[rdclark]

Can any AVR accept HD audio via bitstream and decode both the primary audio in HD and the secondary audio in its native format (whatever it is)?


I'm watching "Band of Brothers" on BD, which has an excellent DTS-MA primary track. It also has extensive secondary audio/video features -- PIP commentary, archival video with sound, etc. -- throughout.


Am I correct in concluding that only with in-player decoding and LPCM output is it possible to maintain the primary audio in lossless form with discs like this?


And that if you're bitstreaming, you will either lose the secondary audio entirely or both soundtracks will be re-encoded as lossy audio by the player, depending on the player?


If the above are true, doesn't this strongly advocate against using anythng but MCH LPCM with Blu-ray?

 

[batpig]

you are correct with your assumptions AFAIK. I don't think it's so much a limitation on the receiver side, but rather a limitation with a BDP's ability to output two different audio streams simultaneously.


to do what you want, a BDP would have to have Dolby TrueHD or DTS-MA encoders built in, in order to re-mix the secondary audio stream and output it with the regular TrueHD/DTS-MA track.


So, in this sense, MCH PCM is the way to go.