A group of Japanese companies is coming up with a new high-definition audio format designed for use with Blu-ray discs, dubbed High Resolution Audio. Membership of the Promotion Group for Blu-ray Disc High Resolution Audio includes Memory-Tech, Krypton, Q-tec and Camerata Tokyo.

Similar in concept to Super Audio CD (SACD), a format launched in 1999 - that never caught fire in the market - designed to offer an increased number of audio channels and significantly improved quality over traditional audio CDs, the proposed High Resolution Audio format makes use of the high capacity of Blu-ray discs.

Little details are known. How the format encodes its data is not yet clear, wonders Expert Reviews, and neither is the compatibility aspect: if High Resolution Audio represents the use of a new format entirely, rather than just using one of the existing Blu-ray audio formats such as Dolby DTS-HD Master Audio or TrueHD, new software will need to be written to cope.

This is not the first venture into high resolution Blu-ray audio. US-based AIX Records, founded by Dr Mark Waldrep, has pioneered the move, with a number of titles now available. "My definition of HD-Audio is: A high definition recording is one that equals or exceeds the capabilities of human hearing," says Waldrep. "This means that the two most important parameters of recorded sound or music are the frequency response and the dynamic range."

"According to my definition, a tracks that contains frequencies up to 48 kHz or even more and a dynamic range approaching 130 dB qualifies as HD. If the specs of a recording falls short of these numbers, then it would be standard definition. CDs, analog tape and vinyl are all standard definition." Not shy of challenges, AIX has already released Blu-ray 3D music albums with hires audio!

Munich-based msm-Studios, in co-operation with 2L Lindberg Lyd, has developed the Pure Audio Blu-ray format bringing high resolution sound up to 192 kHz/24Bit. Some titles include 5.1/7.1 Dolby True HD, DTS-HD and 2.0 LPCM. To top it up a Pure Audio Blu-ray title includes an hybrid CD/SACD disc.

Currently, the Promotion Group for Blu-ray Disc High Resolution Audio is keeping full details of the specification a secret, but according to a report in Softpedia promises to release a complete set of tools for High Resolution Audio creating following the launch of the first three albums in the format in November this year.

Story filed 03.10.12