What is DVD-Audio?
DVD-Audio is an extension of the highly popular DVD format, distinguished by its capability for delivering a new standard of quality previously unavailable in packaged audio media. Disc playback is bit-for-bit identical to studio masters. A highly compelling feature of DVD-Audio is its multichannel (5.1) audio capability, which wraps listener in rich, warm, natural sound. DVD-Audio also includes a host of value-added multimedia features not previously available on compact disc.
DVD Audio is an audio revolution! If you think that the stereo compact disc is still the clearest musical listening experience available, you need to experience the difference that six channels make. It’s as dramatic as the difference between black and white to color, or mono to stereo. With DVD Audio, you can experience true six-channel surround sound with a quality that’s far superior to today’s CD. DVD Audio allows you to get inside the music as if you are in the recording studio, or on stage, with your favorite artists.
DVD-Audio is the emerging format for storing audio only compositions on a DVD, it offers the option of multi channel audio (surround etc.) and video information for features such as song titles and alike. It claims to offer greater copy protection for the audio then today’s CD-Audio format and uses a different implementation of the encryption algorithm uses in DVD Videos as the encryption being broken a little to easily for the standards body and the studios liking. I will aim to expand the FAQ to cover this area in the near future as DVD Audio becomes available in the UK market. For now, if you are interested in the DVD-Audio format I suggest that you look at the DVD Forums articles on the standards (and all other DVD standards) at http://www.dvdforum.org/. For anyone that’s interested I have confirmed that DVD Audio is indeed Region Coded in the same fashion as DVD Video (8 Regions). I think it was assumed it would be coded but I checked anyway.
DVD-Audio is a music-oriented DVD format which devotes virtually all of a DVD disc’s capacity to audio. A DVD-Audio disc can hold up to 6 channels of 96kHz/24-bit audio (music for 5.1-channel home theater systems), or 2 channels of ultra high-resolution 192kHz/24-bit audio. Most DVD-Audio discs also carry Dolby Digital or stereo soundtracks for playback on DVD players that lack DVD-Audio decoders. A DVD-Audio disc may also contain liner notes, lyrics, menus, and still pictures that display on your TV. DVD-Audio boasts a higher signal-to-noise ratio, wider frequency response, and wider dynamic range than CD. Due to copyright restrictions, DVD-Audio signals are only available from a player’s analog outputs (in other words, you can’t use a single-cable digital connection as you would for Dolby Digital or DTS). All DVD-Audio players feature a 5.1-channel analog output, and so must be used with a receiver with a 5.1-channel input.
DVD-Audio is not DVD-Video. It is a different format. DVD-Audio is an audio format designed to provide the highest audio quality possible today. The quality of DVD-Audio exceeds that of conventional CD’s. The format takes advantage of increased storage capacity, speed and flexibility to provide audio in both stereo and multi-channel surround. DVD-Audio discs store content in data packets that is ignored by DVD-Video players and only read by DVD-Audio players. In addition to audio, a DVD-Audio disk can contain a limited amount of video, which can be used to display text, such as lyrics or notes; or stills such as a photo album. It is also possible to manufacture a disc with DVD-Video on one side and DVD-Audio on the other, which opens up some intriguing possibilities.
