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HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

post #1 of 13
9/1/06 at 3:22am
Thread Starter 
With all the excitement with Fox's announcement of DTS-HD:MA on all it's releases. I'm wondering what current or announced players are capable of decoding these formats? I understand that players with an HDMI 1.3 output will be able to pass the stream.
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post #2 of 13
9/1/06 at 7:28am

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

Hi David - The Toshiba HD DVD player is capable of outputing Dolby TrueHD, when updated to the very latest firmware. The player re-encodes the decoded TrueHD signal to lossless 24/96 PCM, and outputs via HDMI or via 5.1 analog outs. Ken F previously posted this very informative explanation:

With HDMI 1.1, you get the full TrueHD 5.1 audio.

Using HDMI gets you the best sound quality possible -- even higher quality than analog if your processor/receiver doesn't have analog bypass.


Here's what happens on a HD-DVD with TrueHD 5.1 when you have the latest firmware on your player:

1. TrueHD 5.1 is decoded by the HD-DVD player's advanced signal processor into 5.1 LPCM at up to 14Mbps.

2. The 5.1 LPCM digital stream is output directly over HDMI 1.1.

The 5.1 LPCM digital stream is run through 24/196 digital-to-analog converters (DACs) and output over 5.1 analog.

3. The 5.1 LPCM digital stream is run through a PCM->DTS downconverter (encoder) for output as lower-fidelity 1.5Mbps DTS over legacy optical / coax.
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post #3 of 13
9/1/06 at 11:02am

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

Adding to Alon comments, the Toshiba HD-A1/XA1 has a DTS-HD Decoder already built-in.

Can't wait to find out what that sounds like, ... but I guess we'll out when someone finally releases an HD DVD blockbuster movie w/DTS-HD soundtrack.

Phil
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post #4 of 13
9/2/06 at 8:48am

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

Quote:
Originally Posted by David Coleman
With all the excitement with Fox's announcement of DTS-HD:MA on all it's releases. I'm wondering what current or announced players are capable of decoding these formats? I understand that players with an HDMI 1.3 output will be able to pass the stream.
Recent pictures of the PS3 seem to indicate it will be the first player from either camp that can output both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD: Master, and it also has HDMI 1.3.
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post #5 of 13
9/2/06 at 9:21am

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

" Recent pictures of the PS3 seem to indicate it will be the first player from either camp that can output both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD: Master, and it also has HDMI 1.3."

Only if you dont count the upcoming HD-Dvd duo coming out in Europe soon :

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...&&#post8337055

I think these are going to help a lot of people get off that fence

~M~
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post #6 of 13
9/2/06 at 12:35pm

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Manus
Only if you dont count the upcoming HD-Dvd duo coming out in Europe soon :
How am I wrong? The PS3 launches in mid-November at 499-599 euros, and is capable of playing all 4 HD or lossless formats. The HDE1 launches "sometime" in November at 599 euros and has no announced support for DTS:MA. The HDEX1 launches in December at 999 Euros (equal to almost $1300) and can play all 4 HD or lossless formats.

So not only was my statement that it "seem[s] to indicate it will be the first player from either camp" correct, but the PS3 will also be much cheaper.
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post #7 of 13
9/2/06 at 1:06pm

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse Blacklow
Recent pictures of the PS3 seem to indicate it will be the first player from either camp that can output both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD: Master, and it also has HDMI 1.3.

Can it decode them or is it just capable of passing them to a receiver?
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post #8 of 13
9/2/06 at 2:01pm

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

The Toshiba Hd EX1 can both decode and pass on Dolby Digital+ , Dolby True HD and DTS Master HD (!) and outputs 1080P and has HDMI 1.3 so it 'could' be the first to the winning line .

http://img21.imagevenue.com/img.php?..._122_492lo.jpg


I do , of course , admire your absolute faith in Sony's ability to keep to their launch date and specs

~M~
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post #9 of 13
9/2/06 at 2:06pm
Thread Starter 

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil Iturralde
Adding to Alon comments, the Toshiba HD-A1/XA1 has a DTS-HD Decoder already built-in.

Can't wait to find out what that sounds like, ... but I guess we'll out when someone finally releases an HD DVD blockbuster movie w/DTS-HD soundtrack.

Phil


According to what the link says:

Dolby® Digital Plus support for up to 5.1 channels, Dolby True HD support for up to 2 channels, and DTS-HD support for up to 5.1 channels of DTS® core only.


You would only be able to extract the core DTS data, not the HD: MASTER extension. In essence you'd only get 1500 bit rate DTS.
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post #10 of 13
9/2/06 at 2:21pm

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

Of course specifications are subejct to revision. For example, with the v2.0 firmware update the HD-A1 now supports full 5.1 channel Dolby TrueHD.
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post #11 of 13
9/3/06 at 6:14pm

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Manus
The Toshiba Hd EX1 can both decode and pass on Dolby Digital+ , Dolby True HD and DTS Master HD (!) and outputs 1080P and has HDMI 1.3 so it 'could' be the first to the winning line .
Is there an echo in here? I already said the HD-EX1 supported all four HD sound formats. And since it's coming out in December, that puts after the official PS3 launch date. And of course, it's only available in Europe, at very limited quantities, and would likely cost at least $1300 (more than twice the PS3 cost) to import here.

Quote:
I do , of course , admire your absolute faith in Sony's ability to keep to their launch date and specs
Glass houses, dude. Toshiba was quite a few weeks off on their original players launch. I'm going by official dates here, but feel free to be a smartass about them all you want.
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post #12 of 13
9/3/06 at 10:17pm

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

The Sharp BD player (October) will have DD+, Dolby TrueHD, and DTS-MA audio support.

Panasonic & Pioneer will have DD+ support, with firmware updateable software.

The Toshiba does not decode DTS-MA AFAIK, only DTS HD...which is DTS at 1536kbps. This is the equivelent of saying your DVD player having DTS-HD because it can decode 1536kbps DTS tracks.

The PS3 will decode at least Dolby TrueHD, in order to have the logo you must be able to decode it internally, not just pass it along.
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post #13 of 13
9/5/06 at 2:49am

Re: HD players that decode Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD: MA??

Quote:
Originally Posted by Jesse Blacklow
Recent pictures of the PS3 seem to indicate it will be the first player from either camp that can output both Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD: Master, and it also has HDMI 1.3.
The picture does not show a DTS-HD logo, so I don't understand how people conclude it decodes -MA. It's just a new style DTS artwork.
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