Comments

blink3times wrote on 11/18/2008, 3:56 AM
So I take it that I can't do uncompressed 5.1 to Blu Ray with DVDa?

Actually I don't even know if Blu Ray supports multi channel wav files. That was the next little experiment....IF.... I can even get that far.
farss wrote on 11/18/2008, 4:27 AM
You'd be wasting a lot of space on the disk that could be better used for the video if you could. If you want better quality audio you can encode Dolby at a higher bitrate. Other alternative is to use DTS although I don't know for certain if BD supports that or not. Of course even if it did DVDA doesn't and the encoder costs.

Bob.

blink3times wrote on 11/18/2008, 4:55 AM
Nah... Don't want to spend too much money on this Bob. Although uncompressed is a better quality and MAY come in handy some time....I'm just playing around right now.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 11/18/2008, 6:25 AM
what IS the tech spec's for a blue ray movie? A quick google+yahoo search turns up nothing on the specs. :/
blink3times wrote on 11/18/2008, 7:40 AM
Well I did find this and it does seem to suggest that Blu Ray DOES support linear PCM..... whether that includes 5.1 channel wav files I don't know.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu_ray#Codecs_.28coding-decoding.29
TheHappyFriar wrote on 11/18/2008, 7:58 AM
I saw that too. Eigther Sony isn't releasing much info or the wikipeople aren't doing a good job: the DVD spec's are very specific: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD-Video
musicvid10 wrote on 11/18/2008, 8:13 AM
Since BD supports 640kbs AC-3 audio, I doubt anyone could hear a difference unless you have german shepherd in your lineage.

Also, even at that bitrate, it takes up half the space of PCM, which could be better utilized by higher video bitrates and program length. JMO

I can see using 5.1 PCM for archiving soundtracks, etc.
blink3times wrote on 11/18/2008, 8:27 AM
Well you can certainly hear the difference between DD5.1 and dolby true HD. Not that pcm5.1 is the same but it is a step in the right direction.
blink3times wrote on 11/18/2008, 8:31 AM
I will say that I haven't tried ac3 at 640 yet (it's on my list of things to do) but there is a huge difference in file sizes of ac3 448 (173Meg) and the same file as 5.1 pcm (about 1.8gig). Not that a bigger file size is always better but I do seem to hear 'brigther' highs and better dynamic range with the pcm.
musicvid10 wrote on 11/18/2008, 8:33 AM
I found several links that say the BD spec does support PCM up to 8 channels.
Maybe if you're producing and marketing short music videos it would be an attractive option.
How you would achieve that in the current DVDA version I don't know.
musicvid10 wrote on 11/18/2008, 8:45 AM
I recall that Dolby admitted that some people can hear a difference between AC-3 at 448 kbs and PCM. My aging ears could hear a slight difference during full orchestra segments but not with solo instruments or voices. Of course that's subjective.

PCM .wav comes in at about 1536 kbs if I remember correctly.
TheHappyFriar wrote on 11/18/2008, 9:55 AM
if it IS supported then perhaps we'll get support in the next full release of DVDA. I always like to have options, plus there's the added benefit PCM doesn't require any kind of licensing, so that may be an option for some.
LJA wrote on 11/18/2008, 11:05 AM
The manual and the help file for DVDA 5.0 specified that DVDA 5.0 did support 5.1 PCM. I filed a support ticket on this since there was no option within DVDA for 5.1 PCM and those files were rejected when dragged/dropped. Sony's response was that the manual and the help file were in error and that error would be corrected in the next release, however it is still in the DVDA 5.0a help file.

I wouldn't guess about what this implies for future releases, but it is not there now.