SPDIF can carry two channels of uncompressed audio.
S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface Format) is a widely used audio transfer protocol. While it's capable of transmitting stereo (two channels) of uncompressed PCM audio, it can also carry compressed multi-channel audio formats like Dolby Digital or DTS, which allows for 5.1 surround sound. However, S/PDIF lacks the bandwidth to support lossless surround sound formats such as Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio. These formats necessitate a higher bandwidth connection like HDMI.
Here's a breakdown:
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Uncompressed PCM Audio: S/PDIF supports two channels (stereo).
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Compressed Surround Sound: Through codecs like Dolby Digital and DTS, S/PDIF can transmit up to 5.1 channels of surround sound. This is achieved by compressing the audio data before transmission and decompressing it at the receiving end.
Therefore, while the number of channels is two for uncompressed audio, through compression, it can deliver the information for more channels.
