PS3 Audio Set-up

[XpReSS]

Good Morning,
To start off let me explain what set up I have:
I have a Sony STR-DG800 Receiver (oh well!!!)
JVC HD-61FH97 TV
and a PS3.

After reading the threads about Optical's audio bandwidth, I found out I can not use PCM audio. So to get to my question, When setting up my PS3 for Blu-ray's do I use Liner PCM or bitstream? I had 300 (GREAT MOVIE) in the PS3 and tried to switch between the two and I thought bitstream sounded better.. Is that because I can only use 2 channel PCM with optical?

And on a side note which is better digital coax or Optical for audio?

Ok and another quick question... As for the Firmware 1.9 update, I tried to set it for 24 Hz output, it blanked out my screen. I tried to look online to see if my TV supports 1080p 24hz and was unable to find a answer. Obliviously the simple answer would be no the TV doesn't support it (because the TV went blank)... But I was wonder if someone knew for sure.

[MouseRider]

If you want discrete surround sound through the TOSLINK (optical) connector, you will have to use bitstream (not bitrate) setting.

The optical connection will only pass 2 channel PCM as you can see from the PS3 "Sound" setup page once you select Optical.

When you ask "which is better digital or Optical" it doesn't quite make sense because optical is digital. If you're actually asking if multi-channel PCM is better than bitstream, well, with multichannel PCM, you could get access to the uncompressed or lossless encoded (i.e. DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD) soundtracks on Blu-ray so technically PCM is better.

Can you hear the difference? It depends on your equipment and your ears.

Finally, if your TV blanks out when you select 1080p/24, most likely your TV can't support it.

BTW, your return key not working?

[XpReSS]

Sorry for the confussion I ment Optical or digital coaxial.... As for as my return key what do you mean? oh wait... haha my enter key right??? It was a long run-on paragraph... Sorry at work and was trying to type from memory...

Yes bitstream not bitrate...

So when I select Liner PCM is that using the 2 channel PCM?? Whats the difference between Liner PCM and Bitstream? I would assume that 2 channel PCM is not 5.1 audio?

Thanks

XpReSS

[MouseRider]

The differences in optical or coax comes mainly in your environment, since both are digital (though you may here many arguments supporting one or the other).

If it is a short run, coax is cheaper and does the job. If it is a long run, optical is less prone to interference. Coax cables can be bent, optical cannot. Cheap optical cables suck more than cheap coax cables.

When you go through the optical connection, only 2 channel LPCM is supported. If you use HDMI, then you can have multi-channel LPCM, currently up to 8 channels if you use HDMI v1.3.

LPCM, or Linear Pulse Code Modulation is essentially a digital representation of sound itself, uncompressed. Bitstream is an encoded signal, which may or may not be compressed but it packs the sound from one or more channels into a digital stream of data that is formatted to a particular format, for example, Dolby Digital or DTS.

To decode a bitstream, you will need software that understands the data format. To convert LPCM back to sound, you simply need a digital-to-analog converter that supports the bit and sample rate that the LPCM is sent as, i.e. 48kHz 16-bit.

[Canada]

I just got a PS3 for watching movies and I put in Casino Royal, I listened to it in DD 5.1 it was pretty good but then I listened to it in 2ch PCM ( through optical) and let the receiver do it's Dolby Pro Logic II thing. In the quiet moments I swear I could not hear a difference but in the action scenes Holy **** it was like night and day. You will have to try it out to see what you like the best.