TrueHD and DialNorm - Blu-ray Forum

ClaytonMG · 03-23-2008, 12:36 AM

So I have a couple questions about TrueHD and the whole DialNorm thing that I was going to ask in the DTS-HDMA thread before things got out of control. I actually had all this typed and went to post and the thread was closed... Thanks Wicky! Geez!!!

Anyway, my questions are, what is the point of DialNorm? I've heard that it's to better hide compression, is that true? Also, when/how is it applied to TrueHD tracks? Do they take a master, lower it however many db (I think it's ussually 4) and then encode the TrueHD track from that? I am not that smart when it comes to the whole TrueHD/DTS-HD aspect of things. I know how to get them decoded and all that jazz, but I don't know about the stuff behind the scenes which is why I am asking.

crackinhedz · 03-23-2008, 12:45 AM

"Dialogue Normalization: Friend or Foe"

...as this was written before TrueHD was implemented, I cannot speak on how TrueHD uses this as a feature. But this will help explain how dialnorm works, and can only assume it applies the same to TrueHD.

ClaytonMG · 03-23-2008, 03:12 AM

Interesting! But in that article, they talk about Dialnorm as if it's used correctly all the time. I've seen TV shows that cut to commercials and they will have a DialNorm of +4db and be even louder than they would've been without the dialnorm enabled. And I understand why DialNorm is being used for regular Dolby Digital tracks, but why Dolby TrueHD? I don't see there being a point to it. Isn't there a standard that's being followed as far as PCM and DTS-HDMA tracks go? So why should TrueHD be 4db lower than that? I know in the article they talk about DTS being 4db higher than it should be (which I actually wondered why my recievers lowered the volume on the dts tracks) but I'd imagine for the actual Master Audio track DialNorm shouldn't be altered. I think maybe DialNorm should be on the Dolby Digital tracks, but not on the TrueHD ones.

But I still wonder if they actually lower the volume of the audio tracks and then encode it for TrueHD. I'd imagine that would actually alter how closely it actually matches the master.

crackinhedz · 03-23-2008, 03:45 AM

as I said, I am not aware of how or why TrueHD applies it.

03-23-2008, 12:36 AM	#1
ClaytonMG Blu-ray Samurai Member since:May 2006 Location:New Brighton, MN Home Theater Gallery:16 4K collection:836 Blu-ray collection:2376 Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:1	TrueHD and DialNorm So I have a couple questions about TrueHD and the whole DialNorm thing that I was going to ask in the DTS-HDMA thread before things got out of control. I actually had all this typed and went to post and the thread was closed... Thanks Wicky! Geez!!! Anyway, my questions are, what is the point of DialNorm? I've heard that it's to better hide compression, is that true? Also, when/how is it applied to TrueHD tracks? Do they take a master, lower it however many db (I think it's ussually 4) and then encode the TrueHD track from that? I am not that smart when it comes to the whole TrueHD/DTS-HD aspect of things. I know how to get them decoded and all that jazz, but I don't know about the stuff behind the scenes which is why I am asking.

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03-23-2008, 12:45 AM	#2
crackinhedz Super Moderator Member since:Feb 2007 Home Theater Gallery:10 Blu-ray reviews:8 Trading Score:19	"Dialogue Normalization: Friend or Foe" ...as this was written before TrueHD was implemented, I cannot speak on how TrueHD uses this as a feature. But this will help explain how dialnorm works, and can only assume it applies the same to TrueHD.

03-23-2008, 03:12 AM	#3
ClaytonMG Blu-ray Samurai Member since:May 2006 Location:New Brighton, MN Home Theater Gallery:16 4K collection:836 Blu-ray collection:2376 Blu-ray reviews:2 Trading Score:1	Interesting! But in that article, they talk about Dialnorm as if it's used correctly all the time. I've seen TV shows that cut to commercials and they will have a DialNorm of +4db and be even louder than they would've been without the dialnorm enabled. And I understand why DialNorm is being used for regular Dolby Digital tracks, but why Dolby TrueHD? I don't see there being a point to it. Isn't there a standard that's being followed as far as PCM and DTS-HDMA tracks go? So why should TrueHD be 4db lower than that? I know in the article they talk about DTS being 4db higher than it should be (which I actually wondered why my recievers lowered the volume on the dts tracks) but I'd imagine for the actual Master Audio track DialNorm shouldn't be altered. I think maybe DialNorm should be on the Dolby Digital tracks, but not on the TrueHD ones. But I still wonder if they actually lower the volume of the audio tracks and then encode it for TrueHD. I'd imagine that would actually alter how closely it actually matches the master.

03-23-2008, 03:45 AM	#4
crackinhedz Super Moderator Member since:Feb 2007 Home Theater Gallery:10 Blu-ray reviews:8 Trading Score:19	as I said, I am not aware of how or why TrueHD applies it.

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