Can the 990 decode and take advantage of the new Blu-Ray audio formats:

DTS-HD High Resolution Audio

and

Dolby TrueHD

Thx !!

-- Cain

Check out the HDMI FAQ in my sig for more details than you may want, but the short (and perhaps overly literal) answer is "no."

The only ways to truly decode DTS-HD, TrueHD, or Dolby Digital Plus in a receiver or pre/pro is to have HDMI v1.3 connections at both player and receiver. As of yet, no HDMI v1.3 receivers exist (expect a few from the big names - Sony, Panasonic, and maybe Denon - by mid-year, but my best guess is that it'll be 2008 before most folks can get there). The only HDMI v1.3 players that exist are the Playstation 3 and the Toshiba HD-XA2. Without HDMI v1.3 at both ends, this option is not possible. As a result, nobody outside R&D labs at places like Sony and Toshiba have actually done this...

It is also possible to decode these formats to multichannel PCM inside the player (although DTS-HD Master Audio support remains missing in action from all player makers and TrueHD is missing from some players) and use HDMI v1.1 to output that multichannel PCM to a receiver or pre/pro with HDMI v1.1. Again, however, HDMI v1.1 is still rare on receivers (although much more common than a year or so ago, when it was almost nonexistent).

It is also possible to decode these formats and convert to analog inside the player, then outputting the audio over multichannel analog connections to the 990's 7.1 Direct input. The only players on the market that lack multichannel analog output (this making this option impossible) are the Toshiba HD-A2 and Sony Playstation3.

Thx gonk, very helpful.

Take care,

-- Cain

Keep in mind no current HD DVD or Blu-ray players offer pass through of the new codecs to a receiver/processor for processing.

I currently have a Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD player and Dolby Plus and TrueHD rock via 5.1 analog.

Also let's keep in mind Dolby Plus/TrueHD, DTS-HD/HD Master Audio, and PCM aren't "Blu-ray" audio formats, they're "Blu-ray and HD DVD" audio formats.

Actually, there are a couple players that include HDMI v1.3 outputs that could pass bitstreams of the new formats if a receiver could decode them - the PS3 is one, and the HD-XA2 is another.

I just came to realization if push came to shove, as in having both an HD DVD and BD player with surround analog outputs, one could hunt down a surround audio switcher. I'm assuming one day we'll see players on both sides that have full HD audio processing with surround analog outs.