One of PS3′ disadvantages coming to market so early in Blu-ray’s existence was the HDMI chip used at the time and through now is incapable of passing the lossless DTS-HD Master Audio and Dolby TrueHD audio codecs via bit stream. Instead those codecs are passed to an audio/video receiver as linear PCM.
Except for a very rare occasion where a receiver might misread the incoming PCM, the audio is still being sent to the receiver in a lossless state. It sounds the same but the receiver does not see it as DTS-HD MA or Dolby TrueHD therefore cannot print those formats up on its digital display.
Per CNET, rumors the new PS3 Slim is be able to pass DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD have been proven true. They have a unit in house already and tested both formats which passed with flying colors.
While this “upgrade” will not improve the PS3’s audio performance, it will correctly display the high-def audio format on the receiver. Not a big deal for current PS3 owners but a nice nod to future ones.
The PS3 Slim is currently the hottest pre-order at Amazon.com. Click here to browse or shop from the PS3 Slim ordering page.
