Lossy DTS-HD streaming now being offered and in the future lossless audio is possible

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The new CinemaNow service that streams DTS-HD audio is a big improvement in streaming audio quality compared to VUDU and others that only offer up to 7.1 Dolby Digital Plus. However DTS-HD audio at 512kbps is still a lossy audio format. The Blu-ray format is currently the only way to listen to DTS-HD Master audio which is lossless sound quality that is bit for bit the same as the studio master.

With Verzion FIOS offering 300Mbps download and 65Mbps upload speeds for consumers, over time streaming services will keep improving on their picture and sound quality. One day DTS-HD Master audio most likely will be offered as a streaming option as Internet bandwidth keeps increasing in speed and capacity. For now Blu-ray is still king of picture and sound quality since the bit rate is much higher compared to streaming.

Quotes

"DTS Express is a low-bit-rate multichannel audio codec that can be efficiently streamed over the internet. It is also used as a secondary audio channel on Blu-ray Discs."

“With DTS-HD, streaming services can deliver multichannel audio at data rates up to 512Kbps. If the stream is received at the TV at 512Kbps via a good network connection, then the sound quality will be “nearly indistinguishable” from lossless PCM soundtracks and from soundtracks encoded in lossless codecs, DTS said. Cinema Now’s audio data rate was unavailable.”

http://www.twice.com/articletype/news/dts-sees-wide-dts-hd-compatibility-home-theater-systems/106777

http://www.twice.com/articletype/news/cinemanow-launches-dts-hd-content/106701