After Neural-THX Surround got around 14.5 minutes in the limelight with its Super Bowl XLII showing earlier this year, the technology has remained far, far away from the press. Now, however, SPEED is vowing to integrate Neural-THX Surround professional products "for its HD programming schedule covering NASCAR, Grand Am, IndyCar, etc." For those unfamiliar with the technology, it goes a little something like this: 5.1 sound from the track is taken in, beamed over stereo channels to minimize bandwidth usage and then decoded by specially equipped receivers for "5.1 surround" in the living room. From what we can tell, the tech should be ready to roll right now, so it's up to you to snatch up an AVR in order to take advantage.

We suppose it's possible that you've missed out on all the fiber expansion going on here in the US, but even if so, you'd probably guess that programming competition in general is heating up. SNL Kagan has published new research that suggests that global multichannel hypercompetition is just around the bend, with 54 of the top 75 markets to see "four or more digital video distribution platforms" by 2013. The study focused on the continued deployment of FTTH, IPTV and DTH satellite, and it also noted that digital terrestrial television (DTT) and hybrid DTT-IP systems were "adding to the competitive mix." It's also no shock to learn that cable carriers are fighting all of this with SDV implementation, VOD offerings, bundle ("triple-play") deals and dynamic electronic program guides. Mmm, competition.

[Image courtesy of AT&T]

With all this focus on HDTV of late, we've been wondering if high-def junkies care nearly as much about their audio as they do their video. Sure, we know video trumps audio in the general public's eye, but we're talking home theater freaks here. Folks who make a point to hang up sheets to eliminate light from a room. Folks who take a vacation day just to calibrate their TV -- you know, people like yourself. Toss your vote in below and feel free to elaborate on your audio setup (or lack thereof) in comments below.

[Image courtesy of Infendo]

While home theater enthusiasts don't typically have a hard time finding equipment to support nearly any multichannel audio arrangement they can envision, IDT is hoping to assist those PC users out there experience the same bliss with new multichannel HD audio codecs. The IDT92HD73C, IDT92HD73D and IDT92HD73E feature 6-, 8- and 10-channel stereo channels respectively "enabling simultaneous audio and VoIP capability," and while the 6-channel version should be found on high-end laptops, the 8-channel iteration was designed for use in "ultra-high-end" lappies while the 10-channel codec will likely be used in desktop applications. All three offer up stereo 24-bit resolution with sample rates of up to 192kHz and dual S/PDIF outputs for easy integration with multichannel equipment.

European satellite operator Euro1080 announced plans to implement DTS-encoded audio streams into their recently-launched MPEG-4 satellite feeds. Enabling the 5.1-channel audio format broadcast is tech from Coding Technologies, which will put the DTS signal inside the aacPlus feed that will be broadcast along with HDTV picture to Europeans who subscribe to Euro1080 satellite. New set-top boxes to decode the MPEG-4 content are also to be released by electronics manufacturers. American ATSC standards only allow for competitor Dolby Digital's multichannel audio to be encoded, but DTS audio can be found in standard and high-def DVDs