Does my DVD player's analog output carry a 5.1 signal?

Question

I've a Phlips and a Sony, both have only stereo outputs and Optical. I dont have an optical decoder, but an old RCA Dolby Prologic one, talking to a friend he says the RCA simulates 4.1 and I say the left and right outputs from most DVD players carry 5.1 signal which is decoded by a decoder like my RCA or better ones (7.1 etc)
Do I really have 4.1 or just stereo audio?
Best wishes

Answer 1

Sorry.
Your friend is correct
5.1 can only come from a digital connection. 5.1 is actually 5 discrete 20 to 20,000 hz signals and one sub woofer signal sent digitally to your receiver.
Some DVD players have what is called 5.1 outputs. In this case however, the DVD player does the decoding instead of the receiver/processor. In this case, to use that, you would need a receiver/processor that has 5.1 inputs.
You will not have true 5.1 on a dolby Pro Logic receiver. Pro Logic only uses 4 as your friend said.
The .1 isn't always there it is not part of the signal like 5.1. The .1 on pro logic is only there if the manufacturer of the receiver put it there. There is no discrete sub woofer signal with Pro Logic like there is with 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS. The early version of Dolby Digital was actually called Dolby DIgital AC3. They dropped the AC3.
Pro Logic is really only a 4 channel format. You have left, center, and right front and rear. The rear is actually a single channel divided up into 2 channels. The same information goes to both rear speakers on a Pro Logic system.
Through complex algorithms and processing they are able to include the rear and center along with the left and right information. It is extrapolated from the the left and right signals, so to speak.
You have to have a new generation Dolby Digital or DTS capable receiver/ processor for 5.1. This is a pretty basic breakdown there a bit more to it. But this covers it in a nutshell.

Answer 2

No. Only the digital outputs (optical or coaxial digital) carry true DD5.1.

But the Stereo outputs can carry Dolby Pro Logic sound.

This uses a trick that can be used to send dialog only to a center speaker, and 1 mono track to both rear speakers.

The rear sound is also limited to sounds above 150 hz.

There is no ".1" track for a subwoofer. But your receiver has a setup option where you told it if your speakers are LARGE or SMALL. If SMALL - low frequency sounds are sent to your sub.

So strictly speaking, Stereo cables can give you ProLogic sound which is 4.0 and your receiver has a crossover to strip some sounds for the ".1".