Explaining the audio formats

[blert596]

Hi all,

Just wondering if there's a chance of one of the more clued up guys posting a list of exactly what each format does/or can do.

I hear people talking about PCM/Bitstream/DD+/True HD etc and realistically I have no grasp of what they all mean to me, as I sit in my lounge watching a bluey, with my settings basically being more or less a "yeah that seems to work" but no idea if I could get better or not.

I understand the 5.1/7.1 basically as number of speakers/subwoofer and their positioning. But what I dont know is the differences between the "many" various terms used on here. ie what is the difference between DD and DD+.

Any chance of one of you whizzes posting up a sort of history of whats been developed up to this stage showing the enhancements along the way?

I've just got my DB30 and still have a poor (Ok very poor) dvd/receiver combo and speaker set up until my bird allows me a 605 (like thats gonna be sometime soon), but even though its poor I have no knowledge as to if I could make it better or not. Basically I just played about with some settings on the receiver and the player till I got something coming out of all the speakers

Would it be worth having a sticky thread with some photos/diagrams showing basic connectivity options and maybe an explanation of what the recommended settings on each bit of kit are?

I have mine set up as follows at the moment, BD30 to Panny Plasma via HDMI. Switched HDMI audio off, and have taken it from the two channel audio out, to the aux in on my dvd/receiver (cant remember what it is, Im at work but its a Panny 540 or 450 or something like that) using two phono leads. These are the only inputs available.

I've no idea if any of the settings are correct or not

With the wealth of knowledge on here it could make things a bit/lot easier for us novices.

Apologies from a newbie if this has all been explained before, but I done a search and couldnt find anything specific.

Oh, and hope someone sees this in the newbie thread.

Ta

Billy

[HDJK]

O.k., I'll make it short on the codecs, even though you should be able to find a lot of threads on here regarding audio.

Anyhow, it all starts with PCM. It's short for Pulse Code Modulation and is the uncompressed digital audio (as found on CDs and DVDAs).

Up until now two compression codecs were used to reduce the bandwith and the size for 5.1 audio: Dolby digital and DTS.

DD+ just uses a higher bitrate (640kbit/s, amount of data that can travel in per second), so does DTS HD.

Both are still lossy codecs.

Enter Dolby True HD and DTS HD Master Audio. They compress the data, but not the signal, making the file small while maintaining the full fidelity of the PCM track.

Your player can decode the codecs or the receiver. When sending the signal PCM your player is doing it, when set to bitstream the receiver takes over.