New receiver due to HD-DVD/Blu-Ray?

[supervij]

Just out of curiousity, will we have to get new receivers if we decide to upgrade to HD-DVD/Blu-Ray players? I ask cos I remember reading that the new formats will include new and less compressed versions of Dolby Digital and DTS. Will our present receivers be able to handle these new DD and DTS audio tracks?

cheers,
supervij

 

[Mort Corey]

The format war(s) are a mess enough before the product even comes to market. They couldn't/wouldn't be THAT stupid.....could they

Mort

 

[jcPanny]

Mort,
The HD-DVD and Blue ray players are likely to have an HDMI connector interface which is capable of 1080P resolution. If you have a receiver with HDMI 1.1 than it is more likely to be compatable.
Also, a couple articles that I've read indicate that the new DD format will be backward compatible with the current technology. You won't have the reduced compression, but at least you will still have sound.
Finally, high end receivers for manufactuers with good support might be lucky enough to get a firmware upgrade to handle the new format.
Personall, I would wait a few year for the HD-DVD vs. Blue Ray battle to pan out and for prices to come down.
Enjoy your home theater in the mean time.

 

[racquetman]

Just out of curiousity, will we have to get new receivers if we decide to upgrade to HD-DVD/Blu-Ray players? I ask cos I remember reading that the new formats will include new and less compressed versions of Dolby Digital and DTS. Will our present receivers be able to handle these new DD and DTS audio tracks?

cheers,
supervij

Thankfully Dolby Digital and DTS make all their audio codecs backwards compatible, so you will have no problem getting audio with your current receivers. It may not be the new codecs you hear if they are on the disc, but you will get some form of Dolby or DTS sound. They'll likely get downmixed to whatever your receiver can handle. Like now, if you don't have a receiver that can handle DTS-ES, you will simply hear DTS 5.1. The same sort of thing will happen with the new formats.

The new audio codecs, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD, are not mandatory for either HD-DVD or Blu-ray so there is no saying how much either of these codecs will be used in the new formats. If you do want to hear these new codecs in all their glory, then yes you will have to purchase a new receiver (unless these codecs can be added through a firmware upgrade or similar - assuming that you have a receiver that can be upgraded in such a way ).