Channels (speakers???)

can someone explain what the following means:-

2 channel (front L/R or headphone)
4 channel (front L/R and surround L/R)
6 channel (5.1 home theater)
7 channel (6.1 home theater)
8 channel (7.1 home theater)

im not sure but i think the .1 part is sub-woofer confirm this for me if this is correct.

i got this info from windvd platinum 6

 

Yes .1 is subwoofer.
For the other is
2=stereo
4=stereo surround front and rear
6=true surround front rear center +sub
7=surround front rear side and side or top and bottom
depends on speaker placement +sub
8=very true surround same as 7 with center

 

can u please tell me how many speakers there are in 5.1 6.1 and 7.1 excluding sub-woofers

 

without sub:
5.1 - 5 speakers
6.1 - 6 speakers
7.1 - 7 speakers

you get the idea...

6.1 adds one back speaker
7.1 adds two back speakers

or can be configured as top/bottom also

 

oh right so the number before the dot indicates number of speakers and the number after the dot indicates number of sub-woofers

 

exactly. here's a more detailed explanation:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5.1

 

these explanations are too difficult

 

what do you want to know about it? That page is a pretty basic definition...

 

i just wanted to know the amount of speakers excluding sub-woofers not the layout

 

i took my time reading this and understood what you people meant thank you

 

glad to help. feel free to post again if you have anymore q's