Surround Sound

Surround Sound is a piece of audio technology that uses 5-7 audio channels.

Logo (March 12, 1996-February 21, 2006)

ImageVideo

Visuals: On a black background, two sets of three spherical lights appear and trace around the edge of an invisible disc, creating indigo streaks before quickly turning towards each other and colliding. This causes the disc to flash a light blue indigo shade before it dies down, as the lights are shown to form an indigo "S" with thinning ends. The text "SURROUND SOUND", in a digital font, fades in below the "S" in a purple-white gradient color.

Trivia: This logo, created by Rod Dyer Design, was intentionally designed alongside Sony's "Maximum Television" ad campaign, which featured a tag with a similar logo, animation and music; one of these ads can be seen on the 1996 VHS of Jumanji (which, ironically, lacks this logo).

Variant: On some tapes, the logo cuts off earlier than usual.

• Depending on the release, when the logo cuts off, the music cuts off as well or keeps playing (in particular, the handful of Columbia TriStar VHS releases that are THX-certified (e.g. Men in Black) contain the latter variant due to it preceding the THX "Broadway" logo, as does the VHS release of Matilda, a non THX-certified release).

Technique: 2D computer animation.

Audio: A triangle ding, a faint sweeping sound, then a "clang" and an echoing female choir.

Audio Variant: On monophonic VHS tracks (ironically enough), some of the sounds, such as the sweeping sound, are omitted.

Availability:

• Seen on most Columbia TriStar/Sony Pictures VHS tapes of movies made starting from 1996 that are compatible with Dolby Surround, such as Big Daddy, Close Encounters of The Third Kind, Muppets from Space, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland, Thomas and the Magic Railroad and Kermit's Swamp Years. This was used all the way until Sony's final tapes in early 2006, with the last releases from them on the format being Zathura and Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild.
• It was absent from the 1996 VHS release of Jumanji (see above), but a print version can be found on the back cover. It was also absent from the VHS of Spanglish.
• While this doesn't usually appear on promotional tapes, it does appear on the demo VHS versions of As Good as It Gets and Gattaca.
• This logo has appeared on LaserDisc once, on the Japanese AC-3 issue of Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and in 5.1 surround on the AC-3 track.