Skip to main content ↑ ↓

Notice

Please note that most of the software linked on this forum is likely to be safe to use. If you are unsure, feel free to ask in the relevant topics, or send a private message to an administrator or moderator. To help curb the problems of false positives, or in the event that you do find actual malware, you can contribute through the article linked here.
Topic: "Audio Optimized for DVD" (Read 4260 times) previous topic - next topic
0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

"Audio Optimized for DVD"

So my girlfriend and I rented some DVDs last night, one of them being a New Line Cinema release.  As some of you may know, New Line Cinema is starting to incorporate a new audio track option in their new DVD releases.  This specific one had "Dolby 5.1 Surround," "Dolby 2-Channel Stereo," and the new option "Audio Optimized for DVD, No Equalization Required."  My girlfriend's first reaction was "Well, we might as well choose that, since we're watching a DVD," but I know it can't be as simple as that.

I've been searching for a few articles on the history of movie sound and found a lot of interesting info on the history of the EQ curves that sorta became industry standards, but still didn't give a coherent explanation as to what this new "optimization" actually does to the soundtrack when implemented.

In general, I'm still a little in the dark about movie audio as a whole, but this has sparked my curiosity in a big way.  If anyone can supply me with a little more info (links, articles, your own experience, etc.) about what New Line Cinema actually means by "no equalization required" when compared to Dolby Digital, it'd be greatly appreciated.

P.S.  For anyone who noticed, yes, I moved to Florida.
-Tim

Audio/Music Geek Since 1997

"Audio Optimized for DVD"

Reply #1 –
Quote
This specific one had "Dolby 5.1 Surround," "Dolby 2-Channel Stereo," and the new option "Audio Optimized for DVD, No Equalization Required."  My girlfriend's first reaction was "Well, we might as well choose that, since we're watching a DVD," but I know it can't be as simple as that.
my guess is, if things like multichannel and bitdepth/samplerate is not the reason for a DVD label of the stream then it could be newly mastered for this release. the information that there is no need of equalization (compared to the rest?) would strengthen that idea.
Nothing but a Heartache - Since I found my Baby ;)

"Audio Optimized for DVD"

Reply #2 –
I'd bet that the special stream is compressed and eq'd to sound better on small home theater systems which can't reproduce sound at same level than their theater counterparts.

"Audio Optimized for DVD"

Reply #3 –
Are you telling us that clipression is invading DVD ?

"Audio Optimized for DVD"

Reply #4 –
I think the note about the re-equalization is for THX receivers, which re-equalize the audio for home systems.  When a disc specifies that it has been re-equalized for home systems, re-equalization in the THX receiver should be turned off.

There is more information on the X-Curve here.  The Se7en DVD (2-disc version) has a featurette about how they remixed and remastered the sound for the DVD.

Some Disney DVDs have a "home theater enhanced mix," but this is not the same thing.  In this case, the sound has been remixed for more impact (such as more surround presence compared to the original mix, for instance).