Hi there,

since i bought a new tv and watching CR via HDMI in my home cinema system now, i was wondering if there will be an option für 5.1.
You can call is "High Definition Sound" for commercial marketing...

I haven't heard (hahahah!!!) anything about this, but I'll see if I can find out more info.

I think most anime is aired in Japan with stereo audio, since large speaker set ups aren't very common. You probably wouldn't get any more out of this than upmixing it yourself through a receiver.

streaming true 5.1 would take a ridiculous amount of bandwidth, and factor in licensing of some type of 5.1 codec, such as THX or dolby. Not saying it couldn't be done, but it would be an interesting endeavor.

I remember back when I was renting anime DVDs from Netflix, it was quite common to see the Japanese audio listed as only stereo, while the English dub was 5.1.

I know hpulley imports discs from Japan, so I PM'd him to see what the scoop is on the current status of audio on current anime releases.

THX is a company and hi-fi standard that certifies products. You're probably thinking of DTS, which is the other big organization that creates and licenses audio codecs.



And I think that's still the case for the majority of DVD/BDs, outside of the super popular titles like SAO, but even then, I would guess the 5.1 is made specifically for the home video release and not the broadcast.

Almost all television anime series are released with just 2-channel LPCM audio, often with secondary 2-channel commentary LPCM.

The one exception I can think of is Girls Und Panzer which is 2.1 as they added a subwoofer track for diesel engines and tank shells. It also comes with 2-channel DTS as an alternative. Only the 2-channel audio was broadcast or streamed.

Theatrical releases like 5cm/second, Garden of Words, Asura, Wolf Children, et al are 5.1 but television in Japan still seems to be 2 channel only. The 5.1 audio is at a much higher bit rate than 2-channel. My Sony player displays the audio and video bit rates and 48KHz 24-bit 5.1 is about 5Mbps while 2-channel is more like 2Mbps and most streams have very low bitrate audio, 512Kbps, 128Kbps, very poor. 16-bit 44KHz CD is about 1.4Mbps.

Sword Art Online import disc is only 2-channel LPCM.

I must have been thinking of Lossless LPCM track, and got it in my head it was 5.1.

I thought you were talking about English dubs which may well be 5.1 but the import is just 2 channel. I think some of my few R1 DVDs are like that, 2 channel Japanese audio or 5.1 English.

Nope, since the question seemed to be about the Japanese audio tracks, I've only been talking about those. English audio tracks are made with a completely different audience in mind.