.dts

What is a .dts file?

DTS is a surround sound audio format competing with Dolby Digital, used in cinema, Blu-ray, and home theatre.

Safe format
Type Audio
By DTS, Inc. (now Xperi)
MIME audio/vnd.dts

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What is it

DTS and Dolby Digital have been locked in a format war since the 1990s, and the entertainment industry solved it by supporting both. DTS is the surround sound codec that launched with Jurassic Park in 1993 and went on to become a standard audio format for Blu-ray discs, cinema releases, and home theatre systems.

The base DTS codec encodes 5.1 surround at up to 1.5 Mbps — significantly higher bitrate than Dolby Digital's 640 kbps maximum, which DTS fans argue produces audibly better quality. The extended versions (DTS-HD Master Audio, DTS:X) offer lossless compression and object-based surround sound, competing directly with Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Atmos.

You'll encounter standalone .dts files when extracting audio from Blu-ray rips or working with multichannel audio production. VLC decodes DTS without issue. For conversion to more portable formats, FFmpeg downmixes DTS to stereo AAC or MP3 efficiently.

Technical details
Full Name
DTS Audio
MIME Type
audio/vnd.dts
Developer
DTS, Inc. (now Xperi)
Magic Bytes
7F FE 80 01
Safety
.dts is a known, safe format. Audio data only. No executable content.
What opens it
VLC
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
foobar2000
FREE Windows
MPV
FREE Windows / Mac / Linux
FAQ
Is DTS better than Dolby Digital?
DTS uses higher bitrates (up to 1.5 Mbps vs Dolby's 640 kbps), which theoretically allows better quality. In practice, the difference is subtle. Most home theatre systems support both equally well.
How do I play DTS audio files?
VLC decodes DTS on any platform. For surround sound passthrough to a home theatre receiver, configure your audio output for bitstream/passthrough mode.
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