PS3 TRUE HD Patch

[admin_exported]

Does anyone know when the patch will be released to upgrade the PS3 to true HD...? There seams to be no mention on the PS3 website

 

[professorhat]

The PS3 can already decode Dolby TrueHD as far as I'm aware...

 

[Anonymous]

I never knew that...!
always thought it output in LPCM and was decoded through a amp as 5.1

Thanks

 

[professorhat]

It does output in LPCM. You see, the PS3 is only able to decode these new HD formats onboard, so it takes the Dolby Digital Plus / Dolby TrueHD / DTS HD Master Audio signal and decodes it, then outputs it via the HDMI to the amp as a linear PCM signal. Some other players are able to bitstream these formats to the amp (i.e. they arrive at the amp theoretically unchanged) and the amp then decodes them onboard. The PS3 can't do this at the moment - whether an update will ever appear which allows it to remains to be seen, but I doubt it personally.

 

[Anonymous]

So I can now use LPCM to send to my onkyo 605 and this will convert it to TRUE HD...? Etc.

 

[Anonymous]

You wouldn't have any good advice on a good plasma 42" aswell would you....!
thanks for your help

 

[professorhat]

Not quite. Basically, Dolby Digital, TrueHD, DTS HD etc. are all just ways of compressing a soundtrack. The older Dolby Digital and standard DTS used more compression than the new formats like TrueHD because there wasn't so much room on a DVD as there is on a Blu-Ray. However, even with all the space on a Blu-Ray, some compression is still needed in most cases, hence these newer formats.

When an amplifier with the appopriate decoding chips receives a Dolby Digital signal, it decodes this signal to a PCM format which can then be used to send sound to the speakers. Because an amp receives the Dolby Digital signal, it knows what format it's in, so most manufacturers get their amps to display "Dolby Digital" on their displays telling the person this is the format. In the case of the PS3, what is happening is, for the newer formats like TrueHD, the PS3 is actually decoding the signal to Linear PCM and then sending this to the amp. The amp therefore doesn't have to complete this decoding step, but can just use the information to send sounds to the speakers. Because the amp didn't receive the signal in its compressed form, it doesn't know it was originally Dolby TrueHD, so you won't get anything on your amp displaying this. However, as long as you're getting sound from all your speakers, you can be sure you are getting the correct format.

 

[Andrew Everard]

No, the player converts TrueHD, etc., to LPCM and the 605 then converts this to analogue and pumps it out through the speakers. There's no quality loss in doing it this way, and indeed it's arguably better to have the soundtracks unzipped from Dolby/DTS HD to LPCM in the player, then sent this way to the receiver.

 

[professorhat]

Good 42" plasma - haven't looked at any for a couple of years, but I gather the Pioneer is still the current darling with the new Panasonic's running up close behind. Panny's are cheaper and Pioneer is end of life now, so you may well struggle to find it.

 

[Anonymous]

Thaks for that will take that on board

 

[Andrew Everard]

And if you can grab one of the last Pioneer 42in plasmas, do so - they're that good.

 

[Anonymous]

I Think there are a couple kicking about online, and much reduced but is it gonna make the difference not having 1080p in my armoury

 

[professorhat]

Well, most people who I've seen commenting on the Pioneer say the HD Ready Pioneer has a better picture than most Full HD 42" sets... at the end of the day, only you can decide.

 

[Anonymous]

That is the Pioneer PDP-428XD....?

 

[Clare Newsome]

yep - our TV product of the year. Still unbeaten almost 10 months on (that's a lifetime for some tellies!)

 

[Anonymous]

Best price Ive seen so far

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