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Author Topic: DTS decoding Demetris Thoupis Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1240 From: Aradippou, Larnaca, Cyprus Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-02-2004 12:38 AM                     Mark, SRD is good, especially when it is properly equalised. But in my opinion NOTHING beats DTS. The only problem is that distribution companies sometimes don't offer the discs to cinemas and that is the reason why most chains choose Dolby Digital. Don't get me wrong. I have installed several Digital Systems and tried to equalise them as good as I can. We only have one chain here in Cyprus which installs both systems on its screens. The manager is really pleased with the performance of both systems. When the installation was done we showed the manager 15 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. The opening scene in both situations. He loved Dolby Digital but when we replayed the scene in DTS the theater just ROCKED!!! I don't know how they do it. Even if DTS is not better in responses e.t.c as some people suggest, everyone has to admit that DTS does a better job in "tricking" people that it sounds better. Demetris  |  IP: Logged Wolff King Morrow Master Film Handler Posts: 490 From: Denton, TX, USA Registered: Feb 2004 posted 04-02-2004 02:36 AM                        quote: The short answer is that it's probably technically possible to make a software only player, but no one has figured it out yet. And when they do, it will most likely be at least a contract breach, and at most illegal, to use it for a public showing. Software was already designed by a hacker early last year as a winamp plugin (and I am not referring to "in-dtsc", which was never finished). Probably breaks copyright laws regardless.  |  IP: Logged Marin Zorica Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 671 From: Biograd na Moru, Croatia Registered: May 2003 posted 04-02-2004 03:07 AM                     I agree with you guys, but does dts have some special sound cards or cards similar to standard pci like creative labs live, teratec and similar?? Yes it's thru that distributers don't send Dts disc for every film, but film got dts, i don't know why they do this. Connecting time code reader to pc and software be very good, because people can then made systems by they own, basicly whats is time code reader??, on my opinion is laser, or led source focused on time code on film and collect with photo sensor from which signal goes to processor. What is that plugin forwinamp, does somebody all ready try that???, somebody got any link for dwnloading it??  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-03-2004 09:24 PM                     First you would need an interface board to get the timecode into your PC In the current DTS players the decoding is done on a hardware chip (in effect a proprietary sound card) I can't see DTS ever licensing a software PC theatrical version since they are in the hardware business  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-03-2004 11:13 PM                     Gord, I'd bet that a software based time code generator could be built in as part of the "hacker" DTS playback software. Mark  |  IP: Logged Jack Ondracek Film God Posts: 2348 From: Port Orchard, WA, USA Registered: Oct 2002 posted 04-03-2004 11:24 PM                        'scuse me... but isn't this a bit out of sorts... a group of technical professionals, discussing the hacking of that which we operate for a living? Not wanting to moralize to any great extent, but we don't discuss details of how to pirate our product, so this somehow doesn't seem all that appropriate here, either.  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 04-03-2004 11:32 PM                    Hollywood wouldn't exist were it not for the desire to avoid patents. This is purely an intellectual exercise since I wouldn't know how to do this (nor have a need to) and not sure who could. And DTS has been magnificent in their support of a film festival I am involved with.  |  IP: Logged Marin Zorica Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 671 From: Biograd na Moru, Croatia Registered: May 2003 posted 04-04-2004 04:14 AM                     This is not mention to hack dts, but to understand principles how dts systems works, because people don't understand the digital tehnology in such manner like analog, and dts and things about are little bit complicated, again the purpose of this is to understand how dts works.  |  IP: Logged Demetris Thoupis Phenomenal Film Handler Posts: 1240 From: Aradippou, Larnaca, Cyprus Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-04-2004 06:39 AM                     Just one question everybody, Have I missed something?? Where is KAREN????? KAREN??  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 04-04-2004 09:00 AM                    She ran off with Strong's Pat Moore. [/joke]  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 04-04-2004 10:01 AM                     JSK makes a excellent time code generator that will supply both SMPTE and DTS timecode Generating time code would be the easy part decoding the actual audio is the hard part  |  IP: Logged Patrick de Groot Expert Film Handler Posts: 161 From: Sprang-Capelle, Netherlands Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-04-2004 10:49 AM                     I just found it and tried it on the DTS of Notting Hill which I still had laying around for this kind of test... It works! I can play DTS discs with winamp. I don't know yet how it handles the different channels. update: The settings dialog of the input-plugin does have some interesting options: The single channel options are disabled... (which happened to be because I had the Downmix checkbox checked)  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-04-2004 01:59 PM                     quote: I can't see DTS ever licensing a software PC theatrical version since they are in the hardware business DTS could potentially get themselves into a lot of legal trouble if they ever did so. They don't own the copyrights to the audio on the discs, the film companies do. They're specifically hired to encode the audio and distribute it to commercial theaters booked with said film and equipped for DTS. It is kind of interesting that some people would actually go to the trouble of putting together an APT-X100 playback hack. I wonder what kind of capability this thing would have on a computer system equipped with 5.1 channel speakers.  |  IP: Logged Patrick de Groot Expert Film Handler Posts: 161 From: Sprang-Capelle, Netherlands Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-04-2004 02:07 PM                     quote: It is kind of interesting that some people would actually go to the trouble of putting together an APT-X100 playback hack. Some text from the info file included in the zip archive : Release Notes: Beginning with its first release in 1993, Jurassic Park, Digital Theater Systems has positioned itself as the worldwide standard release format for digital motion picture sound tracks. Now, 10 years later, you hold a decoding software for 5-channel-DTS sound tracks in your hands. It will allow you to convert APT-X100 compressed material (used in theaters for example) into the PCM wave format. This has basically been made possible by Audio Processing Technology, Inc. During my work, I could not find any real precautions to prevent this tool from being coded. This leads inevitably to such a release. Furthermore, I wasn't able to find any legal APT-X license agreements, so you will have to find out yourself whether you have permission to use this software or not. If I did not release this, someone else would for sure. The major thought behind this, is proof of concept. It could be done, so it was done. Live with it. Greetings fly out to all the people who helped me and also to Alexander Vigorsky, keep on the great work on your AC3 project!  |  IP: Logged Bobby Henderson "Ask me about Trajan." Posts: 10973 From: Lawton, OK, USA Registered: Apr 2001 posted 04-04-2004 11:36 PM                     After thinking about it a bit, actually I can see some nefarious motivation for creating the APT-X100 playback hack. It might provide film pirates an additional method to create bootleg DVDs, although not without a couple tradeoffs in audio quality. Bear in mind, this little app is probably of very little consequence for the problem of film piracy. Much of it comes from mass reproduction of screener DVDs. Hell, the screener DVDs are often posted on the Usenet! Since the program can apparently extract the audio from specific channels, it would be simple to patch together the 5 channels of LPCM and then use apps like the DD and DTS encoders from Surcode to create surround tracks for DVD. The tradeoffs: One: this APT-X100 decoding program extracts LPCM from already lossy compressed audio. You're down one step in generational quality. Another trip through a Dolby Digital or DTS encoding process and you're down yet another step. The end result will have no chance at all of sounding as a good as a legit DVD release found on store shelves. Two: Where's the subwoofer audio? With theatrical DTS, the LFE audio is recorded into the surround channels. This is typically an okay approach since the speakers in most commercial theater surround arrays have little LFE reproduction capability. A crossover filter is used to re-direct the LFE audio to the subwoofers. This same method has been used in the past for 70mm Dolby mag formats. The audio on the CDs may technically be 5 channel, but the DTS hardware outputs it as 6 channels. I suppose if you play back the 5 channel track on a home theater system with bass management enabled, you might get a better idea of the intended sound.  |  IP: Logged

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