Harman Academy January 2009
L-PCM
New HD Sound Formats
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HD sound formats
Blu-ray Disc™ media is setting new standards:
High-definition picture quality
High-definition sound quality
Uncompressed linear PCM
Lossless high-definition sound
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Audio formatsNormal sound formats for DVD: Linear PCM, 2 channels
All Dolby® Digital formats
All DTS® formats
…any version can be transmitted through HDMI™ connection
New sound formats for Blu-ray Disc media: Linear PCM, 6 – 8 channels
Dolby Digital Plus
Dolby TrueHD
DTS-HD High Resolution Audio™
DTS-HD Master Audio™
…transmission only through HDMI 1.3 connection
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Uncompressed linear PCM
PCM = pulse code modulation
Sampling Frequency
Bit Rate
L-PCM
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Uncompressed linear PCM
PCM = pulse code modulation
Sampling frequency (rate) = samples per second
Bit (data) rate = bits per sample
Compact disc format (max. 2 channels)
Sampling frequency = 44.1kHz (44.100 samples per second)
Bit rate = 16 bits per sample (2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2=65.536 values)
Blu-ray Disc sound (max. 8 channels)
Sampling frequencies = 48kHz, 96kHz or even 192kHz
Bit rate = 16-bit (65.536), 20-bit (1.048.576) or even 24-bit (16.777.216)
L-PCM
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New Dolby Digital sound formats for Blu-ray Disc media:Dolby Digital Plus:
New audio format for broadcast and Blu-ray Disc media
Up to 7.1 PCM 96kHz sampling frequencies & 24-bit resolutions
Compressed audio
Transfer rate of up to 1.7 Mbps
Transmission through HDMI 1.3 connection only
Compatible with normal Dolby Digital decoders using Blu-ray Disc (1.0), DVD (0.7) formats
Dolby TrueHD: New audio format for Blu-ray Disc media
Up to 7.1 PCM 96kHz sampling frequency & 24-bit resolution
Lightly compressed audio – bit-by-bit lossless copy of the studio master
Transfer rate of up to 18 MBps
Transmission through HDMI 1.3 connection only
Compatible with normal Dolby Digital decoders using Blu-ray Disc format
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New DTS sound formats for Blu-ray Disc media:
DTS-HD High Resolution Audio: New audio format
Up to 7.1 PCM 96kHz sampling frequency and 24-bit resolution
Compressed audio
Fixed transfer rate of 6 MBps for Blu-ray Disc media
Transmission through HDMI 1.3 output only
Compatible with normal DTS decoders => better sound (up to 1.5 MBps)
DTS-HD Master Audio: New audio format
Up to 7.1 PCM 96kHz sampling frequency and 24-bit resolution
Up to max. 192kHz sampling frequency and 24-bit resolution (2-channel)
Lightly compressed audio – bit-by-bit lossless copy of the studio master
Variable transfer rate of up to 24.5 MBps for Blu-ray Disc media
Transmission through HDMI 1.3 output only
Compatible with normal DTS decoders => better sound (up to 1.5 MB/sec)
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DTS core data
Four extensions:
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Sound format overview
LinearDTS**
Dolby Digital*
DTS-HDHigh Resolution
Audio
DolbyTrueHD
DolbyDigital Plus
DTS-HDMaster Audio
Compression No Loss Lossy Lossy Lossless Lossy Lossy Lossless
Max Channel 8 5.1 7.1 8 5.1 7.1 8
Bit/Sample 16, 20, (24) – – 16 – 24 – – 16 – 24
Sampling Fr.(kHz) 48, 96, (192) 48 48 48, 96, (192) 48 48 48, 96, (192)
* Same data for DD ES, just 6.1
** Same data for DTS EX, just 6.1, and for DTS 96/24
Max Bit Rate(Mbps.) 27.6 0.6 (0.4) 1.7 18.0 1.5 (0.7) 6.0 24.5
Audio Codec PCM
L-PCM
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Are all these formats used on Blu-ray Disc media? Normal Dolby Digital:
Mostly for synchronizations to local languages
Normal DTS: Mostly for synchronizations to local languages
New Dolby Digital Plus: Very unusual to find on any Blu-ray Disc media
New DTS-HD High Resolution Audio: Very unusual to find on any Blu-ray Disc media
New Dolby TrueHD: Used on approx. 25% of movie titles
New DTS-HD Master Audio: Increasing its share; battling with Dolby TrueHD
Used on many music titles
Uncompressed linear PCM: Used on approx. 40% of the initial titles
L-PCM
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New sound formats
Do you need a new AVR with all the new decoders built in?
Yes, because…
Only one HDMI connection is needed
Many Blu-ray Disc players do not decode DTS-HD Master Audio
No, because…
Most Blu-ray Disc players have most decoders built in
DTS core signals make all DTS formats backward-compatible
But this will not give you HD sound quality
Dolby Digital Plus & Dolby TrueHD are compatible with Dolby Digital
But this will not give you HD sound quality
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