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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