AC3 Sound Advantages

[MI6]

What advantages it makes using AC3 sound while DVD Authoring comparing with PCM or MPEG audio. Is it only the smaller output audio size or it is better quality.
Regards.

[lordsmurf]

http://www.digitalfaq.com/dvdguides/authorburn/intro.htm#audio

[yoda313]

As far as I can tell dolby digital ac3 stereo is SIMILAR in size to mpeg audio at the same bitrate. BUT ac3 is capable of digital surround sound whereas mpeg surround sound is either not possible or not as commonly supported.

Yes smaller file sizes at comparable audio quality are the main reason to use ac3 or mpeg audio. If you want to up the video bitrate but maintain audio quality use one of the two compressed audio formats.

If you have a relatively short video and you want to maintain highest audio quality then use pcm to preserve the quality. But the longer the video is the more you will want to use compressed audio.

[drewzor]

deleted

[midnightsun]

As far as I can tell dolby digital ac3 stereo is SIMILAR in size to mpeg audio at the same bitrate.

well of course, same bitrate=same size