On November 12, 2007 at 03:55, Daniel Tonks said...
The one flaw with the original PS3 is that its particular
HDMI chipset *cannot* passthrough the HD codecs (Dolby
TrueHD & DTS-HD MA) to an HDMI 1.3 receiver for external
decoding. So unless they implement a software DTS MA decoder
for LPCM output, all you'll ever be able to get is the
"core" track.
The newer redesigned 40gb PS3 might use a newer HDMI chipset,
which *could* enable passthrough, but I don't think anyone's
checked yet (and the software doesn't currently support
it regardless).
It is my understanding that all PS3's are HDMI 1.3a compliant, however I don't believe any of them are capable of sending the HD codecs via bitstream. According to the HDMI requirements, output of Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio streams for external decoding by AV receivers is optional.
It would be interesting if the chipset of the 40 GB is capable of this feat. I am sure that owners of the 60 GB and 80 GB PS3's would not be happy if the lower cost unit was the only one able to do this. My guess is that Sony will implement a software DTS MA decoder as you mentioned. Actually I don't mind the player decoding the codecs. Of course I don't have an HDMI 1.3 compliant receiver either.
