View source for AC3

{{mux|id=a52|encode=n}}

'''A/52''' (A52) is essentially the same thing as '''AC-3''' (AC3), which is '''Dolby Digital'''. Dolby Digital is sometimes referred to as "DD", as in "DD 5.1" (for "Dolby Digital for 5.1 channels").

Dolby's '''Audio Coding-3''' (AC-3) coding and [[compression]] technology was used by Dolby to create "Dolby Digital".<br />
Dolby Digital is the brand name used for the AC-3 digital audio encoding system. First used in 1995 for movie theaters, Dolby Digital is now also considered the standard for high-quality audio for home theaters.

The "AC3" name (without the hyphen) is often used to refer to any audio encoding which can be used for DVD encoding to match Dolby Digital's specification, but is not specifically licensed by Dolby.

== AC-3 VS == 
'''AC-3 VS''' is '''Dolby Virtual Surround''' AC-3. AC-3 VS uses the way you ears work to generate a surround sound feeling from a 2CH signal. This permits you to convert 5.1 AC3 audio that you might find on a DVD to AC-3 VS, dropping the [[bitrate]] to 192kbit/s while still maintaining a surround feeling and superior quality.

== DNET ==
'''DNET''' is RealNetworks version of AC3. The main difference is that it uses the reverse byte ordering.

== See also ==
* https://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/term.cfm/dolby_digital

== Source code ==
* {{VLCSourceFile|modules/codec/a52.c|input demuxer}}

== External links ==
* [https://www.dolby.com/ Dolby Laboratories]
* [https://www.atsc.org/standards/ ATSC standards]
* [https://www.atsc.org/standards/a52.php A/52: Digital Audio Compression Standard], Rev. B (AC-3) (E-AC-3)
* [https://www.atsc.org/standards/a_52b.pdf Dolby Digital Plus technical specification]