2 B’s Or Not 2B’s:That Is The Question

(The B’s in this instance being Back Surrounds)

As you may be aware less than a fortnight ago, Sony gave us Playstation 3 owners a real treat: the ability to decode the vastly superior dts HD Master Audio then pipe it as LPCM via HDMI to your receiver or amplifier. The ability to hear our favourite movies such as Die Hard, I,Robot, and Man On Fire in all their Hi-Def glory, rather than merely the basic core audio, was real cause for celebration. And indeed, over 9 million of us all over the globe did just that.

Sadly, it seems as if, though, all those celebrations may have been a tad premature because it seems that the PlayStation 3 has a problem with certain dts HD Master Audio 7.1 encoded movies - all those from New Line Home Entertainment, in fact. Various websites are reporting that when 7.1 titles such as Rush Hour 3, HairSpray, Shoot ‘Em Up, and Pans Labyrinth are played, the intro music plays at dts HDMA 7.1, but the actual movie at only dts HDMA 5.1 (no sound from the Back Surrounds), even though the PS3 clearly displays dts HDMA 7.1.

Before I left for vacation in Southern Thailand on the 16th of April, I briefly tested Shoot ‘Em Up, and lo and behold, I could only hear 5.1. Initially, it seemed people put the blame at New Line’s door, with some asking when do you think replacement discs will be issued? Then, it was the receiver/amplifier’s fault, but with it happening on all brands and models, the problem clearly was not there. Now it appears to be an issue between the PS3 and the way New Line encodes their Blu-ray discs.

I may be way out here, but from what I understand New Line uses a different 7.1 setup algorithm than, for example, Lions Gate, whose dts HDMA 7.1 BD’s play perfectly. New Line uses 2 sets of side surrounds on each side for the rears, instead of 1 side surround and 1 back surround on each side for the rears like Lions Gate Films do. Unfortunately, the PS3 tells the amplifier that there are still left and right back surrounds when, in fact, there are 2 left side surrounds and 2 right side surrounds coming from the disc. Hence, silence from your 2 back surrounds. Again, I’m no expert on this, just someone who wants to enjoy his movies in 7.1.

If you have a more accurate description of what is going on, or if I’m way off line, please don’t hesitate to let me know. I’d very much value your input or opinion on this. Let’s hope Sony sees fit to rectify this problem. In the meantime, we can still enjoy all our many dts HD Master Audio 5.1 titles out there.

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