Dolby TrueHD Vs. DTS-HD: Specifications and Differences

In this post, we try to point out the differences between Dolby TrueHD vs. DTS-HD audio standards and how they differ from each other.

Dolby and DTS are two famous names working on various audio formats to provide you an engaging and realistic experience of watching and listening anything. The war of Dolby sound vs. DTS sound is a hotly debated issue. Some audiophiles support Dolby and some supports to DTS.

Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master audio are two famous product of Dolby and DTS respectively. Dolby TrueHD is a lossless multi-channel audio codec developed by Dolby Laboratories whereas DTS-HD Master Audio is a combined lossless/lossy audio codec created by DTS (formerly Digital Theater System).

The task of determining which format has superior sound quality is a very ambiguous matter, as there are many factors to consider. You can’t tell the difference between Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio by merely looking at their definition. Down here we are listing some of the factors so that you can choose between Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD accordingly.

Dolby TrueHD Vs. DTS-HD

Up to 7.1 discrete channels of lossless audio are offered by the Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio. Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master add two extra rear channels to the standard Dolby Digital and DTS formats, along with this Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio discs are encoded with more audio information per channel.

In general, it’s similar to the movie studio’s original master. This helps in providing the improved directionality and more precise and clear effects which makes it even closer to the experience of being in a movie theater.

Dolby TrueHD is considered as one of the successors of the Dolby-Digital (AC-3) surround sound codec, which is used as the audio standard for the DVD-Video format, on the other hand, DTS-HD Master Audio is a lossless compression codec having a lossy DTS Digital core.

Dolby TrueHD supports up to 8-channels of surround decoding and is similar to a studio master recording. Dolby TrueHD is a type of audio formats designed and employed in the Blu-ray Disc format, and, formerly in the now discontinued HD-DVD format. A Blu-ray Disc or other compatible playback devices provide the Dolby TrueHD through the HDMI connection interface.

Similar to Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD also supports up to 8-channels of surround sound with broad dynamic range, higher sampling rate, and more extended frequency response than other DTS surround formats. DTS-HD Master audio is also used in  the Blu-ray Disc and Ultra HD Blu-ray formats like Dolby TrueHD which was used in HD-DVD format, now-discontinued

Dolby TrueHD supports Audio sample rates up to 192kHz and sample depths up to 24 bits/sample. Meridian lossless packing (MLP) is used in Dolby TrueHD as its mathematical basis for compressing audio samples. DVD-Audio format also uses MLP, but details of Dolby TrueHD and the MLP Lossless format as used on DVD-Audio differ substantially.

There is not much of the difference in the DTS-HD. DTS-HD supports the sampling frequency up to 192 kHz and 24-bit depth samples from 2 to 5.1 channels and 96 kHz/24bit resolution up to 7.1 channels. DTS-HD Master Audio is limited by storage media and is capable of virtually any number of discrete channels.

All Dolby TrueHD-enabled Blu-ray Disc can decode Dolby TrueHD audio track to an arbitrary number of channels more suitable for player output. For example, a 2-channel (stereo-compatible) mix can be created from a 6-channel source audio track using all Dolby TrueHD-capable players.

You must have a Blu-ray or HD-DVD disc that has been recorded in these formats to enjoy the benefits of DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. Next, you will need an audio receiver that is used to process these signals. The receiver plays an important role because if you are seeking TrueHD/DTS-HD, you need your receiver to process or output the sound. These audio formats cannot pass through Optical and digital coax cables; you will need an HDMI(High-Definition Multimedia Interface) cable to transmit these signals.