Criterion's Brazil Blu Ray apparently has a matrix-encoded Dolby Pro Logic stereo track.
In other words, it's a 2.0 stream, BUT this stream has "matrix-encoded" 2 additional channels into it which can be extracted to have 4 separate channels. I tried this with foobar2000 and free_dsp_surround (which aims to do precisely that) and it seems to work. I actually get a center channel with much of the dialogue and SFX as opposed to the front channels. I only tried the plugin with the 5.1 channel layout which isn't really true to Dolby Pro Logic (which has 4 channels = front, left, center and a back center), but it still seems to do a decent job, as far as I can judge.
Here's why I believe it does have such a channel; an article written by someone who owns it and it apparently says "DTS-HD MA 2.0 surround".
http://audiophilereview.com/audiophile-m...preme.html
The Criterion website is a little ambiguous, says "with DTS-HD Master Audio surround soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition", but obviously it only has 2 channels, as seen on blu-ray.com.
So anyway, that was kinda tough to figure out. Even the blu-ray.com review doesn't mention it, so I'm guessing this knowledge has become kind of obscure. I wonder if there's any list of movies that have such a track? Downmixed back to headphones (with Dolby Headphone plugin) it definitely sounds like a step up from the original 2.0 track. Much more "roomy" and alive. (I don't have a real surround system, so this is the best I can try)
This could improve the experience of a lot of movies and more importantly give an option to create actual surround tracks for movies that don't seem to have one.
I wonder how many movies are out there with such a track without anybody (even the studios) knowing about it?
And by the way, this is just the original Dolby Pro Logic. The later version Dolby Pro Logic II (which some claim to be compatible) apparently can even mix full 5.1 channels into a stereo track. This is rather impressive, considering that it is (to my knowledge) a fully analogue technique. The original one is, anyway.
UPDATE: imdb has a "Matrix Surround" list but I am not yet sure how complete it is and whether it includes Dolby Pro Logic. Brazil for example is not on that list, nor is it mentioned in its technical specs.
UPDATE 2: Found another very interesting article on the subject in general: Matrix audio. It boldly claims that pretty much every movie since 1977 has such a soundtrack. Makes you wonder ...
UPDATE 3: Just realized I'm not the first one to bring this up. Nevermind. Still, anyone know of a list of movies that have this?
(This post was last modified: 2017-11-07, 02:28 PM by TomArrow.)
In other words, it's a 2.0 stream, BUT this stream has "matrix-encoded" 2 additional channels into it which can be extracted to have 4 separate channels. I tried this with foobar2000 and free_dsp_surround (which aims to do precisely that) and it seems to work. I actually get a center channel with much of the dialogue and SFX as opposed to the front channels. I only tried the plugin with the 5.1 channel layout which isn't really true to Dolby Pro Logic (which has 4 channels = front, left, center and a back center), but it still seems to do a decent job, as far as I can judge.
Here's why I believe it does have such a channel; an article written by someone who owns it and it apparently says "DTS-HD MA 2.0 surround".
http://audiophilereview.com/audiophile-m...preme.html
The Criterion website is a little ambiguous, says "with DTS-HD Master Audio surround soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition", but obviously it only has 2 channels, as seen on blu-ray.com.
So anyway, that was kinda tough to figure out. Even the blu-ray.com review doesn't mention it, so I'm guessing this knowledge has become kind of obscure. I wonder if there's any list of movies that have such a track? Downmixed back to headphones (with Dolby Headphone plugin) it definitely sounds like a step up from the original 2.0 track. Much more "roomy" and alive. (I don't have a real surround system, so this is the best I can try)
This could improve the experience of a lot of movies and more importantly give an option to create actual surround tracks for movies that don't seem to have one.
I wonder how many movies are out there with such a track without anybody (even the studios) knowing about it?
And by the way, this is just the original Dolby Pro Logic. The later version Dolby Pro Logic II (which some claim to be compatible) apparently can even mix full 5.1 channels into a stereo track. This is rather impressive, considering that it is (to my knowledge) a fully analogue technique. The original one is, anyway.
UPDATE: imdb has a "Matrix Surround" list but I am not yet sure how complete it is and whether it includes Dolby Pro Logic. Brazil for example is not on that list, nor is it mentioned in its technical specs.
UPDATE 2: Found another very interesting article on the subject in general: Matrix audio. It boldly claims that pretty much every movie since 1977 has such a soundtrack. Makes you wonder ...
UPDATE 3: Just realized I'm not the first one to bring this up. Nevermind. Still, anyone know of a list of movies that have this?