DVD-Audio FAQs

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.

The standard size is 120 mm, the same width as a compact disc or DVD-Video disc. As with compact discs, 3-inch (80 mm) DVD-Audio discs can be used. The 80 mm disc format is perfect for artist singles or audio samplers, either for sale or as promotional items. Every DVD-Audio player has the capability to load and play either disc.

Yes, very dramatically. DVD-Audio playback is bit-for-bit identical to the studio master tapes. Every nuance of the artist's original performance is captured and reproduced with a warmth and natural timbre not available from compact disc technology.

The physical properties of a car are ideally suited for a multichannel audio experience: an enclosed area where listeners can be surrounded by their favorite music and enjoy it in a manner never before available. Today's four-speaker systems destroy the essence of the stereo signal and can make it difficult for the listener to localize, or even identify, more subtle musical elements within a song. With DVD-Audio, you have six discrete channels of audio directed at listeners. Its performance is enveloping, highly realistic, more natural, and of significantly higher quality than a traditional CD. Just as compact discs replaced vinyl record, DVD-Audio is the natural successor to the compact disc. And, DVD—in all of its various incarnations—presents the automotive manufacturer the option to create products, such as mobile media centers, that combine related technologies such as Dolby Pro Logic II and DVD-Audio.

DVD-Audio offers features that a compact disc simply cannot, the most important being 5.1-channel audio playback. Multichannel DVD-Audio can uniquely reproduce all of the nuances and musicianship of a studio session. During DVD-Audio playback, instrumentation and vocals are clear, distinct, and defined. You can actually hear and identify each instrument in the performance. Multichannel DVD-Audio also allows you to reproduce the ambience and dimension of a live recording just as it happened.

Multichannel DVD-Audio literally reinvents music that we have been familiar with for decades; listening to an album remastered for DVD-Audio is like experiencing the recording all over again for the first time.

In addition to the multichannel program material, the majority of DVD-Audio discs include an Advanced Resolution^® two-channel (stereo) version of the material.

DVD-Audio discs can include a wealth of multimedia-related capabilities. For example, the slide show feature allows the producer to provide a visual display of song lyrics, original album art, artist images and biographies, and much more. DVD-Audio discs can also include video material, such as music videos or concert footage, mastered in Dolby^® Digital 5.1 surround sound.

As a result of recent DVD forum developments, future DVD-Audio discs can include AAC samples of current and previous works by the artist. Many titles presently include additional PC-based content, including fan club Web addresses and much more.

DVD-Audio offers a "play or tray" function. If you don't have a monitor and you load a DVD-Audio disc into the tray and press close, it will perform just like a compact disc. You can navigate between selections, pause playback, and stop playback from the front-panel controls of the player—just as you do today when you insert a compact disc into a traditional in-dash or tabletop CD player.

If your DVD-Audio system is equipped with a monitor display, you can then take better advantage of the "play" features of this format. Once a DVD-Audio disc is loaded, and the user presses play, a disc menu appears on the screen, permitting the user to navigate the various offerings available on a DVD-Audio disc. This can be done either by using front-panel controls or with a remote control, depending on the system.

The unique capabilities of the play-or-tray feature offer the automobile manufacturer an opportunity to merchandise a variety of basic (for example, DVD-Audio only, no monitor, in two-channel or multichannel applications) and step-up (DVD-Audio and connected monitor, DVD Audio/Video and connected monitor, DVD-Audio and Dolby^® Pro Logic^® II) systems to its customers. It also allows a variety of flavors for traditional consumer entertainment products (DVD-Audio/Video, for example).

DVD-Audio discs debuted in the marketplace at the same price as many popular DVD-Video discs (approximately $25 each and sometimes more, depending on the studio). Several labels have elected to price their DVD-Audio media consistent with that of their compact disc offerings. We see this trend continuing, as the strategy is likely to persuade consumers to adopt DVD-Audio in even greater numbers.

As for players, you can currently find tabletop DVD-Audio players in the marketplace for less than $200 and as much as $5,000, depending on the make and manufacturer. DVD-Audio has become a standard feature in most mid-priced and referenced DVD-Video players.

Many products from 36-plus manufacturers are currently on the market. Products include tabletop DVD-Video/Audio players, portable DVD-Video/Audio players, aftermarket DVD-Audio players (automotive applications), and integrated home-theater-in-a-box systems.

In addition, DVD-Audio has moved to the personal computer platform, with a variety of soundcard technologies. This provides additional impetus for the "universality" of DVD-Audio as an entertainment platform.

Presently, Alpine, Fujitsu Ten, Kenwood, Panasonic, and Pioneer are offering DVD-Audio players for automotive aftermarket applications that can be installed in your vehicle.

OEM manufacturers such as Toyota are marketing the Brevis^® (which includes a DVD-Audio system) in Japan, and Acura’s TL model in North America includes a DVD-Audio system as a standard feature. In addition, Acura has indicated the Acura RL will also include a DVD-Audio system as a standard feature. Additional automotive manufacturers are planning to announce the availability of DVD-Audio playback systems in the near future.

Yes, and it's already beginning to happen. Besides tabletop DVD-Audio/Video players, home-theater-in-a-box systems, portable DVD-Audio players, and aftermarket car audio applications, we are beginning to see personal computer software applications that offer DVD-Audio playback.

DVD-Audio discs will play on the majority of DVD-Video players because the preponderance of DVD-Audio releases available today include a "companion" multichannel audio track encoded in Dolby^® Digital. The availability of this "companion" Dolby Digital soundtrack provides instant compatibility with the entire installed base of DVD-Video players now estimated to exceed 55 million households in the United States alone. On a worldwide basis, DVD-Video player sales now exceed 200 million units.

Yes.

Most of what is presently included in an automotive speaker system can be adopted for DVD-Audio playback. The ideal environment has five speakers (Left, Center, Right, Left Surround, and Right Surround) and a subwoofer. Many automotive applications today incorporate a pair of speakers in the front doors and another in the rear panel (or alternatively, in the front and rear doors). Subwoofers are becoming commonplace in the automotive environment.

The biggest challenge is the location of the center speaker. Designers may soon begin reintegrating a center speaker into the dashboard of future models. There are some player applications that include a center channel speaker as part of the head unit and others that offer an external center channel speaker that can be mounted on the dash, or between the front passengers.

If you choose not to include a center speaker, the system could be configured to route center channel information into the left and right front speakers.

In an ideal setup, five mono amplifiers (or two stereo and one mono) would drive the main speakers in the system. These would most likely be integrated into the head unit (as many subwoofers include built-in amplifiers).

DVD-Audio discs are presently being marketed by Warner Bros., Universal Music Group, Reprise Records, EMI Capital Records, Rhino Records, Virgin Records, BMG, Silverline (a member of the 5.1 Entertainment Group), AIX Media Group, Chesky Records, Telarc, and a host of boutique studios committed to the quality, versatility, and security that DVD-Audio provides. We expect additional studio announcements supporting DVD-Audio in the near future. There are approximately 750 DVD-Audio discs presently available in the marketplace. New releases are introduced on a weekly basis.

Not at this time, although there is one technology proposal is being tested that would allow record companies to include a quality two-channel soundtrack on a DVD-Audio disc that could be read by a compact disc player. Record companies could issue content on a single DVD-Audio disc that would play back on compact disc and DVD-Video players, and offer higher quality and advanced functionality when inserted into a DVD-Audio player. Recent market tests have proven the viability of this new technology and it has been approved by the DVD Forum for use. We expect some announcements regarding this technology in the near future.