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LU: Let's talk a about the Blu-Ray transport. We just started shipping those, and we've had some questions. There was some confusion about how the transport, when it outputs, does it really do the decoding for the high-def soundtrack formats and then output that?
JT: Yes.
LU: How does that work?
JT: First, let's clarify the term transport. For those of us who have been around in this business quite a long time, particularly back when CD first came out in the '80s and into the '90s, companies like Denon built transports. And some still do. Transport to the CD world just meant it had no analog output. So you needed something else. Well, technically, the 2500 BT is in that realm, except all you need to make it work is a CD, because it takes HDMI. It's audio and video. So I can take a 2500 and plug it directly into any flat panel with HDMI, and I'm going to get sound if the panel has speakers, and I'm going to get a picture. Okay. So that's a little bit different. That's why we sort of changed the term to digital player/transport on our Website — on the U.S. Website. Globally, it's still called a transport. We just wanted to clarify it a little bit because many people may not know what transport means.
Now, to your original question, it has two audio capabilities. One is whatever's on the disk, whether it's Dolby True HD, DTS HD Master Audio, or high resolution — any variation of those, it will output natively. Pure. The actual feature is called Bitstream Bypass. And that then sends it to any receiver that has Dolby True or DTS MA decoding, and you see the lights light up. It's Dolby True HD. Boom! The receiver or processor's now doing all the work.
LU: But the receiver has to have the capability.
JT: It has to have the capability. If the receiver is a legacy product, and I'll pick on ours, like an AVR-4806 or a 3806 or a 2807 or whatever it may be, they have HDMI inputs, and they have PCM audio capability. In the transport’s audio settings you can flip that to linear PCM, and then it would output multichannel PCM of the original True HD and DTS.
LU: What channels are already separated?
JT: They're already there. It's us taking and going, ‘Okay, we have to convert it to PCM,’ which has been done with Blu-Ray and HD DVD players since they've been out, because currently there's only six players I know of that have bit stream bypass. Not even the Number One BD player on the planet, the PS3, has that capability yet. They will add it. But you're talking about two Toshiba HD players, a Panasonic, a Pioneer Elite, a Sony ES, and our two players. That's it. But they still work with other older products with HDM on them.
LU: All you need for that transport to make it work...
JT: Is HDMI.
LU: Is an HDMI input, either on your TV if you want your TV sound, or on your receiver — whatever it's capable of decoding or transcoding to PCM, it will pump out.
JT: Well, the transport will do the transcoding — good word — from True HD or DTS to PCM. Like I said, all of our previous-generation receivers with HDMI handled up to 7.1 PCM. It will take that. You'll see PCM. You'll see the channel indicators light up, and it will say multichannel in. You've got surround sound.
LU: But if the receiver doesn't have the decoding from a high-def format and if you have surround sound, but it's not technically Dolby True HD.
JT: Right, which has been done for the last two years because there weren't any receivers out there. The transport at its new low price, I think, is doing very, very well. Part of the bigger questions come in, and you sent me one yesterday. There are now many, many forum blogs regarding how the transcoding happens. And my engineers have, actually, had conversations with DTS and New Line Cinema. There are now three mainstream movie titles that have 7.1 surround sound: Hairspray, Pan's Labyrinth, and Shoot 'em Up. And they're all three New Line Cinema titles. The New Line logo comes up in 7.1, but then, when the movie starts, it says 5.1. But all seven channels work. So you're actually hearing everything, but, visually, you're seeing indicators. Obviously, the enthusiasts are a little bothered by that. But the information from Japan and from people in the know on some of these blogs is that you are getting 7.1.
We're not the only manufacturer that this is happening to, by the way. There are other receiver manufacturers. Basically, what we found out is how they're converting the 7.1 theater soundtrack to the Blu-Ray disk is causing the issues. For instance, the authoring engineer may be taking the SDDS soundtrack, which is 7.1, but it' transferring the nomenclature differently to the disc. We can actually read all the channels, it just won't show you the indication. So we have to clarify that for consumers. And the engineers are looking for an update to do that as well. So the enthusiasts say: ‘Well, I'm only seeing DTS. I'm not seeing DTS HD.’ You're hearing it; you're just not seeing it.
LU: Is this only an issue with legacy products?
JT: No, it's really only an issue with the discs and new receivers. The player itself is outputting whatever it's outputting. We don't care. Now, the legacy problem: It's not a problem, but what people should know about legacy receivers with PCM inputs on HDMI is that the 2500, if it's a 7.1 track, will only output the 5.1 core on PCM when it converts. It will not convert 7.1 to 7.1 PCM but 7.1 to 5.1. This is normal with almost every other player I know of. And, if consumers want to have fun like I do, start downloading owner's manuals from these other players and spec sheets, because, if you look at some of them, and they're like Dolby True HD — two channel only. What does that mean? And there's a list. That's how confusing it is. But that's only when you convert to PCM.
LU: So with the 2500 Transport, AVR-3808 or 4308, what the front panel is telling you is not necessarily what's really happening?
JT: Right.
LU: Jeff, does that include the 2808, since that decodes…?
JT: All of our receivers are the same. When they decode, you're hearing it; you're just not seeing the indicators. So, if you have seven channels, you're hearing seven channels. The input indicator is saying five; the output indicator is saying 7.1. But the biggest issue is it's not saying DTS Master Audio. It says it on the logo, and then it switches and goes to DTS normal. But, in essence, it's still the HD signal. That's the bottom line.
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