Should I not use PCM? at DVinfo.net

Glenn Gipson · July 11th, 2005, 11:16 AM

I have a feature film that I am about to recompress on DVD, so that a distributor can buy it. My question is, since PCM audio is better then AC3, should I use that instead of AC3? Thanks.

Brent Warwick · July 11th, 2005, 12:10 PM

PCM audio will indeed have the best sound since it's uncompressed--identical to CD. BUT--the bitrate of PCM audio is a whopping 1411mbps instead of AC3s 160-320. That's almost a full thousand mbps more being dedicated to your audio (that must be taken away from video). If your movie is longer than about 75 minutes, using PCM audio will start to cut into the video quality. And truthfully, unless they're listening to the movie on a very expensive sound system, 99% of most people won't notice the difference between PCM and AC3.

-Brent

July 11th, 2005, 11:16 AM	#1
Glenn Gipson Major Player Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Plainfield, New Jersey Posts: 927	Should I not use PCM? I have a feature film that I am about to recompress on DVD, so that a distributor can buy it. My question is, since PCM audio is better then AC3, should I use that instead of AC3? Thanks.

July 11th, 2005, 12:10 PM	#2
Brent Warwick Regular Crew Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 36	PCM audio will indeed have the best sound since it's uncompressed--identical to CD. BUT--the bitrate of PCM audio is a whopping 1411mbps instead of AC3s 160-320. That's almost a full thousand mbps more being dedicated to your audio (that must be taken away from video). If your movie is longer than about 75 minutes, using PCM audio will start to cut into the video quality. And truthfully, unless they're listening to the movie on a very expensive sound system, 99% of most people won't notice the difference between PCM and AC3. -Brent