LPCM output from BluRay software

[NitDawg]

I don’t have a DTS-HD or TrueHD capable system (both on the HTPC and receiver end of things) but I have always used the “uncompressed PCM” 8 channel output from TMT to listen to my BluRay discs. Now needing to get a few discs ripped in some capacity to my HTPC system I am wondering where this track comes from, e.g. does the software decode the DTS-HD or DTS core and then send that uncompressed over HDMI to my receiver?

[babgvant]

Yes, uncompressed PCM is the result of a decoded compressed audio track, usually the lossless one.  What format/tools are you planning on going with?

[NitDawg]

Well I blame this on my eight year-old, who has suddenly become a BluRay snob. I’m not sure there is a single format solution, since the goal would be playback on my main HTPC (TMT5/7MC) and also out to an xbox 360 extender. Most of my stored video content I have as either MP4 or M2TS, which has worked really well. The downside to the MP4 is the lack of 6-channel AAC via the extender, but for the main HTPC its fine. So now with the BluRay content, I played around with ClownBD and saw lots of options (including M2TS), but I’m not sure if I could still get the best of both worlds…i.e. PCM on my main HTPC and the same content (lossless is fine) to the extender. 

[babgvant]

I’m pretty sure that the 360 doesn’t support any non-WMA lossless audio formats, so to get multi-channel audio there you will need to create/maintain a DD track in the file.  Hopefully someone with a 360 can chime in with the specifics since I’m not that familiar with the nuances.

[Aaron Ledger]

Unfortunately, Blu-ray content on the Xbox 360 can be a major pain. Some content may work without any transcoding, but others will require it due to the inherent playback limitations of the Xbox.

You may be best off maintaining a transcoded copy of the source just for your Xbox extenders and then keep things simple for the HTPC and maintain an unmolested BDMV or ISO which you can use to derive the lossless audio track and ship off as PCM to your AVR.

[NitDawg]

Gotcha, and thanks. That’s what I figured that it would take 2 different flavors. Is the BDMV format just the main movie content? There are so many options with ClownBD (unless there is something else I could use instead). Are their other extender-esque devices that do play nice with archived BluRay? 

[babgvant]

Yes, you can use a Dune or PCH “extender” to play BDMV or M2TS files.  FWIW, I reviewed a BD Prime a while back and am working on a Smart H1 right now and have been very happy with the results.

BDMV is the whole movie unless you reauthor it.  I usually just pull the main M2TS out of the BDMV because I don’t want the menu, previews, etc. but if you want to remux that to remove unwanted content you can.

[Aaron Ledger]

I store the entire BDMV folder because I want to retain maximum flexibility so if I feel like menus, I can use that or I can just play the main title since the files are all there. I also don’t have to think about seamless branching titles or anything else. It’s the maximum lazy/flexibility approach with the cost being space.

You can do it any way that suits your fancy, of course.

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