HDCD For DVD-Video, DVD-Audio And DTS Digital Surround

Pacific Microsonicsí newly announced HDCD encoder has the ability to work with the 48kHz sample rate family of DVD-Video, DVD-Audio and DTS-CD products. Toshiba will introduce two DVD-Video player models featuring HDCD decoding in the second quarter of 1999. HDCD technology in DVD-Video players provides proprietary precision digital filtering and interpolation for the D/A converter for all stereo sources as well as the front two channels multichannel surround sound material. For playback of Red Book audio for HDCD-encoded CDs, the playback circuit provides amplitude decoding to enable up to 20-bit dynamic range.As for multichannel delivery, in January Pacific Microsonics announced an agreement with DTS Entertainment (Digital Theater Systems) to ""work together to enable producers, engineers and record labels to use the HDCD process as the front-end recording technology for DTS Digital Surround 5.1 music CD, DVD-Video and DVD-Audio releases. There is a flag position in the DTS header that has been identified as a HDCD header. That feature is now implemented in DSPs from companies such as Analog Devices that handle decoding of both DTS and HDCD. If a DVD-Video or DVD-Audio player has both DTS and HDCD in it, then if a DTS recording was made with HDCD, the HDCD playback filter will be selected. The multichannel processing required for implementing the DTS capability is achieved by using three HDCD processors together. The use of multiple processors, says the company, will allow HDCD to be used to create high-resolution surround material for the DVD-Audio format as well. And while the DVD-Audio uses Meridian Lossless Compression, the company says that any compression system that is bit-for-bit lossless will have no impact on the HDCD signal.