You actually know what some of the crazy scrabble on the side of an high-definition television mean when it come to video-720p , 1080i , 1080p . Congrats , you ’re ahead of most people , like my mother . But do you understand the alphabet soup of audio , the confounding configuration of logos on your Blu - re player ’s box ? While there are basically two rival home - theater audio encoders - Dolby and DTS - they each have several different quality layer and option for unlike scenarios . Yeah , it ’s a muckle to keep up with , and it annoys us too . So we postulate Dolby and DTS to put down their gunman for a sec and help us screen it out .
We ’re assuming you hump some of the BASIC - like that 5.1 audio is five channels of audio frequency positioned at centre , front rightfulness , front provide , back right and back odd , and then one subwoofer distribution channel . And that a higher piece rate intend more audio datum is come through , which , generally , means it ’s higher calibre and gon na sound well , since you ’re losing less of the original studio speech sound .
The building stop of digital audio is “ pulse code modulation”-an old applied science used for CDs and everything since . It can be rendered in several resolutions , from 16 - morsel stuff on CD to 24 - bit on New DVD and higher - reticuloendothelial system formats . It can also have varying frequency ranges , typically from 44.1KHz to 96KHz . Without go into more detail , you just need to know that PCM is bulky , and it is this PCM datum that both DTS and Dolby workplace to encode into more realizable files . When audio tracks are decoded in a disc player , they are either send out out analog via multichannel RCA outturn , or they become PCM tracks that any digital receiver can easily interpret .
We ’re take you through the major branded audio formats that you ’ll scarper into if you ’re dealing with a home theater , or hell , a Blu - ray player .
First up : Dolby . There are basically three tier of audio : Dolby TrueHD at the top , thenDolby DigitalPlus , then good sure-enough Dolby Digital .
Dolby TrueHD is a lossless compression data format that is turn - for - bit superposable to the studio masters . It can handle a bit pace of up to 18 megabits per second gear , and support as many as 14 distribution channel of sound , though you ’re more potential to see it at 7.1 . It ’s actually optional in the Blu - ray spec , but it ’s supported by the PS3 and most other raw Blu - shaft of light players . Some players decode the TrueHD internally , then stream out uncompressed PCM audio through HDMI , while others can post the TrueHD file itself out over HDMI in bitstream for the liquidator to decrypt .
Dolby Digital Plus is the next step down . It still delivers 7.1 sound , but at a goop number rate of 3Mbps . It ’s a more efficient codec than the original Dolby Digital , and is a mandatory minimum in the Blu - electron beam 1.1 specification . Dolby Digital Plus can be used for Bonus View picture - in - scene audio tracks on a Blu - ray saucer , with the main audio track encoded as TrueHD .
Dolby Digital is the gloomy rung , at 5.1 audio channels , run at 448Kbps on DVD ( though a plentiful 640Kbps on Blu - ray , used , again for particular feature or append spoken communication tracks ) .
DTS ’s offer follow a similar tiered setup .
DTS - HD Master Audio is at the top . It ’s a lossless format that is also second - for - bit identical to the studio apartment original . It supports a bitrate up to 24Mbps ( though the average Blu - light beam motion-picture show ’s audio recording is only about 2 - 3Mbps , with 4 - 5Mbps spikes ) and up to eight channel ( like 7.1 ) . ( It too , issupported by the PS3 . )
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DTS High Resolution Audio is below that . It also supports eight channel at a constant fleck rate of up to 6Mbps . It ’s for situations where a studio apartment does n’t want to eat up disc blank with a full lossless track ( like bonus features or tracks ) , though DTS tell us 95 percent of studios who utilize DTS habituate the full HD Master Audio .
DTS Digital Surround is down at the DVD remainder , with documentation for 5.1 channels and bandwidth up to 1.5Mbps , though post-2000 DVDs typically keep the track at 768Kbps to save disc blank .
You may have see a few things about Dolby ProLogic II or IIx , or maybe DTS Neo:6 . These are n’t digital codecs , so much as they are “ matrix ” programs that take stereophonic track and route it to to the dissimilar speakers in a surround system of rules . A vestige from pre - digital days , people used to get over stereo tracks by choice for ProLogic - try follow The Simpsons opening credits through your receiver with ProLogic reverse on .
Dolby and DTS also have practical surround technologies that do the opposite of matrixing : They take 5.1 tracks and perform hocus pocus on them so that they sound surround - y , but act through two-channel speakers or headphones . It ’s more subjective , and has a whole different scientific discipline to it , so maybe we ’ll save it for another clip .
That , in a nutshell , is what all of those Dolby and DTS logos on the back your Blu - ray histrion , A / V receiver or movie corner means . If you desire to experience how “ golden - eared ” audiophiles sense about the highest quality , and how well they fare against uncompressed PCM , check out this instructive piece fromHome Entertainment Magazine . As a rule , DTS HD Master Audio or Dolby TrueHD will kick ass , but unless you have a $ 50,000 sound organization , you may not be able-bodied to tell the difference between the mediate and top tiers anyway .
Something we missed , or you still wanna know ? Send any question about Dolby , DTS , Dubbly , Dobby or anything else to[email protect ] , with “ Giz Explains ” in the capable demarcation .
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