VideoHelp Forum
+ Reply to Thread
Results 1 to 7 of 7
Thread
  1. Member coody's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Is it necessary to select both of tracks Dolby Digital 5.1-ch and DTS 5.1-ch? What’s the difference between select both tracks and only one track?
    Quote Quote  
  2. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Miskatonic U
    Search Comp PM
    You only need one track for the movie. AC3 will play on all DVD players, and will downmix to 2 channel analogue if you don't have an amp on a digital connection. DTS requires that you have a decoding amplifier on a digital connection for you to hear it. It will also be around 40% larger in size.

    Personally, I would only choose one, and most of the time it would be the AC3 audio.
    Read my blog here.
    Quote Quote  
  3. Member archaeo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    mountains
    Search Comp PM
    The only thing I would add is that on certain music titles, such as concert movies, DTS may be critical to good sound. I made the mistake of deleting the DTS track when backing up a Led Zeppelin DVD, and the dig 5.1 audio was missing some essential aspects that were important to overall sound quality. The tradeoff was that the video quality was awful when having to keep the huge DTS track.
    Quote Quote  
  4. Always Watching guns1inger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Miskatonic U
    Search Comp PM
    The difference in size between an AC3 5.1 and a DTS 5.1 audio track is only around 300 MB. This should not cause a huge degradation in video quality unless you are using a second rate encoder or using a transcoder like DVD Shrink to squeeze it too much.
    Read my blog here.
    Quote Quote  
  5. Member archaeo's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2004
    Location
    mountains
    Search Comp PM
    I rarely use DVD Shrink, so don't know about that.
    However, the loss in video quality using CCE SP 2.7.12 was significant when including the DTS track in this concert dvd set. The combination of the disc's mid level bitrate and already marginal video quality (live concert footage) didn't leave a lot of room for further reduction.

    Is it necessary to select both of tracks Dolby Digital 5.1-ch and DTS 5.1-ch? What’s the difference between select both tracks and only one track?
    I would never make a blanket statement that one should just keep the AC3 over DTS - like many things, it depends.
    Quote Quote  
  6. Member
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Coody,

    Nah, you do not need to select both tracks of DD 5.1 AC3 and DTS 5.1. Most times keeping both just eats into your available video space. As was mentioned DD will play through most sound systems very well. For DTS you need an amp that will support the format. I think a majority of people would be hard pressed to tell the difference in quality between the two. Unless you have a very nice sound system and a very discerning ear.

    Not counting for poor upmix to 5.1 dvds from the studios, as mentioned by archaeo. Some old movie to dvd conversions were not remixed properly IMHO. For instance, where the main vocal / center channel just does not have the proper volume compared to the rest of the channels. In that case, lacking DTS gear, one may opt for the normal / original 2 channel sound track hopefully still available. Even though my system supports DTS I do use AC3 more when video space is needed for my dub.

    Not yet mentioned is the LCPM format which is huge compared to both AC3 and DTS. Mostly found on concert videos. When in doubt give a test listen to all the tracks.

    Cheers,
    Rick
    Quote Quote  
  7. Member ricoman's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    Location
    CT, USA
    Search Comp PM
    Originally Posted by RickA
    Coody,

    I think a majority of people would be hard pressed to tell the difference in quality between the two. Unless you have a very nice sound system and a very discerning ear.

    Rick
    That is crazy, though DD is very good DTS blows it away and the difference is obvious to anyone who has switched from one to the other. It is like turning off a filter, the sound expands and is like night and day. Having said that, I would always choose DTS given the choice, but if you don't have a DTS capable receiver you should choose DD. Also, if you lend out your DVDs, choose a 2 channel sound also, because the DTS will not down mix as DD will. You will wind up with no sound if you do not play thru a DTS receiver if you only pick DTS for your burn.
    I love children, girl children... about 16-40
    W.C. Fields
    Quote Quote  



Similar Threads

Visit our sponsor! Try DVDFab and backup Blu-rays!