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Why both TrueHD and DTS-MA on same disk?

post #1 of 9
2/24/09 at 9:44am
Thread Starter 
Sorry if this is a stupid question, but I am still fairly new to Blu_Ray

I just got the Rolling Stones Shine a Light disk from Netfilx and I noticed it has both a TrueHD and DTS-MA track. My question is why? From what I have read both of these formats are lossless, and unlike standard DD and DTS, there should be no difference between the two, so why put them both there. I took a look at the file size of the tracks and the difference was negligible, and I listened to both, and really couldn't make out a difference

So is there any real reason to have both? I am not complaining at all, I just found it curious
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post #2 of 9
2/24/09 at 9:53am
One good reason: Marketing.

Most people have no idea what TrueHD or DTS-HD MA does. But they know its good.
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post #3 of 9
2/24/09 at 11:12am
I suppose it's nice for those whose setups will decode one, but not the other, like me. I have a Sony BDP-S350, which decodes TrueHD but not DTSHD-MA, and my receiver requires me to do decoding in the player. Perhaps there are other situations that go the opposite way? In either case, having both formats is nice then.
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post #4 of 9
2/24/09 at 11:40am
Two other reasons:

1) Every DTS-HD:MA track also contains a high-bitrate (but still lossy) DTS track, which presumably saves space and allows greater compatibility.

2) Some influential directors and/or producers--*cough* Steven Spielberg *cough*--have some form of investment in a different codec than the studio uses.
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post #5 of 9
2/24/09 at 11:43am
3) BD was originally designed for LPCM and has 8Mbps reserved for audio. You can have TrueHD and DTS MA and come in under 8Mbps and not have any effect on the peak video data rate.
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post #6 of 9
2/24/09 at 11:57am
Quote:
Originally Posted by William View Post

3) BD was originally designed for LPCM and has 8Mbps reserved for audio. You can have TrueHD and DTS MA and come in under 8Mbps and not have any effect on the peak video data rate.

The 8mbs peak reservation only works as long as there is storage space left for it.

Usually thats not any problem for BD50, but with enough content it wont matter if it has reserved bitrate.
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post #7 of 9
2/24/09 at 1:11pm
I agree marketing and director/studio interests are likely the key drivers. But in addition to those limited to hardware only compatible with one format, I think the sound differences between the two are another bonus. While they are both lossless, they are not mixed the same. This is what leads to listeners having a preference for one over the other in some cases. I'd rather have both and be able to choose for myself which one I prefer.
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post #8 of 9
2/24/09 at 2:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by yakkosmurf View Post

I agree marketing and director/studio interests are likely the key drivers. But in addition to those limited to hardware only compatible with one format, I think the sound differences between the two are another bonus. While they are both lossless, they are not mixed the same. This is what leads to listeners having a preference for one over the other in some cases. I'd rather have both and be able to choose for myself which one I prefer.

Usually its the same master. While it sometimes does exist more then one master, from a creative perspective, I dont really understand why you need several mixes. You would want a scene to come out in a certain way, and by creating different sounds you get different response to the audio and the movie.
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post #9 of 9
2/24/09 at 6:06pm
Close Encounters was likely Spielberg's idea but next to nothting decoded at the time. There was much FOX hate at the time for using a codec nobody could decode so Sony probably threw in TrueHD to keep us quiet.
Top Gun uses 2 different mixes.
The music BDs seem to include PCM,THD&DTS-HD to fill the disc I guess.
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