Re: Universal choose DTS-HD Master Audio for Blu-ray releases

Make you wonder why they choose HD-MA over TrueHD, lower licensing costs perhaps... or maybe some political reason we`ll never know about...

I always assumed that Studios that chose DTS HD was because you essentially get two audio codecs in one. You get the Lossless or Hi Res DTS HD track and you get the DTS core track embedded in it. Which works with any receiver capable of decoding regular DTS. Unlike True HD which almost always has a separate Dolby Digital track. I've never seen figures but I'd assume this saves space.

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[Post edited by Movielover316 on May 5, 2008]

My codec of preference is LPCM. When I first heard Dolby TrueHD it really did'nt standout to me as much as LPCM, a real treat for the ears is listening to the 24bit LPCM track of Ratatouille. I only have two BDs with dts HD/MA and with no other HD codec on the disc to compare it with it's hard to say.

Of course Movielover316, doh... why didn`t I think of that...

I would add that Universal never faced this problem on HD DVD, since all players were mandated to decode TrueHD and downconvert the sound stream if necessary.

"...you get the DTS core track embedded in it. Which works with any receiver capable of decoding regular DTS. Unlike True HD which almost always has a separate Dolby Digital track." --movielover

That's true, and it's convenient not to have to choose at start-up the track you want to hear. Your receiver will play one or the other automatically. But also consider that DTS MA with its regular DTS core still takes up as much or more room than a TrueHD track and regular DD track combined. That doesn't make TrueHD sound any better, though, and, as I say, the three lossless codecs (TrueHD, DTS-HD MA, and uncompressed PCM) should sound the same if done right. Studios are just looking at the convenience factors and the space factors here.

John