Any fear in buying DTS only disks? (1 Viewer)

[Greg Br]

I know DTS is a realatively popular format but is it possible that say 5 years from now DTS is not around and new stereo receivers will not be backwards compatable? I have several disks that are DTS only, including road to perdition. Would it be wise to only purchase dolby digital disks

I guess it does not matter a whole lot with DH-DVD coming.

 

[TonyD]

i couldnt answer the main part of your ?, but road to perdition has both dts and DD on one version, DD only on another and DD only on the full screen version.

 

[JeremyFr]

DTS will be long lived format and is quickly becoming a preferred format back by a very large Movie company (Universal) even though they are completely "seperate" companys now. I would not and do not have any fear in buying DTS dvd's.

 

[Greg Br]

Really, did not know that, my impression was that less new releases are coming out with DTS than when I first got involved about 2 years ago.

 

[Brian Ruth]

Greg:

You should have no qualms about the DTS format in general. It's fairly popular, and it's almost a prerequisite for all big action movies to have a DTS track.

Also, all video DVD discs with DTS must (as a part of the official DVD spec) have either a Dolby Digital or PCM (i.e. audio cd encoding format) track along with the DTS. Due to space constraints, a DD track is usually paired with the DTS track on most DVD releases. This means that all the DTS movies you buy should be playable down the road, even IF DTS isn't supported on future players (which is, IMHO, unlikely). As long as the future players have compatibility with Dolby Digital and/or PCM, your DVD movies should be playable.

I think it will be quite likely, however, that next-generation receivers will be able to decode all 3 major recording formats (DTS, Dolby Digital, and PCM) without any trouble. If receivers are released that do not, I think they would be dead on arrival.

As for DTS tracks - there are still PLENTY of movies coming out with DTS. As mentioned, Universal (and by extension, Dreamworks) is committed to the format (Speilberg pioneered it for Jurassic Park, after all), and most other studios (with the notable lone exception of Time Warner) seem to support the DTS format. I don't think you have to fear it dying out anytime soon. I'd say 75% of all releases deserving of a DTS track (namely, big budget action movies) seem to come out with one. Usually if one doesn't, they will release a more feature-packed version down the road that has a DTS track added (coughcoughXMen1.5coughcough). With Universal's (and Dreamworks') full support, I don't think you have to worry about DTS going anywhere anytime soon.

 

[Greg Br]

It was just my general perception, I dont think Sum of All Fears and XXX conatined DTS, but Minority Report and Blade 2 did, so did Bourne Identity, so I guess its hit or miss.

I was mostly concerned with my Jaws, Saving Private Ryna and Apollo 13 disks. Sounds good.

 

[Brian Ruth]

Greg:

Sum Of All Fears is Paramount, which is the OTHER company that doesn't do DTS (I knew there were 2, so thanks for reminding me) That makes 2 DTS non-adopters: Warner Brothers and Paramount. Paramount has released NO movies with DTS to my knowledge, and Warner Brothers has released only a few. There IS a special case with New Line, but I'll go over that in a second.

XXX is Columbia/Sony, which usually go hit-or-miss for DTS. ALL of their SuperBit titles contain DTS, but suprisingly, many of their recent high-profile non-SuperBit titles are missing DTS. My guess is that they will rectify the situation by RERELEASING said DVDs (XXX, Spider-Man, and Black Hawk Down; among others). I've already heard rumblings of XXX SuperBit, so if you don't mind purchasing the movie again, you can get DTS on it.

Bourne and Minority Report are from Universal/Dreamworks. As I mentioned, Universal is the best studio at releasing DTS titles.

Blade II is from New Line. While New Line IS a subidiary of Warner Brothers, they have been a bit better at putting DTS on appropriate titles. Warner Brothers, on the other hand, is a bit anal-retentive about DTS, and thus only has it on a select few titles (Twister and the Directors Series Lethal Weapon movies, I believe).

Jaws, SPR, and Apollo 13 are all Universal/Dreamworks titles, so all have DTS.

 

[Brian Ruth]

BLEH! Double post.... Disregard. :b

 

[Greg Br]

I just did some filtering with my dvd profiler and it is definately a studio thing. It appears many of these newest releases are DTS. This is encouraging indeed. I guess on the columbia movies its best to hold off and wait for a superbit.

I cant wait to hear the DTS track for Das Boot, time to warm up the SVS's~

 

[Jeff Kleist]

Paramount is releaseing Hunt for Red October, Patriot Games and Clear & Present Danger in DTS next month

Warner Brothers released Interview with the Vampire, Twister and Lethal Weapon 1-3 director's cuts in DTS in 2000

 

[jonathan_little]

I hope that full bitrate DTS tracks will become common when HD-DVD arrives.

 

[Greg Br]

wasn't speilberg involved with twister, I could be wrong but thought that was the reason for the DTS on that one.

 

[Dave H]

As Brian mentioned, all DTS dvds have a DD track, so no need to ever worry.

 

[Ken Seeber]

As Brian mentioned, all DTS dvds have a DD track, so no need to ever worry.

Although to be completely accurate, it should be pointed out that the DD track on a DTS disc can be downgraded to Pro-Logic 2.0 instead of being full 5.1. "Saving Private Ryan" is a good example. Yes, the discs will be playable on non-DTS equipment, but it won't be full Dolby Digital 5.1.

 

[Malcolm R]

If it's a special DTS release, such as with "Road to Perdition" or "Jurassic Park," I really see no need for them to include any Dolby soundtrack, specs be damned. It's just taking space away from what could be a higher bitrate DTS track, which is the only reason for anyone to buy a specific DTS release anyway.

If you're buying DTS, you should get DTS and nothing else.

 

[Greg Br]

If you're buying DTS, you should get DTS and nothing else.

That is pretty much my take, and as noted these DTS disks include a 2.0 or 3.0 track for DD. I think though if you are by a DTS disk why take up the space when someone is clearly buying the disk for the audio quality.

 

[Joshua Moran]

The reason they don't is for the people that have no idea what 5.1 sound is *cough WALMART cough* they will still get sound from their TV.

 

[MarkHastings]

If you're buying DTS, you should get DTS and nothing else.

The only good thing about having a Dolby track on a DTS disc, is for the people who are just starting to get into DVD. Since some people may not have a DTS reciever yet (i.e. They watching on thier computer or through the tv speakers, or even an old Pro-Logic system), having the Dolby track will allow them to buy the disc knowing that they can benefit from the DTS in the future (when they buy a DTS reciever).

If DTS DVD's only worked with DTS systems (period), they might not sell as well (due to the people who haven't gotten a chance to get a DTS reciever yet), thus hurting the market.

Just a thought.

 

[Jerome Grate]

I don't think you have to worry about future DTS standing. I recall reading on their website that they are looking to break in to the DTV (digital t.v.) area. I think the only problem is the bandwith of the signal that prevent's them from doing it. Once again that's what I recall. Would be cool if you turned on your satellite or HD box and selected DTS when available. Boy Dolby would be fighting mad.