Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: PCM sound on Blu Ray

This is topic PCM sound on Blu Ray in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-12-2009, 01:37 PM:

I just bought PEARL HARBOR on Blu Ray after reading a fantastic review about the picture and sound quality. Although many consider this movie a dud, I actually enjoyed it very much and still do. One of the favorable review the BD got was for it's use of uncompressed PCM 5.1 48kHz/24-bit sound. Perhaps Bobby Henderson can answer this question. I watched the first thirty minutes of it last night in standard Dolby 5.1 and it sounded good but can my current receiver, a Denon AVR 3803 which does not have HDMI inputs playback the PCM track? I do not think it can but I thought it would not hurt to ask.

-Claude

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-12-2009, 02:37 PM:

For older receivers lacking HDMI inputs, if the receiver has an analog 5.1 input (and the Blu-ray player has a 5.1 analog output) you can play the uncompressed Linear PCM 5.1 audio that way.

Newer BD players with full internal decoding capability for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD and a 5.1/7.1 analog output on the back of the player can send that kind of audio (already decoded) to older receivers as long as the receiver has the compatible analog inputs.

If the BD player doesn't have a 5.1 analog output then you're stuck using the standard optical cable for surround use -and that has you stuck using lossy Dolby Digital or DTS. Standard optical cable connections can't support multichannel Linear PCM surround. There's just too much data being transmitted. HDMI is needed for sending such audio on a digital-based connection.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-12-2009, 02:56 PM:

Bobby, was it your father that has the same Denob AVR 3802 receiver as I do? If he does, can you see if it has the proper analogue inputs to play uncompressed PCM sound? I am at the moment using a standard optical cable from the player to receiver to play my DVD and Blu Ray discs. My Panasonic DMP BD35 can decode all of the sound formats that are featured on BDs and if my Denon receiver can play back PCM sound but need a different kind of cable instead of optical, what kind should I get?

-Claude

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-12-2009, 03:18 PM:

The Denon 3802 AV receiver has a 7.1 channel analog input on the back of the receiver.

Unfortunately, the Panasonic DMP-BD35 doesn't appear to have 5.1 or 7.1 channel analog outputs on the back of it to match. Analog audio output on that player is limited to 2.0 channel function. The DMP-BD35 apparently can internally decode Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio formats, but has to send that decoded audio via HDMI connection. Same goes for multichannel Linear PCM.

The Panasonic DMP-BD55 has built in decoding for Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD. It also has a 7.1 channel analog output compatible with the Denon 3802 and other similar receivers.

The BD player model the Panasonic DMP-BD35 replaced (the DMP-BD30) had a 5.1 channel analog output, but lacked internal Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD decoding. It could only bit stream those audio formats via HDMI to a receiver capable of decoding those formats.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 02-12-2009, 03:35 PM:

Thank you Bobby for all of the useful information you had provided. Although I presently cannot get all of the new fancy sound formats Blu Ray offers, the sound I am now getting now from BDs is a big improvement and I am very happy. BTW, I think I had solved the clipping problem because I do not hear it anymore when I play Blu Ray discs.

-Claude