Video Asylum

Posted by David Aiken (A) on June 11, 2008 at 01:13:50

In Reply to: RE: What are the alternatives to Integra 9.8 posted by ptruce on June 10, 2008 at 21:25:05

You can't pass a digital signal through analog outputs. The DTS HD MA signal is a digital signal in bitstream format which needs to go through 2 stages in order to produce an analog signal for the amplifier stages. Those 2 stages are decoding which converts the bitstream to an LPCM signal which can be handled by a digital to analog converter (DAC).

Some players can't do either the decoding or digital to analog conversion and have to pass the bitstream signal to a receiver or pre/pro for both stages of processing. The bitstream can only be passed via HDMI.

Some players can do the decoding and pass an LPCM signal to the receiver or pre/pro which then handles the digital to analog conversion. HDMI can carry the LPCM signal but so can some other digital cables, often with some limitations. Some of the players that can do this can also pass the bitstream signal to the receiver or pre/pro.

Some players can both decode and do the digital to analog conversion and deliver multi-channel analog outputs.

You need to ensure that the player and the receiver or pre/pro can communicate properly in one of those ways in order to deal with the new codecs.

So there are 2 options for passing the signal in digital form: bitstream and LPCM. Some players can pass the signal in both forms and some only in one of them. HDMI can pass both digital forms but LPCM can also be passed via other digital cables with some limitations. Alternatively the signal can be passed in analog form if the player has analog outputs. It's up to you to ensure that your player and receiver or pre/pro can handle things properly between them.




David Aiken