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The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

#1
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8/29/06 at 7:16am
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I don't want to get into a format war, but just want to shout from the rooftops how exciting it is to be able to play bit-for-bit replicas of the studio audio master via Dolby TrueHD.

http://www.dolby.com/promo/HD/trueHD.html

I've been watching movies in high definition for almost six years now, so being able to get them on a little disc is nice, but hardly eye-opening. But after playing around with Phantom and The Perfect Storm, I am thrilled again--to be able to use my "old" A/V receiver's 5.1 discrete inputs and to be able to get this kind of incredible, lossless sound reproduction. I had not planned for this!

I'm impressed (amazed, really) that Toshiba was able to enable Dolby TrueHD 5.1 through firmware, and that they did not just make this a "new feature" of the next generation HD DVD player. While I am sure the next player will offer other improvements, Toshiba has made their first generation player one to treasure.

And to think, there are currently two more movies to watch with Dolby TrueHD, and a whole slate of new releases to come!

- Steve
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#2
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8/29/06 at 8:19am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

I've been using box cover art at DVD Empire and specs at High Def Digest to see which titles have TrueHD but may be missing some. Care to make a list of 'THD' titles a part of your thread?
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#3
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8/29/06 at 9:21am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Great post Steve!!! You're right! Who knew that the early HD DVD adopters would have the cutting edge of MPL lossless soundtracks available to them, for their personal enjoyment in their Home Theaters in 2006??? With the right HT setup and equipment, we can replicate the sonic environment of the Mixing Studios (which I did years ago w/Identical speakers all-around + timbre-matched Center )!!!

Listening to the only TrueHD DVD I have, "The Phantom of the Opera", I'm amazed how much detail and resolution in the sound track just opened-up! It is like the sonic screen has been lifted revealing the compressed nature of DD/DTS-5.1 vs. TrueHD!

I might get "The Perfect Storm" just to experience that TrueHD soundtrack.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul.S
I've been using box cover art at DVD Empire and specs at High Def Digest to see which titles have TrueHD but may be missing some. Care to make a list of 'THD' titles a part of your thread?

The following was found @ AVS ...

Quote:
The only discs so far released that have a TrueHD track are:

Training Day
The Phantom of the Opera
The Perfect Storm
Constantine

The announced discs to be released in '06 that will have a TrueHD track:

Troy
End of Days
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Fast and the Furious
2 Fast 2 Furious
12 Monkeys
Out of Sight
The Thing
Harry Potter 4: The Goblet of Fire

And this is from Robert George @ AVS: (I think the same person that did OBI DVD Reviews years ago?)

Quote:
All I know is what I said. I was told Warner re-did the Matrix to put a TrueHD track on it. I would expect another benefit of that would be a new VC-1 encoding will also look a bit better as that codec has improved enough that Warner re-did Batman Begins instead of releasing that.

I was also told that this latest firmware update was something both Warner and Universal have wanted to see implemented. Apparently, TrueHD and IME are going to be very popular features with these studios going forward.


NOTE:: Ken F posted @ this HTF Thread, the list those Released & Upcoming TrueHD DVDs!.

"Batman Begins" w/TrueHD, ... which would be great!

Phil

My HT Enthusiasts Google Website
---- Toshiba 62HM196 62" 1080p DLP HDTV pic's (#1 in Consumer Reports)
DVD Aficionado (DVDAF) on-going list.
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#4
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8/29/06 at 10:10am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Yup, Steve is right. The ability to play back Dolby HD is an exciting development in the world of home theater. Concert videos, if done correctly, will never be the same again. Not to mention the wonderful treasure trove of feature films that will use this feature.

I can't wait to receive my disc from Toshiba so I can upgrade.
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#5
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8/29/06 at 10:16am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Thx, Phil.

"Apparently, TrueHD and IME are going to be very popular features with these studios going forward."

Interesting if true. Par has yet to do DTHD yes? Don't wanna read too much into it but here's hoping that DTHD becomes something of a 'corporate initiative' for these studios' home vid departments in terms of release strategy. (And hopefully Par will get onboard with either this or DTS HD by the time Titanic gets released.)
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#6
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8/29/06 at 1:28pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

I've been hearing the original stems on movie soundtracks for several years because a friend is an audio engineer. It's ALWAYS been heartbreaking to hear Dolby encoding sap the life out of those tracks. As soon as TrueHD became available on HD DVD I ordered an HD DVD player.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the HD DVD of "Superman:The Movie." My friend remastered the musical tracks for the 25th anniversary re-release. I've heard the uncompressed results in his studio and they are EXTRAORDINARY. When that film is released on HD DVD, everyone will be able to enjoy the original Williams-conducted performances like they've never heard them. (Of course, I'm leaping to the conclusion that they'll include the uncompressed tracks on the disk.)
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#7
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8/29/06 at 3:28pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Ah, the very thought of Superman: The Movie in TrueHD...can only imagine the opening strains, which always gives me chills anyway, but in TrueHD?! Omg....

And you believe, at heart, everyone's a killer...
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#8
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8/29/06 at 3:48pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob_L
I've been hearing the original stems on movie soundtracks for several years because a friend is an audio engineer. It's ALWAYS been heartbreaking to hear Dolby encoding sap the life out of those tracks. As soon as TrueHD became available on HD DVD I ordered an HD DVD player.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the HD DVD of "Superman:The Movie." My friend remastered the musical tracks for the 25th anniversary re-release. I've heard the uncompressed results in his studio and they are EXTRAORDINARY. When that film is released on HD DVD, everyone will be able to enjoy the original Williams-conducted performances like they've never heard them.



I can't wait!
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#9
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8/29/06 at 6:52pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

I, too, am thrilled with TrueHD and what can be coming in the months ahead. I plugged my system for it tonight and am in the middle of Phantom as I write this. I am working on best guess with the A1's settings. Anyone have a suggestion on best settings when listening in TrueHD?
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#10
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8/29/06 at 9:33pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

OMG... Batman Begins... The Matrix... End of Days... all in TrueHD? SENSORY OVERLOAD I TELLS YA!

I wish M:i:III got the TrueHD treatment as well though. That would have been sweet.
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#11
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8/30/06 at 4:52am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed Faver
I, too, am thrilled with TrueHD and what can be coming in the months ahead. I plugged my system for it tonight and am in the middle of Phantom as I write this. I am working on best guess with the A1's settings. Anyone have a suggestion on best settings when listening in TrueHD?

Dialogue enhancement off.

Speaker settings by SPL meter and interenal test tones.

- Steve
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#12
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8/30/06 at 6:14am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

I have a question for you, owners.
Are those HD DVDs having a TrueHD track 30Gb or 15Gb? Or is it not correlated?


Cees
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#13
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8/30/06 at 8:37am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Quote:
Are those HD DVDs having a TrueHD track 30Gb or 15Gb? Or is it not correlated?
Every HD-DVD released to date by studios uses 30Gb, except for the handful of DVD/HD-DVD combo disks, which were 15Gb on the HD-DVD side. This fall, you'll see DVD/HD-DVD combo disks with 30Gb on the HD-DVD side.
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#14
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8/30/06 at 11:54am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

How long until the debate between Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD? (grins)

Can't wait to get my player later this week.

Is it easy to do an A/B (/C?) comparison between DD, DD+ and DD TrueHD using the Toshiba player and a disc with all three soundtracks? (Phantom Of The Opera is what I have in mind)
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#15
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8/30/06 at 12:24pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris Rock
How long until the debate between Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD? (grins)

I was thinking the same thing LOL.

Correct me if I'm wrong on this, but since both are loseless sound formats, they should sound identical right? Just depends on which compression technique is more efficient?
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#16
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8/30/06 at 12:55pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

That's why I said "I don't want to get into a format war"... If we get into BD vs HD DVD vs DTHD vs DTSHD I think my head will explode.

I like DTS as much as anyone else (more, really) but lossless audio in general is a good thing. Bring it on and make the movies sound great!

- Steve
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#17
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8/30/06 at 1:47pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

I've had the experience of directly comparing the DD and DTS encoding of an audio track with the original stems. DTS sounded a bit more open and detailed than the DD5.1 (even compensating for the slight increase in volume present with most DTS encodings); but the original stems were MUCH better.

I'm SO looking forward to uncompressed audio (in whatever format) becoming a standard for home theater.
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#18
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8/30/06 at 2:47pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

I didn't think current amps could get the benefit of TRUE-hd?
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#19
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8/30/06 at 2:54pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Quote:
I didn't think current amps could get the benefit of TRUE-hd?

Most current receivers and preamps can't accept a direct HDMI input because they don't have them. (Although a few do.)

However, that is a separate issue from amplification. If a receiver or preamp has 5.1 (or 7.1) analog inputs to accept the analog-out signal from the HD DVD player, the internal (or external) amplifiers can reproduce the TrueHD content. (How do you suppose audio engineers playback the uncompressed audio they're working with while mixing the film? Conventional amplifiers.)

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#20
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8/30/06 at 7:41pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Funny, I was just thinking that the Dobly and DTS debate is pretty much settled for now since nothing is going to come close to Dolby TrueHD.

That is, until I remembered the inevitable emergence of DTS HD.

Should the A1 be able to handle full DTS HD via another firmware update? Or will that have to wait until second generation players?
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#21
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9/1/06 at 12:41pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

I bought the Perfect Storm after reading this forum that it support True HD. How do you know that its supports True HD. Becuase it doesnt said on the menu under audio settng. I know Im not really good with this new technology but I learn a lot in this forum. Hope you guys could fill me in this craze about HD DVD. I also bought U 571, U2 Rattle and Hum, Swordfish and Italian Job. Im enjoying every cent that I spent on my new system. Im glad to be a part of this forum.
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#22
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9/1/06 at 12:51pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Quote:
Originally Posted by BrettGallman
Funny, I was just thinking that the Dobly and DTS debate is pretty much settled for now since nothing is going to come close to Dolby TrueHD.

That is, until I remembered the inevitable emergence of DTS HD.

Should the A1 be able to handle full DTS HD via another firmware update? Or will that have to wait until second generation players?

The DTS-HD Decoder is already built-in the A1/XA1, ... so the full-potential of DTS-HD can be tapped by HD DVD Studio(s), if they choose to do so!

Phil

My HT Enthusiasts Google Website
---- Toshiba 62HM196 62" 1080p DLP HDTV pic's (#1 in Consumer Reports)
DVD Aficionado (DVDAF) on-going list.
Acquisition Rule #59 “Free advice is seldom cheap.” (Quark @ DS9)
JBL S-Series + SVS 25-31PCi (SN: 00034) w/NSD Upgrade!

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#23
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9/1/06 at 8:54pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Quote:
Originally Posted by glenm
I bought the Perfect Storm after reading this forum that it support True HD. How do you know that its supports True HD. Becuase it doesnt said on the menu under audio settng. I know Im not really good with this new technology but I learn a lot in this forum. Hope you guys could fill me in this craze about HD DVD. I also bought U 571, U2 Rattle and Hum, Swordfish and Italian Job. Im enjoying every cent that I spent on my new system. Im glad to be a part of this forum.

Glen, welcome!

When you play the movie and hit the menu button, you should have a menu across the bottom the screen while the movie is playing. Go into Settings, then select Language Settings. The Dolby True HD selection should be there.

When it says "Menu Audio" that refers to the woosh noise the menu makes when it appears and disappears.

- Steve
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#24
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9/1/06 at 9:23pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Let me follow Steve's good manners as well and welcome you Glen . This is a great place to hang out discussing our favorite hobby. Just agree with everything I say and you'll do fine.

No, seriously, glad you're here. And enjoy the new HD player.
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#25
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9/2/06 at 6:43pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

so this DD true hd, why is it better then dd+ or any other DD sound process.

i see words like MPL lossless, IME and some other techno babble(to me).
what is lossles?

i know that it is supposed to sound better.
but switching on the fly with the only true hd i have, phantom, i dint notice a difference between the true hd and the dd+.
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#26
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9/2/06 at 7:07pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

OP Steve,
Thanks for getting me into HiDef again! :-)
It's tough to get excited with the format war going on. :-(
Sound was a BIG part of my interest in HiDef back in 2005 and IMO not enough people talk about it.
Glad your getting a jolt from one piece of equipment for your entire system.
It's the way this hobby should be! ;-)
One "new" unit, making everything 'new' again! :-0

Movies are: "The Greatest Artform".
HD should be for EVERYONE!

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#27
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9/2/06 at 7:22pm
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Usually, it is one new item that causes upgrades to everything else!

- Steve
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#28
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9/3/06 at 2:32am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

Quote:
i see words like MPL lossless, IME and some other techno babble(to me).
what is lossles?

i know that it is supposed to sound better.
but switching on the fly with the only true hd i have, phantom, i dint notice a difference between the true hd and the dd+.
I take it you are familiar with CDs and MP3s? MP3 is the format often used to compress songs from a CD.

Dolby Digital / DTS / Dolby Digital Plus are all like MP3 in the sense that they are lossy compression of the original source. Dolby TrueHD differs because it is lossless compression -- quality like you'd get directly from the CD, rather than the quality you'd get from a MP3.

The bit rates (bandwidth) used by TrueHD are more than coax and optical support (as implemented), so you can't experience it using those connections. You can only experience TrueHD with HDMI or 5.1 analog out.
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#29
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9/3/06 at 7:44am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

To add do Ken's explanation for Tony, Dolby True HD is supposed to be a bit-for-bit replica of the studio master, whereas the other compressed formats like Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus make smart assumptions about what we can typically hear and eliminate those frequencies in the compression process.

That is one of the reasons I like digital projection in the local movie theater--in addition to high definition video, the audio is uncompressed. And now, we can do this at home!

- Steve
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#30
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9/3/06 at 7:53am
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Re: The Next Great Advance in Home Theater: Dolby TrueHD?

ok so lossless is simply just that.

nothing is lost or missing from the audio on the dvd compared to the origional recorded masters?
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