http://www.electronichouse.com/article/ps3_adding_dts_hd_master_audio/ About dang time. For those who clicked thinking "What in the hell?" DTS-HD MA is a lossless audio codec-audio compressed with this codec can be reconstructed bit-for-bit to an audio stream identical to the master. There are two lossless codecs in major use right now, Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD MA. Anyhow, the PS3 only supported Dolby TrueHD decoding up to this point. Pretty much every Fox title was encoded with DTS-HD MA. Well, dang it, I care.
Blah blah blah, why didn't you just name this post want you really wanted to? "Hey Havok, I still have a PS3 and you still don't!" Whatever, I'm going to the arcade...
Off topic but sort of related.... Are there any video formats that are stored bit-by-bit or with a lossless codec? For example, can you get a Blu-Ray DVD that is compressed with only a lossless compression? I know this is a stretch but I sometimes find "mosquito noise" to be slightly annoying. Idon't notice it really unless I'm standing very close to the TV and looking to see how much detail I can make out (for example when looking at people in the crowd during bball games). Some channels are better than others. I hear its all artifacts from lossy compression. Is it true that the over-the-air signals are better (less compressed)?
In short, no. Storage space needed for a "lossless" video codec would be (at current time) be ridiculously large. For all intents and purposes at normal viewing distances, VC-1 and AVC are both transparent to the master at BD's max bitrates. Compression artifacts at that level are due to a terrible compressionist, not the codec. If you're getting mosquito noise off a BD, you're likely getting it from the signal chain, not from the disc itself. As for the second part of what you wrote, it seems you're talking about a cable HD signal or a satellite HD signal. Yes, those can be heavily compressed and low bit-rate. And yes, OTA signals tend to have less compression applied to them. YMMV.
Oh, forgot-broadcast TV uses MPEG-2 compression, which has the advantage of being able to be done on-the-fly. Unfortunately, it also shows compression artifacts like a mother.
I wish I understood what you kids were talking about with your "compression artifacts" and "lossless codec" lingo. :O
I sort of understand. I flunked my "error correcting codes" class, AKA Applications in Modern Algebra. Murad Ozaydin's a great prof, but the material went way too abstract for me. That being the semester we went to the Final Four didn't help.
Give me good old DD6.1 or DTS6.1. Theyz whut I listen to. (my receiver doesn't handle lossless codecs). :O
Alright, I'm fixin' to pull the trigger on a new "system." So far, this is what I have learned/have planned: -Sony Bravia TV - probably 52" -Sony PS-3 (80 G) -Audio undecided, also whatever I need to bring it all together (I don't know wtf it takes to synch this **** all up) Instead of giving me the usual geekese that I can't understand, how about a short list of maybe 2-3 audio systems that I should consider. It's important to me that the audio system also plays my blues/R&R at a loud and clear level. Say maybe a $3K cap on the audio. I'm waiting.
$3k? OK, here's what I'd recommend on the audio end: Denon AVR-3808CI. MSRP $1599. Or you could go $400 cheaper on the 2808CI, which loses you 30 watts per channel (you said you wanted loud...) Yamaha RX-V3800 or go with the 1800 for a few hundred less, again with a dropoff in maximum power. For speakers-well, speakers are going to vary based on your individual taste. I really like the sound out of Bowers and Wilkins, and the 600 series is very affordable. You should be able to get a full 5.1 rig for what you have left in your budget. You'll need speaker wire (of course) and HDMI cabling to tie the whole thing together. Buy your HDMI cables online, not from Best Buy or whatever. You should be able to get them at a much more reasonable price-and being that they pass a digital signal, so long as the signal's getting there, it should be OK.
The PS3 decodes both TrueHD and DTS-HD MA internally and sends them as 5.1-7.1 PCM streams-so no, your AVR does not need to be able to decode them at all to receive them from the PS3-which does not have the ability to send them as bitstream. Only thing necessary is the ability to accept PCM over HDMI, which I think is included in the HDMI 1.1 spec.
