Will Blu-Ray and HD-DVD save high-resolution digital audio?
pchemist -- Thu, 11/30/2006 - 21:11
As you all know, SACD and DVD-Audio are currently moribund. Yet both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD spec MLP Lossless, which allows for 24-bit/96 kHz multichannel or 24-bit/192 kHz stereo, which is equivalent to DVD-Audio. [This is licensed by Dolby Labs, which uses it in Dolby True HD.] In addition, the PS3 will have SACD capability (http://www.engadgethd.com/2006/11/30/ps3-to-get-upscaled-dvds-1080p-24-s...).
I suspect this means that, once a sufficiently large player base is installed, and the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray format war is resolved, the music companies will start to re-release albums in high-rez Dolby True HD on the winning format (or on either, if the war is resolved by universal players) (after all, why wouldn't they -- once tens of millions of people have the capability to play high-rez audio, it's a great source of additional profit for them). And if SACD is included on many Blu-Ray players, this may also rescue SACD, leading to a world in which artists can choose to use either Dolby True HD or SACD, depending on which they think will give better audio quality.
So I predict that Dolby True HD (which is equivalent to DVD-Audio) will become a viable format for stereo music recordings* -- and SACD might possibly as well.
Questions: Does this sound reasonable? Also, would you (as audiophiiles) like to see SACD remain viable? One the one hand, I gather the consensus among TAS reviewers is that SACD is generally sonically superior to DVD-A. On the other hand, it would be simpler to have a single format, and perhaps Dolby True HD has the potential to sound just as good as SACD, but the engineers just need to figure out the right way to master with it (i.e., maybe the reason SACD generally sounds better is because it doesn't take as much expertise to get it right).
*The proportion of US households that own a DVD player is currently at 81% -- higher than that for CD players (http://www.edn.com/index.asp?layout=article&articleid=CA6321044&partner=...). Thus the DVD player is now the principal means for playing CDs. But most of these DVD players do not play high-rez audio. Thus the high market penetration of DVD players does NOT equate to high market penetration of high-rez audio. However, because all the new high-rez video players (HD-DVD, Blu-Ray) will play high-rez audio, their market penetration will be identical to the the market penetration of high-rez audio playback capability. Now fast-forward to, say, 7 years from now, when high-rez video players can be had for ~$80, disk manufacturing has become cheap and efficicient, most US households now own high-rez video players, and relatively few own CD players. At that point, these (hi-rez-audio-capable) Blu-Ray and/or HD-DVD discs will be THE physical music format. [Further, maybe consumers will become educated about the value of high-rez audio from hearing how it improves the sound in their home theaters.]
That's a dream scenario, and one that might possibly come to pass. Ending the format war quickly (or the widespread adoption of universal players) will greatly enhance the changes for success.
Robert Harley
It seems that the DVD player manufacturers emphasise picture quality (because that is in tune with most buyers want) and are not trying hard to produce DVD players with excellent sound quality. A noteworthy exception is Onkyo. I have outstanding sound with Onkyo's DV-SP300. SACD sounds absolutely wonderful! But I replaced that unit with a Neodigits Helios X3000 because the Onkyo does not give me HD video.
Santa
Santa
I seriously doubt that HD-DVD or Blue Ray go anywhere other than the history books. I see these mediums as not offering a significant-enough improvement over DVD to supplant the market share that DVD now holds. Block Buster and the likes certainly aren't going to fully replace their relatively new DVD libraries so soon. Not to even mention the history-repeating disaster of another format war. I can only deduce this is another ploy at mass consumerism. My prediction is; CD and DVD will be eventually replaced with some type of security/piracy-protected high-quality/fidelity download format -- all else will be temporary distractions. On one final note - Blue Ray may make it as a computer data medium. Just my biased opinion.
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WilliamChildress wrote:I seriously doubt that HD-DVD or Blue Ray go anywhere other than the history books. I see these mediums as not offering a significant-enough improvement over DVD to supplant the market share that DVD now holds. Block Buster and the likes certainly aren't going to fully replace their relatively new DVD libraries so soon.
I don't see "library replacement" as an issue for Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, Netflix, etc. since, for new releases, they completely replace their stocks anyways -- so (when Blu-Ray/HD-DVD releases are day-and-date with DVD) it will just be a matter of restocking with x% HD-DVD/Blu-Ray + (100-x)% DVD, rather than 100% DVD. And what will determine "x" is simply consumer demand. As to the libraries of classics they keep around, they can either just leave those as DVD, or gradually switch some to HD-DVD/Blu-Ray, as the titles become availalable and, again, according to consumer demand.
Also, in comparing DVD (through an excellent upscaling player, the Toshiba HD-A1) to HD-DVD on a 56" rear projection TV, I saw an enormous difference. So I think these formats do offer a real benefit.
I would love to see the type of downloadable service you describe for high-fidelity audio. It would be wonderful to be able to download DVD-Audio-quality tracks from I-tunes; but given that, right now, you can't even get CD-quality audio from any of the download services (except Music Giants, which has a very limited selection), I think downloadable high-fidelity audio is a ways off, and that a physical medium (like Blu-Ray or HD-DVD) is the more likely delivery vehicle.
Just my opinion :) .
I've seen HD-DVD and Blu-Ray demos and the picture quality is by a large degree superior to low-end DVD players. One thing that I think would help usher in the new formats is making hybrid discs (one layer DVD, one layer HD-DVD or Blu-Ray) the industry standard, so that movie houses and rental companies can release single discs that offer both the older and newer technology. This, of course, will not solve the format war.
Why does the so-called format war matter? I have a turntable, a CD player, an SACD player, an HD-DVD player and a Blu-Ray player. They all seem be be peacefully co-existing (no attacks sighted in the last month).
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