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Blu-Ray Audio

Recently, my Sony PS3 started acting up. This was annoying because my PS3 is my Blu-Ray disk (BD) player, and when it "died" it meant I was cut off from my video disk library.

Sadness ensued.

While I was trying to figure out what was going on with my PS3, I bought a small Sony dedicated BD player. It was well reviewed, set up easily, and plugged right into my existing setup. My setup, by the way, is all-Sony…receiver, HDTV, etc. Call me paranoid, but it seemed the most direct way to ensure compatibility.

So, all seemed well, but I was bothered by the audio. More precisely, there was an apparent drop in audio quality. Everyone focuses on the image quality of BD's, but of equal import is that audio quality. A BD film comes with uncompressed audio (e.g., DTS-HD) and when played properly it's awesome. Watch the launch in Apollo 13 and, if the audio is set right, you'll immediately hear what I mean.

The issue came down to how my new player fed audio to my receiver. The only option was LPCM, Linear Pulse-Code Modulation. Near as I understand it, this meant that the audio was being decoded in the player and fed to the receiver, which then piped the audio to the speakers. In contrast, the PS3 had an option for sending the audio signal via bitstream, a raw data feed that the receiver then recognized, decoded, and played.

The difference in audio quality was immediately evident. When my PS3 was repaired and back in place, everything sounded better. It makes me wonder how many people buy mid-range or expensive audio/visual rigs and are actually listening to sub-par sound.

The solution seems simple enough: A BD player should always have the option of bitstream for audio. Don't force the consumer to use the player's audio decoding software. This is especially so if someone has opted to purchase a high-end audio receiver. They've spent a lot of money to ensure they had great sound. Don't cut it off at the knees.

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