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Why Is DTS In Limited Release?
By Gary Reber
This conversation between Editor Gary Reber and Patrick Watson, DTS' Director of Technical Sales, took place during the DVD Forum conference in Rancho Mirage, California, August 29-30, 1999.
Gary Reber, Widescreen Review: One of the concerns I have is that the hardware manufacturers who have adopted DTS flag-recognition pass-through circuitry in their DVD players and decoders in their receivers and processors may drop that feature totally. The argument being there's not sufficient software support for the DTS Digital Surround format. Obviously, there's a problem. Do you have that same concern?
Patrick Watson, DTS: I can't say that I genuinely share that concern at this moment. I think a lot of manufacturers have just recently adopted the format. And I think a lot of the major Japanese manufacturers have a little more foresight in that they don't adopt something and pull out of it quickly. So, yeah, I'm disappointed that there's not as much software as there could be at the moment.
Don't forget, in terms of multichannel audio, there's also 130 titles at the moment that represent the world's largest, single collection of 5.1 Music CDs. And they can be played from a DVD-Video player and decoded by the same surround processors that also decode DTS DVDs, which represents added value to any 5.1 playback system.
From a movie perspective, I too would like to see more studios supporting DTS DVD movies. However, at this moment in time, looking at it from their perspective, a lot of product planners are more attracted by the low price of single layer DVDs and many haven't even released on dual layer. But some of them are now talking dual layer or dual layer/dual sided discs. So as the data rate capacity increases on the DVD, I think at that point you will see more support for the DTS format. At a recent industry association meeting, I confirmed that a lot of the studios were even restricting the Dolby Digital 5.1 data rate to 384 kilobits per second, even though they could go as high as 440 kilobits per second. This is just because of bandwidth limitation issues associated with single-sided DVDs. But I think the format is going to evolve in terms of storage capacity, and at that point, people will recognize DTS as a valuable addition and will incorporate a 5.1 DTS soundtrack on future titles.
The other concern for studios initially was that Dolby Digital was mandated into the format and DTS was an option. Their concern was what amount of DTS hardware would there be in the market. Or that if they included a DTS-encoded soundtrack, could enough people decode it? So, the enormous progress in hardware support now at least answers that question to the content providers. And in our meetings with content providers today, we can alert them to the fact that there are already one million DTS-capable decoders in the market and nearly every DVD player now supports DTS digital output capability. So, the chicken and egg concern has recently been eliminated, because the hardware has come first, preparing the way for the software. And all that being said, I certainly would just like to see more software myself.
WSR Reber: Does that one million number represent both DVD players and processors?
Watson: No, that would be processors. There are a number of companies that are now starting to incorporate DTS decoding internal to the DVD player. But at this moment in time, the number is representative of A/V pre-amps, receivers and stand-alone decoders with built-in DTS decoding. I don't have an accurate number on the DVD players with DTS digital outputs at this moment, but virtually all new models over the past year and a half have added this feature.
WSR Reber: So, summarizing your previous statement, are you saying that it's going to take a DVD-18's disc capacity for the studios to support DTS fully and put it alongside on the same disc with Dolby Digital 5.1?
Watson: Obviously these decisions always depend upon the film length and the contents, and a lot of studios are very cost conscious and they're often burdened by just trying to get new releases out the door in a timely manner. And the video content (that is, extras) is still, in their minds, "king" at the moment, so the audio content somewhat takes a bit of a back seat. But this new disc capacity can take a lot of the indecision out of their lives.
WSR Reber: What about those companies such as DreamWorks and Universal Studios that have released in dual format DVDs, one Dolby Digital 5.1 the other DTS 5.1? Are they committed to continue to release their titles in dual inventory?
Watson: Some titles will make sense in terms of dual versions. But as the DVD-18 becomes reliable and affordable, the trend will be to integrate a DTS soundtrack onto the standard release format, resulting in day and date availability, with no missing extras, and all at the same price.
WSR Reber: What about the data stream for DTS? Are you still limited to the 1.411 kilobits per second data rate?
Watson: There are many developments going on in the background regarding data rates. And the R&D department is also focusing on 96/24 and even 192/24 [96kHz/24-bit and 192kHz/24bit resolutions]. So we're starting to develop different approaches that accommodate DVD-Audio as well, and we're also even be looking at maybe 96kHz support within the DVD-Video spec. There's nothing that I can state formally today, but the DVD spec for DTS audio allows for several variations, and that's what we're currently finalizing.
WSR Reber: What impact will that have on past generation DVD-Video players and processors?
Watson: The design of the DTS bitstream was such that the processor would always be backward compatible to the current 48kHz, 24-bit limitation that's there. And a lot of people when they see DTS think 20-bit because of our current software content. But 20-bit was state-of-the-art when we started releasing LaserDiscs and CDs back in 1996, but the coder itself can handle 24-bit performance.
WSR Reber: But what I'm saying is, given that, let's say, you go to a 96kHz, 24-bit format, will a current DVD-Video player and a current surround processor with DTS decoding capabilities handle that without having to buy new equipment?
Watson: You'll get the performance level that you've currently got; you'll be able to extract the 48kHz, 1.5 MB core, but you won't get the 96kHz, 3 MB because it's not designed to handle that, but it will be totally backward compatible.
WSR Reber: I understand. So, for those who want the next DTS performance level, they will have to go to the next generation 96kHz/24-bit-capable machines?
Watson: Correct.
WSR Reber: Now, let's go back to the studio question. One of the things that's irritating for me as a reviewer (as you know I review every widescreen format DVD) is that with the DTS DVDs, you put the disc into the player drawer, the drawer shuts, it comes up on screen and here's this menu pre-selected for Dolby. You get DTS as a choice and you get Dolby Surround as a choice. But always Dolby surround is highlighted as the default. You have to actually think about it and go in and purposefully choose and select DTS and then hit play. Why is that? I bought a DTS disc, why do I have to go through that whole time-wasting procedure?
Watson: The first generation DVD players that came prior to DTS being included formally within the specification. So whenever you actually do incorporate the DTS content on the disc, the first generation players didn't know what that was. Therefore, the content owners designed the Dolby Digital as the default. That way, there's always compatibility throughout the entire DVD player range. In other words, there is no player at the moment that can't play any of these DTS discs. But if you then, as a DTS fan, want to use it, you have to then make that selection to go to DTS and enable it. It is inconvenient, but it was to assure the content provider that he had access to the entire market.
WSR Reber: But I would think that I bought the disc because it was DTS! Why would I want to then have to actually consciously select it to play in DTS Digital Surround?
Watson: During the first few years of the DVD roll-out period, it's risky to assume that all consumers understand what they are looking for, and what they are buying. So, in a sense, it makes sense to ease this new advanced audio format into the market. Also, in the future, there will be more data on the disc, and with more data on the disc, I think that means people will be looking for premium features, not just outtakes, but premium sound. And with that particular scenario then you get Dolby Digital, DTS Digital Surround, Linear PCM whatever, and that selection choice will only be on one disc.
WSR Reber: You must get a lot of feedback from people praising DTS sound quality. Tell our readers what to listen for from your own perspective. What are you most proud of in the sound?
Watson: In terms of sound quality, what I feel most proud of, is that it is truly discrete. It is very airy, there's no sense of a soundfield collapse... there's no sense of grittiness. It is literally what you would experience if you had the master audio reel in your house. The top end is always there; it's smooth. There's a lot of subtleties in the audio that don't get lost, that don't get masked, that don't get covered up. And that's what the people who listen to DTS comment on most. The other thing is, that when DTS is being transferred, there's no touch-ups or modifications to the 5.1. Whatever was on the original track, blemishes and all, comes out through the DTS encoder, transparently, the way it went in and there's no pre-mixing or folding down to hear what it sounds like in the stereo domain. So when you listen to a DTS soundtrack, you actually get what was on the 5.1 master.
WSR Reber: And there's no Dolby dialog normalization? Watson: What happens on a Dolby disc is another issue all together. Suffice to say, what goes into the DTS encoding machine, is what comes out!
WSR Reber: Thank you, Patrick for the update.
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