Can a DVD recorder record in Dolby Digital or DTS surround sound?
Consumer grade DVD recorders all have the ability to play back all Dolby Digital and DTS source material, when used with an AV receiver. However, DVD recorders only have analog stereo audio inputs for recording audio, which is then encoded into two-channel Dolby Digital. The output of the recorded audio can be accessed either through the analog stereo outputs or the digital audio outputs of the DVD recorder. Although, DVD recorders cannot record in 5.1 channel Dolby Digital or DTS audio, when used with an AV receiver equipped with Dolby Prologic II and/or DTS neo:6 processors, the two channel audio recording can be reprocessed into a 5.1 or 6.1 channel soundfield, albiet not as accurate as an original 5.1 or 6.1 channel soundtrack source. The reason for this is two-fold: Since you can’t record (or shouldn’t be able to) or copy DVDs and there is little 5.1 or 6.1 channel audio available from other sources to record, there is not much need for this function. However, the second factor is
