that!

Has anyone here managed to decode that surround track on the 1982 VHS tape?(or the 1982 laserdisc for that matter).

I have tried running it through my decoder(using pro logic II) and the surround channel is barely audible.