Why not Dolby Digital Plus standard on BDs?

[Luis_A51]

Originally Posted by darkedgex

Because Dolby Digital Plus isn't mandatory on BD hardware, and because of this, a Dolby Digital track will always be needed in addition to the Dolby Digital Plus track. Since the classic DD track would likely be 640kbps, and the DD Plus track would likely be > 1mbps, it makes more sense to include a lossless track (Dolby TrueHD or, better still, DTS HD Master Audio).

There is no "better still" between Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA, They're supposed to be identical.

People should stop assuming that the differences between DD and DTS carry over to TrueHD vs DTS-MA.

[ryoohki]

Originally Posted by Luis_A51

There is no "better still" between Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA, They're supposed to be identical.

People should stop assuming that the differences between DD and DTS carry over to TrueHD vs DTS-MA.

Well there is in a sense that with TrueHD you can a DD5.1 640kbps in 16bits core and DTS HD MA you get a DTS 1.5mbits in 24bits.. but that's it.

[Rob Zuber]

Read the comments above from Roger Dressler. FYI, Dolby Digital on Blu-ray generally has a higher bitrate than on DVD. It's not the "old DVD DD".

[darkedgex]

Originally Posted by Luis_A51

There is no "better still" between Dolby TrueHD and DTS-MA, They're supposed to be identical.

People should stop assuming that the differences between DD and DTS carry over to TrueHD vs DTS-MA.

I'm not assuming anything. Maybe you should stop assuming there is no difference.

• DTS HD Master Audio contains a backwards compatible DTS core of up to 1.5 mbps (better compatibility with older hardware).
• DTS HD Master Audio uses less space than Dolby TrueHD, leaving more room for longer video content, extras, or additional subtitles/audio tracks.
• DTS HD Master Audio does not have dialog normalization or any other potentially audio modifying meta-data.

Really, the first two issues are the ones that matter most to me personally (with space usage being the biggest concern I have), but yes, there are indeed differences even if the end result (what comes out of our speakers) is largely the same.

[jcs913]

Originally Posted by darkedgex

I'm not assuming anything. Maybe you should stop assuming there is no difference.

• DTS HD Master Audio contains a backwards compatible DTS core of up to 1.5 mbps (better compatibility with older hardware).
• DTS HD Master Audio uses less space than Dolby TrueHD, leaving more room for longer video content, extras, or additional subtitles/audio tracks.
• DTS HD Master Audio does not have dialog normalization or any other potentially audio modifying meta-data.

Really, the first two issues are the ones that matter most to me personally (with space usage being the biggest concern I have), but yes, there are indeed differences even if the end result (what comes out of our speakers) is largely the same.

Actually, dial norm is applied to DTS-HDMA tracks and TrueHD tracks. Typical DTS-HDMA tracks have a much higher bitrate, some to 13mbps, so they actually take up more space than most TrueHD tracks. There is a space issue, but Fox still uses it very effectively. I wish more studios would use DTS more. Its soundstage is much more prominent than TrueHD, I think.

[krazeyeyez]

ok so i know you need a player capable of output and a receiver that can decode for the true hd/ ma tracks but...... what do you need for just pcm lossless? im looking to cover all my bases on my new stereo so in the future i can play the "lossless" formats. all 3 if i understand this stuff correctly.

[Lord_Phan]

Originally Posted by krazeyeyez

ok so i know you need a player capable of output and a receiver that can decode for the true hd/ ma tracks but...... what do you need for just pcm lossless? im looking to cover all my bases on my new stereo so in the future i can play the "lossless" formats. all 3 if i understand this stuff correctly.

PCM is what they get decoded into. If it's a 5.1 LPCM track, it just means it hasn't been compressed into TrueHD or DTS-HD, ie: it dosn't need to be decoded. You can send it straight through to your receiver with either an HDMI cable(that the receiver uses for audio) or Multichannel Analog.