Dave Horvath
1 May 2008 13:32
Coming up on their deadline to become a Blu-ray only production house, Universal has unveiled its plans for the audio it intends to use on the format. Ever since their defection from the HD-DVD camp, they've been working on a way to maximize the 50Gb worth of space available to them on BD-50 discs.
When working for the HD-DVD group, Universal had slapped together some audio configurations with heavy reliance on Dolby Digital Plus lossy audio, instead of the promised Dolby TrueHD audio. Now with their enthusiasm for the winner of the format war, Blu-ray users will see the first of many discs come out encoded in DTS-HD Master Lossless Audio.
The first discs that will see this treatment are a re-release of The Mummy series, previously already released on HD-DVD with only Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 audio tracks, and not Dolby TrueHD tracks. These titles are expected to hit the shelves on July 22nd.
In a press discussion, Universal told journalists that it will press to ensure that Dolby DTS-HD Master Lossless Audio becomes the Blu-ray standard for consumers.