Editing AC'97 (section)

{{short description|Audio codec}}
{{more citations needed|date=December 2019}}

'''AC'97''' (''Audio Codec '97;'' also '''MC'97''' for ''Modem Codec '97'') is an [[Sound reproduction|audio]] [[codec]] standard developed by [[Intel Architecture Labs]] and various codec manufacturers in 1997. The standard was used in [[motherboard]]s, [[modem]]s, and [[sound card]]s.

The specification covers two types of components, and the '''AC-Link''' digital interface between them:
# an AC'97 ''digital controller'' (DC97), which is typically built into the [[Southbridge (computing)|southbridge]] of the [[chipset]], and
# an AC'97 audio and/or modem ''codec'', available from several vendors, which contains the analog components of the architecture.

AC'97 defines a high-quality, 16- or 24-[[bit]] audio architecture with [[5.1 surround sound]] support for the PC. AC'97 supports a 96&nbsp;kHz [[sampling rate]] at 24-bit stereo [[Audio bit depth|resolution]] and a 48&nbsp;kHz sampling rate at 24-bit stereo resolution for multichannel recording and playback.

Integrated audio is implemented with the AC'97 Codec on the [[motherboard]], a [[communications and networking riser]] card, or an [[audio/modem riser]] card.

The first shipping system was in the [[Cyrix]] [[MediaGX]], in 1997. Intel started shipping the initial [[I/O Controller Hub]] support in 1999, and it wasn't until public shaming<ref>{{Cite news |last=Thomas |first=Andrew |date=September 7, 2000 |title=Intel not shipping the best drivers for its Easton mobo |work=The Register |url=https://www.theregister.com/2000/09/07/intel_not_shipping_the_best/}}</ref> in 2000, that most PC OEMs started shipping AC'97 audio as the default.

In 2004, Intel released [[Intel High Definition Audio]] (HD Audio) which is a successor that is not [[backward compatibility|backward compatible]] with AC'97.<ref>{{Citation|publisher=Intel Corporation|year=2010|chapter-url=http://www.intel.com/content/dam/www/public/us/en/documents/product-specifications/high-definition-audio-specification.pdf|title=High Definition Audio Specification|version=Revision 1.0a|page=17|chapter=1.2.1 AC'97 Compatibility}}</ref> HD Audio has the capability to define up to 15 output channels, but in practice most motherboards provide no more than 8 channels ([[7.1 surround sound]]).