Can old surround sound recievers play back the audio on new HD DVDs?

Question

My surround sound system only has support for Dolby Digital (that is, if you play the movies through its very poor picture quality built in DVD player) and Dolby Pro Logic if you run the Red/White audio wires to the plugs in the back, which I do since my stand alone DVD player delivers much better picture quality on my HDTV (the built in one in the reciever makes everything black look green, and macroblocking everywhere). it does NOT support DTS (obviously, since it only has analog inputs)

I am going to get an HD DVD player in a few months, so can all the models output the new audio formats in a form my old pro logic machine can play? If not all of the models can, which ones can?

Answer 1

I assume it would downmix dolby digital plus to a 2 channel stereo output but Dolby True HD I am pretty sure will not work or if it does you would not notice any difference between that and Dolby Digital Plus.

I would recommend upgrading to a new receiver in the future.

Answer 2

They should be fine.  Only thing is look out for the audio outs on the HD DVD player.  Not all models have composite outputs, and if your receiver can't support an optical or HDMI, then you'll be out of luck with sound.