DTS Demo Discs

DTS-HD Master Audio
DTS-HD Master Audio, previously known as DTS++, is the second of two DTS-HD audio formats. It supports a virtually unlimited number of surround sound channels, can deliver audio quality at bit rates extending from lossless (24-bit, 192 kHz) down to DTS Digital Surround and, like Neo, downmix to 5.1 or 2.1 systems.

DTS-HD Master Audio is selected as an optional surround sound format for Blu-ray, where it has been limited to a maximum of 8 discrete channels. DTS-HD MA supports variable bit rates up to 24.5 Mbit/s, with up to 6 channels encoded at up to 192 kHz or 8 channels and nine objects encoded at 96 kHz/24 bit. If more than two channels are used, a "channel remapping" function allows for remixing the soundtrack to compensate for a different channel layout in the playback system compared to the original mix.

All Blu-ray players can decode the DTS "core" resolution soundtrack at 1.5 Mbit/s, however, as DTS-HD Master Audio is also implemented as a standard DTS core plus extensions, but cannot decode audio from DTS audio CDs. DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD are the only technologies that deliver compressed lossless surround sound for these new disc formats, ensuring the highest quality audio performance available in the new standards. (DTS Coherent Acoustics' coding system has been selected as mandatory audio technology for both the Blu-ray Disc.

DTS:X

Rather than define a fixed number of channels, one for each speaker, DTS:X allows the "location" (direction from the listener) of "objects" (audio tracks) to be specified as polar coordinates. The audio processor is then responsible for dynamically rendering sound output depending on the number and position of speakers available. Dolby Atmos uses a similar technique, although the speaker layout employed by cinema DTS:X is the sum of Dolby Atmos and Auro-3D. The layout showcased at AMC Burbank theatre number 8 has a standard eight channel base layer, a five channel height layer on top of the base layer (on the front and side walls) and three rows of speakers on the ceiling. The surround arrays are bass managed by woofers suspended from the ceiling.