Ears On

Dolby and DTS Explain the Fuss

Mark Fleischmann  |  Oct 9, 2006

Starting last week, I've been trying to explain the new Dolby and DTS surround codecs little by little. The reason each camp is hawking two new codecs for HD DVD and Blu-ray is that one is lossless (Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio) and the other is lossy (Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD High Resolution Audio). Lossless codecs reconstruct the original signal without discarding data; lossy ones use perceptual coding to discard the least important data, achieving greater efficiency in a limited bit bucket. Together these formats represent the first qualitative step forward for surround sound since the ill-fated debuts of DVD-Audio and SACD. High-res surround is baaack! Here are the basics on Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, and how they're supported in BD and HD DVD. DTS devotes a whole new website to the two new DTS-HD codecs including heaven-sent wiring diagrams. Has anyone mentioned to you that DTS Encore is simply a rebranding of DTS 5.1 and DTS-ES 6.1? You'll find it only on software packaging. There, I'm glad we've had this little talk.

COMMENTS
Mike Liddell's picture
Submitted by Mike Liddell (not verified) on October 11, 2006 - 3:43pm

I hooked up my hd a1dvd player with a coaxial cable and with the multi channel audio cables. I bought them from ram.com specifically for this purpose. When i switch back between the two the coaxial connection converted to dts sounds alot better and on the multi channel hook up there was literally no bass at all. I watched the beginning of saving pvt ryan when they get on the beach and the beginning of star wars ep 3 revenge of the syth with other people through both connections switching from my receivers inputs. There is literally no bass at all with the multi channel analag hook up as oposed to using a coaxial cable or optical cable. Why would this be?

Mark Fleischmann's picture
Submitted by Mark Fleischmann (not verified) on October 13, 2006 - 7:01am

Converting Dolby Digital Plus to DTS is one of the peculiarities of Toshiba players. Have you checked the bass management settings in the player?

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