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High-def discs - the audio options for HD DVD & Blu-ray

by Nicholas Flood on 3 May 2006, 15:36

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Blu-ray Disc logo and HD DVD logo

Audio is an important factor to consider when choosing which of the competing high-def disc formats to buy into - HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc. Nick Flood explains the differences and the options

To conform to each new HD standard, movies on disc must carry audio in specific mandatory formats. However, the sound can also be enhanced from the basic minimum in various ways.

The first HD DVD players released in the USA in April, by Toshiba, look to offer considerably better support for optional sound formats than the first Blu-ray Disc player – due from Sony. The Sony will, we understand, only support the mandatory audio formats and won't even be able to play audio CDs!

To help you make your choice, we include below the best available details we can find of the audio that will be used as standard in each format and what enhancements will be available to the audiophile if hardware makers build them in.

We've also provided links that let you find out more about the different audio formats. However, we'd advise you to take care because the information about audio provided by the Blu-ray Disc camp and the HD DVD camp isn't of the highest quality. And the same is true of Dolby and DTS and of the wider web - even Wikipedia comes up short.

Blu-ray Disc mandatory

* Dolby Digital (AC3) with 5.1 channels
* DTS Digital Surround 5.1 - 5.1 channels
* Linear PCM (lossless, up to 5.1 channels with sampling rate of up to 192kHz with 24-bit resolution)

Blu-ray Disc optional

* Dolby Digital Plus (increased bitrates - 640kbps - and 7.1 channels)
* Dolby TrueHD - also known as MLP Linear PCM (lossless with up to 7.1 channels, up to 9.6Mbps)
* DTS-HD Master (formerly DTS-HD) (lossy-to-lossless with up to 7.1 channels and increased bitrates, up to 192kHz/24-bit)

HD DVD mandatory

* Dolby Digital Plus (bitrates up to 640kbps and 7.1 channels)
* Dolby TrueHD - also known as MLP Linear PCM (lossless with two channels, up to 96kHz/24-bit)
* DTS-HD (core 1.5Mbps component compatible with current DTS 5.1 decoders)

HD DVD optional

* Dolby TrueHD - also known as MLP Linear PCM (lossless with up to 7.1 channels, up to 9.6Mbps)
* DTS-HD Master (formerly DTS-HD) (lossy-to-lossless with up to 7.1 channels and increased bitrates, up to 192kHz/24-bit)

Do you know any better than us about the audio capabilities of high-def disc? And will the difference in audio support steer you towards buying into one high definition disc format rather than the other? Let us hear your comments in the HEXUS.community.

HEXUS Forums :: 13 Comments

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Posted by dangel - Wed 03 May 2006 17:10
DVD audio never really took root in the market - I wonder if things will really be that different for the new formats? The problem is CD Audio - it's cheap, of quality good enough for 99.9% of the public and embedded in the marketplace. Couple that with a pointless tech war over the next gen formats and pricey players (and probably media) - where's the market?
I suppose the only thing people might be interested in (when buying a player for high def video content ) is whether it'll play their old CDs - other than that why give a stuff about anything audio related?
Posted by Bob Crabtree - Wed 03 May 2006 18:09
There was, to most people, zero reason for buying into DVD audio - and it was also VERY poorly promoted.

High-def DVD, in contrast, is something that everyone with a high-def TV set will want and it has enjoyed massive publicity.

Even though most of that publicity has been free - and a lot of it negative - there will be few people with HD TV sets who won't know that Blu-ray Disc and HD DVD are coming.

What format they buying into will depend on lots of things. Audio is one of them but price will be far more important I feel.

Interesting times lay ahead.
Posted by Funkstar - Wed 03 May 2006 18:22
Part of the problem with the DVD audio formats was that it wasn't built into the original requirments for DVD players, in fact i don't think the DV-Audio portion was even ratified at that point.
Posted by toolsong - Wed 03 May 2006 19:06
As dangel said CD audio has ample resolution to sound fantastic if only the content was mastered properly (eg http://www.cdmasteringservices.com/dynamicrange.htm). Pull out a decent CD from the 80's and compare its sound to a recent one.

If you consider the RMS power and speaker sensitivity required to reproduce a high def audio stream with its full dynamic range, you will need an audio setup that can simulate having something louder than a 747 in your living room. 24 bit = 144 dB of dynamic range and no amplifier, speaker or ear I know of will cope with that!

IMO current DVD Video is limited 99% by its video quality and therefore the movie titles available on a particular format will be what influences the consumer.

Can anyone see multi track audio going any further than it already has?
Posted by DR - Wed 03 May 2006 22:37
I guess it comes down to price point - people won't pay extra unless they see the value - with Audio - you can't easily hear it but with Video - well wow…

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