DTS

Background
DTS (Dedicated To Sound) is a sound system company that specializes in surround sound technology owned by DTS, Inc. (formerly known as Digital Theater Systems, Inc.).

1st Trailer (June 11, 1993-December 12, 2006)
Nicknames: "Stand Alone", "The Digital Experience", "The Giant LaserDisc", "Experience of Doom", "Flying CD"

Trailer: We start on a black background, where all of a sudden, a giant, a gold optical disc (meant to represent a CD, though it can also be interpreted as a laserdisc or a DVD) zooms out from the hole. When it stops, the gray word "the" zooms close and then moves back. The stylized blue word "digital" does the same, followed by a silver bar rectangle reading "experience" that flies out. After the logo forms, the whole thing explodes into various particles, which then turns into "d," "t," and "s", followed by the appearance of a blue box around the DTS text. Above the DTS blue box are the words "THIS THEATRE FEATURES" in orange. Finally, the word "DIGITAL" zooms out above the blue box, and the word "SOUND" zooms out below the box, all in white font.

Trivia: DTS didn't actually release this trailer as a separate reel for projectionists to play before the film would start (just like what both Dolby and THX would do), rather it was instead included in the first reel of films that was originally mixed in DTS audio. However, after the American film industry agreed that film companies should use all 3 sound formats for their films since the late 90s to avoid competition, a separate reel of this trailer was made

Variants:
 * An earlier version of the trailer was used in the first year of its existence, where we fade out after the first sequence dissolves. Also, the text "DTS IN SELECTED THEATRES" in orange is shown below the disc. Sometimes, the text was in white.
 * On some DTS-encoded laserdiscs and DVDs from the late 90s, the logo is in full-screen, is videotaped, and "THIS THEATRE FEATURES" is removed.
 * In some cases, the theatrical version of the trailer is used on home releases. Some of these releases (mostly from Sony) have the DTS text zooming out slightly after the first dissolve (primarily on films with 1.85:1 aspect ratios, but not always).

FX/SFX: The disc zooming out at the viewer, the individual words followed by the dissolving; the appearance of "DTS" and "THIS THEATRE FEATURES" text followed by the zoom out of the "DIGITAL SOUND" text. All in fine quality and in early CGI, created by Richard "Doc" Baily and Image Savant. This piece was created with Alias Wavefront on an SGI workstation.

Music/Sounds: First, there is a laser sound leading into a boom mixed with the electricity zap, followed by a whoosh with another boom and zap, and then another whoosh with a boom and zap. This is followed by a loud phaser sound alongside an explosion, and there are twinkles heard alongside more whooshes, a whir when "DIGITAL" and "SOUND" appear, and a loud descending drone at the end.

Availability:
 * Rare for the normal version. In theaters, it was used until 1999 or 2000 when DTS received complaints about the trailer's exceptionally loud nature, and/or how it wasn't well-suited for quieter movies.
 * This made its official debut on the theatrical premiere of Jurassic Park.
 * It later appeared on DTS-encoded LaserDiscs and DVDs, such as The Wedding Singer, Vertigo and Universal and Sony titles like the first DVD releases of Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Babe, Superbit releases such as Gattaca, Johnny Mnemonic, Panic Room, xXx, Spider-Man, Snatch, Seven Years in Tibet, The Patriot and Labyrinth, several music/concert DVDs, DTS-enhanced DVDs of Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and DTS LaserDiscs from Walt Disney Home Video such as Pocahontas, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Toy Story: Collector's Edition, Flubber, and Hercules.
 * It also appears on the DVDs that came with the second-edition and third-edition copies of the book DVD Demystified.
 * The normal version is also seen on the 2000 “Ultimate Edition” DVD of Terminator 2: Judgement Day, and the ”Millennium Edition” DVD of Re-Animator, preceding the THX Cavalcade trailer made for the release; as well as some early DTS discs from Universal, DreamWorks, and Image Entertainment.
 * However, the short version is extinct as was only shown in theatres for this logo's first year, such as Carlito's Way.
 * Due to the digital nature of its encoding, on LaserDiscs, the audio can only be heard through a special DTS modulator to decode DTS audio, whereas on DVDs it can only be accessed if you select the DTS option in the DVD's audio menu and then play the movie. If your player cannot decode DTS audio, this logo (and by proxy, the film) will either be silent, switch automatically to the Dolby track (DVDs only), or playback with major distortion.
 * Can also be seen on some Nutech Digital DVDs if you select DTS, such as Tom Sawyer, Peter Pan, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Wind in the Willows, The Odyssey, and Treasure Island, among others.
 * It is even seen on games, such as Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines on PS2 (so long as you enable the "DTS" option in the audio settings).
 * Some of the last DVDs to feature this trailer are Leon: The Professional: Deluxe Edition, Closer, Stealth, and the Ultimate Editions of the James Bond films.
 * It can also be seen on many Chinese bootleg DVDs of films such as Finding Nemo.
 * This trailer was shown after the United International Pictures logo on a bootleg VHS of Jurassic Park.

Legacy: This logo is known for its infamously over-dramatic soundtrack and in-your-face computer animation that would become outdated by the early 2000s. Nevertheless, it marked an iconic debut for the sound system as a whole.

2nd Trailer (1995-late 1990s)
Nicknames: "Raindrops", "Water Drop", "A Lost Trailer"

Trailer: On a black background, a water droplet appears and falls down. Then, a ripple appears and the DTS logo appears. The ripple then stops and "DIGITAL" and "SOUND" fades in. Then the URL fades in below.

FX/SFX: Unknown, it was possibly CGI animation mixed with live-action animation.

Music/Sounds: Unknown. It could be the next logo's music or waterdrop sounds.

Availability: Completely extinct. This logo was made as an alternative to the previous logo, but its similarity to the 1st and 2nd Imagine Entertainment logos resulted in DTS nearly being sued by said company. As such, it was only seen in three theaters in both St. Louis and Albuquerque before DTS pulled the logo almost immediately. However, it still exists in the hands of private collectors. Allegedly, the original audio for this logo is in the audio files for the DTS audio CDs of Dragonheart.

Legacy: This trailer is infamous due to the reason it was recalled, and for it being considered lost media. Only time will tell if this will be found or not.

3rd Trailer (1997-1999)
Nicknames: "Organic", "DTS Balls", "Another Lost Trailer", "Balls from Hell"

Trailer: On a black background, several strands of silver balls spin around, morph, and generally have an energetic motion for the duration of the logo. The center dots spin and pull and turn slightly purple, as chandelier-like designs fly out of the middle center. The center dots then turn light purple and merge together, as the background balls curve, into the DTS logo. The text "DIGITAL SURROUND" appears at the top and bottom of "dts", respectively, alongside the former company website below, when the dots in the background fade out.

Trivia: It was believed that this might've possibly been the prototype to the rumored "lost" trailer entitled "Raindrops" above, which allegedly was first released around 1995. In reality, however, it was an entirely separate trailer, as seen in the Other Links section at the very bottom of this page. The logo first appeared on the company's website in 1997 and was toted as a brand new trailer. Despite attempts by DTS to make it a theatrical trailer, by 1999 it was being called on the company website an Internet-exclusive trailer.

FX/SFX: All CGI by Computer Artworks in the UK.

Music/Sounds: Various industrial bass noises, such as a brief creepy piano at the beginning, several whooshes, deep bass notes, and waterdrop noises.

Availability: Extinct. Its existence was not known until recently, and the only way to see it is either on YouTube or the 3 links in the Other Links section on the bottom of this page. Since this is an Internet trailer, you do not need any additional equipment to hear the audio. Because of the limitations of Internet video sharing in the '90s, the video quality is quite poor; it's unknown if a higher-quality version exists, or if it ever appeared on home releases.

Legacy: It took 14 years for this rediscovery of this logo, and 6 years to be featured here on the AVID.

4th Trailer (February 28, 2000-late 2000s)
Nicknames: "Piano", "DTS Piano", "Sonic Landscape"

Trailer: In a pillar box, there is a view of some large piano strings sitting together. The light shines on the surface, and we cut to another part of the piano. Then, we cut to one of the hammers inside a piano, which strikes its string in reverse. We then cut to a series of other hammers, innocently labelled with the Yamaha logo, striking their strings one after the other toward us from the back. We then cut to a slowly distancing shot of brass piano strings softly vibrating. Part of the picture fades to black, just leaving a box in its place. The "dts" letters appear in the box and shine, as "®" appears at the top right part of them along with "DIGITAL SOUND" below them. Another defunct website link appears below that.

Variant: This trailer is available in flat widescreen, scope widescreen, and open-matte.

Trivia: The website link at the end of the logo used to be the company's site, but eventually acquired/moved to the "dts.com" URL in mid-2005. The original URL now redirects to an unrelated business.

FX/SFX: Live-action and superimposed fading by Pittard Sullivan.

Music/Sounds: Several calm piano notes with a choir, followed by three more piano notes when each letter in "dts" shines. Composed by Walter Werzowa (known for creating the Intel jingle), with mixing done by Bill Varney, Steve Marlow, and Eric Martel.

Music/Sounds Variant:
 * PAL-pitched versions exist.
 * On the DVD release of The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000), if the Dolby track is selected, a snippet from The Making of Dragonheart can be heard throughout the whole trailer due to a manufacturing error.

Availability: Common.
 * First announced by DTS at the end of February 2000 (with production the prior year), with the first films using this logo beginning in March 2000 theatrically.
 * Also appears on DTS DVDs of the time, like on several Universal, DreamWorks, Sony (including some SuperBit editions), and Fox titles.
 * This trailer also appears on the 2001 DVD release of Pearl Harbor, as well as the DVDs that came with the second-edition and third-edition copies of the book DVD Demystified.
 * Again, the audio can only be heard if you have the right equipment.
 * On some discs such as The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, this trailer is presented in 2.35:1 even though the film is in 1.85:1.
 * On the inverse, on many films that are framed in Scope such as the Die Hard Trilogy (as well as all reprints of Die Hard 1, 2 and 3), this trailer is presented in 1.85:1.
 * Some Roadshow Entertainment DVDs from Australia use this logo in PAL audio, as did Anchor Bay releases with this logo (despite being Region 1 releases).
 * Just like the 1st trailer, it is possible that it will on various bootleg DVD releases.
 * It can also be seen on the French-exclusive Les Années Laser THX Trailers DVD if DTS is selected at the beginning of the disc.
 * This can also be spotted on Disc 2 (the widescreen disc) of both the original Region 1 DVD release of Shrek as well as both the UK 3-disc and Australian 2-disc 'Special Edition' releases of the latter.

Legacy: This logo is a favorite of many because of its calm nature.

5th Trailer (September 30, 2005-2009?)
Nickname: "Sparks"

Trailer: Many blue sparks fly around the screen, forming a 3D DTS logo. Later, one spark hits the DTS logo, making it 2D. While this happens, the URL address "www.dts.com" wipes in below the logo. This all happens on a black background.

FX/SFX: CGI animation by C2K Entertainment and Café FX using Alias Maya.

Music/Sounds: Several whooshes, a deep drone, and a loud whoosh. This variant was known as "Sprite", and was intended as the "scope" version of the logo.

Music/Sounds Variant: Sometimes, an orchestra tune with flutes and a trumpet can be heard. This variant was known as the "Sprite Suite", and was intended as the "flat" version of the logo.

Availability: Uncommon; used in tandem with the previous logo. Again, it's found on many DVDs with DTS audio, like Ghost Rider and Weird Science. It was also seen in some cinemas at the time starting with Serenity, and was used all the way up until the renaming to Datasat.

Legacy: This logo may be intense, but not like its very first logo. The sounds, however, may catch a few off-guard. This was also the final logo used by DTS for use theatrically, as the company spun off its cinema division in 2008. For a brief time, the DTS name was licensed to this spinoff company, but was renamed to Datasat Digital Sound the following year. (the name began usage on films in 2009, though in-credit DTS logos stuck around for a while longer)

6th Trailer (2008-2012)
Nicknames: "Band", "DTS Ring", "Sparks II: Beautiful Boogaloo"

Trailer: We see a bunch of sparks passing by. Then a lot of other yellow and orange sparks come in and fly in all directions, making a really colorful composition, and finally folding into a new DTS logo looking like a four-lined Mobius band. As they fold, metallic words also appear right to the logo, reading "dts" with a "Digital Surround" byline.

Variants:
 * For Blu-ray releases, "HD" is added on the side of "dts" and the byline now says "Master Audio" or "High Resolution Audio".
 * A shorter version exists.

FX/SFX: Great CGI animation.

Music/Sounds:
 * A composition made of whooshing sounds, strings, and windchimes, which was also used in the Lightbox logo from 2014.
 * A majestic piano composition, playing in synth with action and adding several whooshing sounds as the logo folds.

Availability:
 * The Digital Surround variant can be seen on many later-era DVDs with DTS soundtracks, but it is not as common on there as the last trailers were as this logo was released towards the end of that format's popularity.
 * The DTS-HD Master Audio variant is uncommon and is seen on Blu-ray releases (including demo discs), such as the 2009 Skynet Edition of Terminator 2: Judgment Day (which features all four variants).

Legacy: The sudden start can get to some viewers, but otherwise it's a great logo. The DTS logo used in this trailer, in fact, was introduced in 2006.

7th Trailer (2010- )
Nicknames: "Living World of Audio", "DTS Ring II", "DTS Water", "DTS Ocean"

Logo: On a black background, a blue sound test/radiowave forms. Then, it turns into ocean and the background turns sky blue. We pan down into the ocean and we see green wavy staves resembling seaweed with music notes on them. Then, the camera pans with coral reef-like objects out of phone connectors, and many orange/yellow DTS rings appears. One DTS ring zooms in and flashes with causing the words "dts " to flash in one by one and "HD" flash as well. "Master Audio" then fade in.

Variant: There is an extended version, where the beginning shows one wave at first before many others form behind it and rumble, and the ocean scene pauses a bit before the camera pans down. The underwater scene is also extended as well, with things related to audio and music forming various sea life, including CD and mobile phone fishes and a whale made from microphones. Then, many colorful lights appear, explode and flashes. The rest of the logo plays like the shorter version. There is also a 3D anaglyph version of that variant.

FX/SFX: CGI by AgraphaFX.

Music/Sounds:
 * Short Version: Sounds of sound testing, and the ocean, then a synthesized tune with flutes and a choir, as well as flashing sounds for the DTS letters and the bubbling.
 * Extended Version: Same as above, but the sound testing sounds and the ocean sounds are time-stretched. When the camera pans down into the ocean, an extended version of the music plays. The music ends with 3-note sounder in sync of the DTS letters flashing.

Availability: Common. The short version can be seen on Blu-ray releases from CBS Home Entertainment, such as older movies and TV shows released by Paramount Home Entertainment such as A Boy Named Charlie Brown and the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, and the now-defunct CBS Films releases from Lionsgate Home Entertainment such as the 2017 release of Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life and the 2021 Blu-ray release of Finding You. The extended version is rare.

Legacy: This may surprise you at first, but it’s a great logo. However, for a time, the release was mistakenly believed to be 2017.

8th Trailer (2011- )
Nicknames: "Reversed Pounding Paint Blobs", "DTS Ring III"

Trailer: The trailer starts with paint blobs suspended in mid-air. The blobs are pulled backwards, creating a large blob of paint on the BG, as the footage slows down. this repeats 2 more times, the third time revealing that the large blob in the BG is the DTS wordmark. The Signature ring motif forms to the left of the logo. and everything rotates around, as light fills the screen, in a similar manner to the Searchlight Pictures logo. After the screen is filled with light, everything fades out.

Variant: A variant also exists in which the DTS logo is formed in 2D, the logo doesn't rotate and the light doesn't appear, and there is a different background for when the logo is formed, with various blurry orange sparkles flying around in the background.

FX/SFX: The logo being formed from paint blobs, which are being hit in reverse, the glowing, the logo being drawn and rotating, the lights. A mix of live-action and CGI.

Music/Sounds: A three-chord sounder with splashing sounds throughout and sparkling notes on the third chord. It was composed by Diego Stocco, who explains the process behind the logo here. There is also a short documentary you can view here which shows the process of how Stocco composed the logo's soundtrack.

Availability: Common. Seen on newer Blu-ray and DVD releases such as the Lionsgate Home Entertainment releases of Good Will Hunting, Warm Bodies, Ender's Game, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Divergent, I, Frankenstein, The Legend of Hercules, the 2015 Blu-ray release of Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Shaun the Sheep Movie, Texas Rising and ''Boo! A Madea Halloween'', among others. The variant listed above can be seen at the end of Diego Stocco's "Making Of" video about the logo.

Legacy: Thanks to Diego Stocco, this logo is creatively sounded.

9th Trailer (2015- )
Nicknames: "Out Of The Box", "DTS Ring IV"

Trailer: TBA.

FX/SFX: CGI animation.

Music/Sounds: TBA.

Availability: Common.

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10th Trailer (2016- )
Nicknames: "Listen", "DTS Ring V"

Trailer: The trailer starts with a stampede of horses galloping towards the horizon. The camera then flips 180 degrees to a car racing through traffic, to which another car jumps off the bridge into the water below. Upon entering the water, the camera flips once more to show some paper mache angler fish swimming. The angler fish lights then turn into fireflies, as the water fades to grass. The camera then pans up to a sunset with the DTS logo in the sky, that then "powers up" with the byline of "Listen" below it as the DTS chime plays.

Variant: A variant exists with only the DTS logo on a black background with mechanical whirring, clicking and the DTS chime.

FX/SFX: Same as the previous trailer.

Music/Sounds: Horses galloping, cars racing through streets, fish swimming, birds chirping, grass rustling and the DTS chimes.

Availability: Common. Can be seen on new Blu-rays, including the Japanese release of The Promised Neverland from 2021.

11th Trailer (2020-)
Nicknames: "Listen II" "Where is the DTS Ring?" "The Ring-Less logo" "The Text-Only Logo"

Trailer: TBA

FX/SFX: TBA

Music/Sounds: TBA

Availability: Current. Used in tandem with the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th trailers.

Other Links

 * Links for the "Organic" trailer:
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