DTS-HD Master Audio coming to PlayStation 3

One of the biggest complaints about the PS3 as a Blu-ray player—namely, that it can’t handle the bit-for-bit DTS-HD Master Audio format—is about to be fixed, according to the official PlayStation blog.

Firmware update v.2.30, which will arrive “soon,” according to Sony, will at last add support for DTS-HD Master Audio—a “lossless” audio format that delivers a bit-for-bit reproduction of the studio master soundtrack—to the PS3’s Blu-ray player. The PS3 already supports Dolby TrueHD, a competing lossless audio format.

Also included in the update is support for DTS-HD High Resolution Audio, a 7.1-channel audio format that takes up less space than DTS-HD Master Audio soundtracks but isn’t truly bit-for-bit.

The addition of the new DTS formats is great news for home theater fanatics, who have long griped that the PS3—while clearly the best value among existing Blu-ray players—fell short in terms of high-resolution audio output.

The PS3 still lacks a couple of audio features included in high-end Blu-ray players: namely, bitstream output (which sends uncompressed audio to receivers with their own DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD decoders) and multichannel analog outputs (the lack of which means you’ll need a receiver with an HDMI input to reap the benefits of DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD).

Also coming in the PS3 update: A revamped interface for the PlayStation store, including four new content categories and faster performance.

All in all, pretty nice. I’m this close to snapping up a PS3 myself, and while I can’t say the lack of DTS-HD MA support was holding me back, it’s nice knowing that my fellow home theater snobs won’t be able to razz me once I make the jump.

Related:
Firmware (v.2.30) Details and Store Walkthrough [PlayStation blog]