Home Cinema & Audio Glossary Terms
2 terms related to home cinema & audio, explained in plain English.
What Do 2.1, 5.1 and 7.1 Mean for Soundbars?
The first number in a soundbar's channel configuration is how many discrete speaker channels it has (e.g. 2 for stereo left/right, 5 for front-left, centre, front-right plus surrounds), and the number after the dot indicates a dedicated subwoofer channel for bass. More channels generally give a wider, more directional sound field, closer to a true surround-sound setup, than a basic stereo soundbar.
What Does THX Certification Mean for Home Cinema?
THX certification is an independent standard testing how accurately an audio/video product reproduces sound and picture as the content creator intended, covering areas like distortion, frequency response and viewing/listening angles. A THX-certified soundbar or system has passed these standardised benchmarks, offering a point of comparison across brands beyond a manufacturer's own marketing claims.