PS3 to Decode DTS-HD
By Scott Wilkinson April 10, 2008 — PlayStation 3 owners rejoice! Today, Sony announced that the next system-software update for the PS3 (version 2.30), scheduled for release next week, will add the ability to decode DTS-HD Master Audio and High Resolution in their entirety. Up to now, the PS3 has only been able to extract the "core" DTS data from these formats, eliminating the benefit offered by their higher resolution.

The new update gives the PS3 the capability to convert DTS-HD MA and HR to PCM for transmission via HDMI. This is the same process used by the game console/Blu-ray player to output Dolby TrueHD. As far as I've been able to ascertain, the PS3's hardware does not allow it to send DTS-HD or Dolby TrueHD bitstreams via HDMI for decoding in an A/V receiver or pre/pro, though Sony has not been entirely forthcoming about such details.

DTS-HD Master Audio is a so-called "lossless" codec (coder/decoder) that retains all the original audio data. It can encode up to 7.1 channels of audio at 96kHz/24 bits and deliver it at a variable rate up to 24.5Mbps. More than 100 Blu-ray movies include a DTS-HD MA soundtrack, which the PS3 has been unable to take full advantage of until now.

DTS-HD High Resolution is a "lossy" codec that discards some of the original audio data, but it retains more data than plain old DTS while taking up less space on the disc than Master Audio. HR can deliver 7.1 channels of 96/24 audio at a fixed rate of 6Mbps.

For more details and instructions on how to update the PS3, please click here.