Why does LPCM only get recorded in XP Mode?

[hitechluddite]

In reading manuals for Panny DMREH50 & JVC DRMX1S I found out that both only record LPCM digital audio in XP Mode. this seems backwards to me. If XP is a higher bitrate record than SP it would stand to reason that there would be less bandwidth available for audio and unless I'm mistaken LPCM carries more information than Dolby digital 2.0 which is the audio mode in all other speeds.

[slacker]

I think their feeling may be that if you give a crap about quality in the first place, i.e. xp mode, you would WANT lpcm rather than adc-3. Right?

[edDV]

I think DVD HQ (1 hour) and LPCM audio are targeted to MiniDV camcorder sources. Only camcorders offer highest quality SD video playback and the native DV audio format is PCM.

The only other high quality video source found in the home is the S-Video output of the cable/dbs/OTA tuner box. They prefer that you don't capture AC-3 from these sources.