Article Preview - DTS (DTS-HD) Master Audio Suite

SOS Readers Ads
GRAB A BARGAIN
£752,295
of Second-User Gear for sale now — don't miss out!

If you want to create a surround soundtrack for your DVD while avoiding the limitations of Dolby AC3 audio, DTS’s clever High Resolution format has a lot to offer.

Mike Thornton

The DVD-Video format requires that audio be supplied as either an AC3 Dolby Digital stream or a PCM stereo audio stream. However, if disc space is available, there is also the option to add a second stream in a format called DTS. Like AC3, the DTS format is data-compressed, but it has the potential to offer much higher sound quality.

Core Values

The DTS format is very clever. The basic Core Stream can support (compressed) data rates of up to 1.509Mbps with a sample rate of up to 48kHz. However, DTS have also designed extensions to deliver extra levels of quality. These are DTS-ES, which offers 6.1 by adding a centre surround channel, and DTS 96/24k, which is still 5.1 but with a maximum sample rate of 96kHz. The introduction of high-definition DVD formats such as Blu-ray and DVD-HD means there is space for even higher-quality audio options, and so DTS have added two further extension options to their format.

The first is DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, which offers up to 7.1 surround, with sample rates up to 96kHz and an improved data rate of up to 3.018Mbps on the HD DVD format and up to 5.769Mbps on the Blu-ray format. The second HD extension is DTS-HD Master Audio. This employs lossless compression (ie. no audio data is thrown away!) to play back up to 7.1 channels with sample rates up to 96kHz, or up to 5.1 channels with sample rates up to 192kHz. This uses a stream of up to 18Mbps for the HD DVD format or up to 24.4Mbps on the Blu-ray format.

...

What's my Sub PIN?
If you have a print subscription but have not yet activated your eSub online access, please inform us and email your name/address details to:

esubpin@soundonsound.com

SOS will verify your subscription status, activate your online access and notify you of our actions.