| Video Noise March 2008
 High-Definition Disc-Player Gotchas
The moment many owners and potential owners of
high-definition video players have been waiting for is near: the launch of HD DVD and
Blu-ray players that pass Dolby Digital Plus, Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD HR, and DTS-HD MA
surround-sound audio tracks. Players are just beginning to appear that can send these
advanced codecs via HDMI to an A/V receiver or processor that will handle the decoding.
After living for a year or more with hi-def players that can do very little with the
advanced codecs, enthusiasts are ready to plunk down some more cash.
But in these new players, all is not well. When you send an
advanced audio codec to one of the new AVR/processors, you lose the ability to hear some
commentary tracks and menu sound effects. If you want to hear the voice-over commentaries
or picture-in-picture commentaries, you’ll also have to run coaxial, TosLink, or
analog cables from the player to the AVR/processor, and switch to that audio input to hear
those special features. Or, if the player can, set the player to decode the advanced codec
itself, then send the decoded multichannel PCM signal to the AVR/processor via HDMI.
The commentary tracks and picture-in-picture features are
stored on the disc separately from the film’s actual soundtrack. If the player is
doing the decoding internally, it will mix the two audio tracks together at the right
volume levels, sometimes giving you control of the volume levels. But when you send the
movie soundtrack out of the player undecoded, you lose the ability to combine the
movie’s secondary and primary tracks because players can’t mix them while the
audio is still encoded as a Dolby or DTS signal.
You’d think being able to select 24p mode would be
straightforward, and in many players it is, but some make it impossible. 24p mode allows
movies to be viewed without the added frames that tend to cause a jerky motion not present
in movie theaters. It’s not a huge difference, but every little improvement helps.
For example, hi-def images shot on video (concerts, for example) and DVDs should not
be displayed in 24p mode. The smarter players can detect these formats and turn off 24p
mode when it’s inappropriate.
But some players can’t do this, and remain in 24p mode
all the time, which results in even worse jerky-motion problems with DVD or hi-def video
content. So you’re stuck with having to remember when to turn 24p mode off and on.
It’s not the end of the world, but it’s inconvenient. Some players switch to 24p
mode only if the video display communicates to the player (via HDMI) that the display can
handle 24p. That works fine so long as the player is connected directly to the display,
but there are excellent reasons to connect disc players to the AVR or processor first, then
connect the AVR/processor to the display. But when you do that, many AVR/processors block
the communication between the display and the player -- the display can’t tell the
player that 24p mode is OK, so the player never switches to 24p.
Then there are firmware updates, which so far have been
issued for every HD DVD and Blu-ray player made -- if you watch many hi-def movies,
you need to keep up with them. It doesn’t matter if your machine is HD DVD or
Blu-ray -- if you fall behind on updating your firmware, sooner or later you will
stumble across a movie that won’t play on your player. Often, a firmware update will
be issued, and the very next week a popular new title is released on hi-def disc that
won’t play properly unless the player has the new update. Your owner’s manual
should explain your options for getting firmware updates, but in general, they’re
available in one of three ways:
- From an Internet connection via the player’s Ethernet
port
- As a download from the manufacturer’s website to your
computer, then written to CD-R or DVD-R, which you then load into the player
- On a disc from the manufacturer’s product-support
department
Learn how the maker of your high-definition player makes
firmware updates available, and keep your player current so that you can watch any hi-def
movie you want without interruption.
...Doug Blackburn
db@hometheatersound.com |
