2010-12-15, 03:49
For the record, and as a summary:
E-AC-3 should work (at least on Linux) on all cards that have 192kHz stereo support, which is probably everyone except ATI cards (see below). Also (again, at least on Linux) DTS-HD streams that are below 6.144 Mbps should work on all cards that have 192kHz stereo support (i.e. e.g. ION / GF9400 is enough) (I tested with the only full-length sample I have and the stream never peaked over 6.144 Mbps for the duration of the movie, so these do exist). This is not possible for low-bitrate TrueHD streams, though.
Support status of full (over 6.144 Mbps) DTS-HD / TrueHD (from a driver/hw standpoint; not yet in XBMC):
You can check DTS-HD/TrueHD support on Linux by checking for "HBR" text in "Pincap" line in /proc/asound/cardX/codec#Y (as previously mentioned, low-bitrate DTS-HD can be done without HBR). For actually testing it, you can see the above threads (or just wait for XBMC to get support :p).
- We know how to make E-AC-3 / DTS-HD / TrueHD bitstreaming work on Linux, and it is planned to implement this in AudioEngine (I've also confirmed the bitstream syntax with danconti).
- Windows support is possible (MSDN), but this of course requires a Windows developer to do it (which I am not)
E-AC-3 should work (at least on Linux) on all cards that have 192kHz stereo support, which is probably everyone except ATI cards (see below). Also (again, at least on Linux) DTS-HD streams that are below 6.144 Mbps should work on all cards that have 192kHz stereo support (i.e. e.g. ION / GF9400 is enough) (I tested with the only full-length sample I have and the stream never peaked over 6.144 Mbps for the duration of the movie, so these do exist). This is not possible for low-bitrate TrueHD streams, though.
Support status of full (over 6.144 Mbps) DTS-HD / TrueHD (from a driver/hw standpoint; not yet in XBMC):
- NVIDIA GeForce 200 series works partially (I believe it is slightly buggy and it depends on the A/V receiver if it works or not), but on *Linux only*; the 200 series is not supported on Windows at all
- NVIDIA GeForce 400 series works
- ATI cards do not work on Linux; they seem to have a non-standard interface for anything else than 48kHz stereo audio, some information from AMD about that will be needed to get it working (or some serious trial-and-error by someone who has such a card )
- ATI cards work on Windows, but I don't know which ones have bitstreaming support
- INTEL HDMI graphics chipsets that should work, at least on Linux: IbexPeak (0x80862804), CougarPoint
- INTEL HDMI graphics chipsets that have no hw support: Cantiga, Eaglelake
- INTEL HDMI graphics chipsets that I don't know about: Bearlake, IbexPeak (0x80860054), Crestline
You can check DTS-HD/TrueHD support on Linux by checking for "HBR" text in "Pincap" line in /proc/asound/cardX/codec#Y (as previously mentioned, low-bitrate DTS-HD can be done without HBR). For actually testing it, you can see the above threads (or just wait for XBMC to get support :p).