Fox: Please Drop DTS-MA for Dolby TrueHD (1 Viewer)

[Shawn Perron]

I decided to just delete the post and let the moderators do thier own job.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Guys,
Focus on the discussion of facts without bringing personal references towards each other into the mix. In otherwords, dispute the facts without becoming personal and that way people won't be offended or feel like they're being attacked.





Crawdaddy

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Of course not. Again, that's why I made my last post. I posted things that I had read about DN so others here would have a frame of reference as to why I felt it was unneccessary. I am totally open to the idea that it might be an improvement. You've explained the other side to me better than anywhere else I've read. I will try and pick up a copy of Letters From Iwo Jima soon as it is the only BD that has a lossless with track with DN applied. I don't really care about the whole Dolby vs. DTS vs. PCM stuff. At the end of the day, I just want the best possible home theater experience. I could care less about which codec it is.

I appreciate your opinions just as much as anyone else (even though I don't agree that BD+ is going to amount to much ).

 

[Cees Alons]

Ditto! And we both know that's why we have these little discussions in the first place!

Now about BD+ - NOT!


Cees

 

[Tim Glover]

Your guys are making this fun! I love it. Good natured one liners are good for the soul AND the format of choice.

 

[Douglas Monce]

A lot of people think that Bose is the end all be all of stereo speakers. I've never really understood the fascination with Bose.

Doug

 

[Adam Barratt]

The fundamental problem problem arises from the fact that people who actually know what Dialog Normalization does don't post about it. They know that it doesn't harm audio fidelity and that it is, from a practical point of view, a potentially very useful tool. They don't, therefore, make it a talking point.

On the other hand, there are a lot of people who wrongly believe the technology it is a bad thing, and go around spreading misinformation about it. This relates back to the age old 'DTS versus Dolby Digital' wars when the demonization of DialNorm was at its peak, and it has simply transferred over to the HD formats. Onlookers will naturally notice the comments about the technology coming from these people, as they are the loudest voices in the crowd, and the misinformation simply spreads further.

Adam

 

[Douglas Monce]

Well said Adam!

 

[ppltd]

I second that.

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Actually, this conversation has actually got me thinking about getting a Toshiba A-2, believe it or not. It got me thinking about all those Paramount titles that have the 1.5mbps audio tracks on HD-DVD as well as the forthcoming Saturday Night Fever disc. Plus, I've been dying for months to see Batman Returns in HD with lossless audio in addition to a few other titles unavailable on BD like Casablanca and Grand Prix.

Right now, it's available at Costco for $249 plus a mail-in for 5 free movies. It's so cheap that I might as well bite the bullet and ease the anger I feel every time HD-DVD gets a disc with better audio. Part of me feels like I'm rewarding Paramount and Warner for these shenanigans but the other part of me would like to purchase some of these titles and just be happy. I'm going to head over there on Monday and see if they have any left in stock. I'll just have to figure out how I'm going to hook it up since my receiver only has one HDMI input.

 

[Douglas Monce]

I bought an HDMI switch when I had a TV with only one HDMI connection. Now I have a TV that has 3 and the only non digital thing hooked up to it is the cable box.

BTW Grand Prix looks fantastic in High Def!

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Those are all great points. I wasn't aware this debate had been around so long. You are right that probably 95% of the comments concerning DN that I've read were negative. I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I've heard enough now to believe it isn't as cut and dry as I had originally thought.

 

[Robert George]

Don't worry. Be happy.

http://www.monoprice.com/products/su...d=10110&style=

 

[Jeff Adkins]

Wow. That's far less expensive than I expected. Thanks!

 

[Douglas Monce]

Forget Batman Begins or Pirates or King Kong, I use Grand Prix to show people what High Def can look like!

Doug

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I just noticed a setting in the A2 for Dialog Enhancement. In the manual it says it only works on Dolby tracks. Is this the same as Dialog Normalization or something completely different? It might be fun to play around with and see what the difference is.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

I can't see how anybody can be in favor of even having DTS-HD MA included. It isn't better than Dolby TrueHD or lossless LPCM and all it can possibly do is add cost and frustration since no player has been released or even announced that can decode it. Yes I have heard the core DTS since that is all I can hear with the Fox titles and it does sound great, but I would prefer lossless audio. Dolby TrueHD works now and many players support it. Both formats are floundering and having codecs that can't be decoded on the discs isn't helping any.

I think DTS needed to have it ready in time and provide some evidence it is even necessary or not bother. Damn Fox and DTS for just making things worse than they have to be. Adding any cost per player to decode it isn't worth it, period. I don't think the issue is even complicated. Let it die now and the existing Fox library can just be a very nice sounding DTS that we can all play.

Chris

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I think there are two main reasons why DTS-MA would be chosen.

1) Theoretically, it takes up less space than TrueHD since only one track is required. TrueHD also needs a regular Dolby Digital track for those who don't have TrueHD compatibility. I haven't seen the exact numbers but that's what has been reported. Although in Fox's case it doesn't really seem to make sense since many of their titles with DTS-MA use space-hogging MPEG-2 video.

2) It could be argued that the "DTS" name is a selling point. In a potential customer's mind, they could see the DTS logo and just assume it has better sound, rightly or wrongly.

 

[Chris Gerhard]

Somebody might perceive something that isn't real and that is a reason? Oh boy, there is plenty of space on a Blu-ray disc to have Dolby TrueHD and the requried legacy Dolby. DTS-HD MA is a disaster, period. HD DVD is wisely not using it.

Chris

 

[Robert George]

Actually, not really. I don't have exact bit rates on me, but TrueHD is a bit more efficient than DTS-HD MA so compresses to a smaller bitstream. This helps offset having to add a 640 kb/s legacy DD track to Blu-ray discs. With Blu-ray's highly touted capacity and bandwidth, this is a non-issue. HD DVD has mandated support for TrueHD so no additional DD track is required on that format.