You need great sound to make the entertainment experience come alive. But don’t take our word for it – here’s how the average consumer feels about surround sound. Consumers are speaking up about the importance of Surround Sound and DTS. Here are research results from Nielsen Entertainment Research, Consumer Electronics Association, and Screen Digest.

• Home Theater Systems with Surround Sound continue to show solid growth and continue to drive the majority of audio industry sales. Once consumers experience home theater in a store, they tend to purchase equipment for their home. In fact, by the end of 2006, it is estimated that 38% of households (42 million) will own a home theater configuration, up from 21 percent (22 million) in January, 2000.
• In fact, close to half (45%) of all U.S. households are expected to own a home theater system by 2009 year-end.
• A key indicator of home theater growth is the growth of HDTV ownership. By the end of 2005 there were 19 million households with HDTV sets in the U.S. (17% of total households). By the end of 2010, the number of HD ready households will reach over 60 million or 59% in the U.S.
• Surround Sound plays an important role within the home theater configuration. More than 70% (or close to 30 million households) of home theater owners possess a system with five or more speakers for true surround sound.
• Surround sound is represented by a broad demographic, and aligns closely with the DVD consumer across gender, age and income levels.
• Among home audio owners, a significant number (60% aware) of consumers are familiar with the surround sound concept when purchasing audio equipment. According to a recently completed CEA Audio Consumption Study, 73% of home audio owners considered the surround sound listening mode as the most important audio product specification when evaluating a product.
• More consumers are shifting their music consumption away from stereos. In fact 34% of audio consumers now listen to audio content through their PC.
• When it comes to surround sound, 60% of Home Theater and Surround Sound Owners are aware of DTS. In fact among those aware of DTS, 66% know that DTS surround sound is available on many DVD movies.
• Surround Sound owners play a significant role in the consumption of DVD product, and purchase over 30% more DVDs compared to the general DVD consumer population.
• When evaluating special features, DVD consumers claim that high quality surround sound remains the most important special feature available on DVD.
• Consumers perceive DTS as delivering quality in the form of compatibility with high definition equipment, superior audio technology, and cutting edge sound.
• In fact awareness of high definition formats are driven by surround sound and DTS aware consumers (80% and 81% aware of either HD or Blu-Ray respectively).
• Among those that plan to upgrade their equipment to high definition, close to three-fourths (74%) consider surround sound important when deciding what high-definition equipment to purchase.
• The research and consumers indicate that surround sound will play a critical role in the high definition evolution across hardware and software.