info - Surround Sound( for Dr. Z)

[a k butler <akbutler@tiscali.co.uk>]

Who said that?
about what the ".1" in 5.1 means



"5.1 configuration advocated by industry study groups - left, center, 
right, left surround, right surround, and a discrete sixth channel for low 
frequency effects (this LFE channel is referred to as a ".1" channel 
because it requires just one-tenth the bandwidth as the other five)."
http://www.elitemediasolutions.com/info_-_Surround_Sound.html
5.1 configuration advocated by industry study groups -
A 5.1-channel system actually has six channels. Five of them are 
full-range. These are designated front left, front center, front right, 
left surround, and right surround. The sixth is the low frequency effects 
(LFE) channel. Because it carries only the lowest frequencies, which make 
up about one-tenth of the audio range, it's the ".1" channel.
http://www.ausmedia.com.au/longhorn_speakers.htm

hmm,
and even Microsoft are saying it:-

The .1 channel (called "point one," not "dot one") in 5.1 is a holdover 
from the cinema days when it was used as a low-frequency effects (LFE) 
channel for thunder, guns, and other low-end rumbling special effects. The 
.1 channel is called such because it is about one-tenth the bandwidth of 
the other channels. Its frequency range is about 5 hertz (Hz) to 120 Hz.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/howto/articles/surroundsoundcodecs.aspx

so, by now, I'm thinking it must be "WRONG" ;-)

...but then I found Dolby are in on it too:-

As it needs only about one-tenth the bandwidth of the others, the LFE 
channel is referred to as a ".1" channel (and sometimes erroneously as the 
"subwoofer" channel).
http://www.dolby.com/consumer/technology/dolby_faq_1.html

andy butler