Dolby TrueHD is a lossless audio codec developed by Dolby Laboratories and was introduced in 2004. It was intended to succeed Dolby Digital, and provides up to 16 audio channels at 192 KHz and 24-bit audio encoding. However, Blu-ray specifications cap them to 8-channel discrete audio in a 7.1 surround format at 96 KHz, or a traditional 5.1 surround format at 192 KHz.
The format was extended by Dolby Atmos in 2012, which features a Dolby TrueHD core audio track for non-Atmos compatible recievers.
Old design
Trivia[]
- The format was available as an optional audio codec for both Blu-ray and the defunct HD-DVD format.
- On Blu-ray, the format's debut was late to launch, only appearing in January 2007 as part of a demo disc, The Sound of High Definition. The first release outside of demo discs was a music disc, Nine Inch Nails: Beside You in Time on February 27, 2007; while the first feature film disc to feature a TrueHD soundtrack was Stomp the Yard by Sony on May 15, 2007.
- On HD-DVD, this format served as a supplement to Dolby Digital Plus soundtracks as a lossless option.
- TrueHD, due to its late appearance on Blu-ray, lagged behind competiting sound systems on the format, though Paramount and Funimation discs still feature TrueHD on a regular basis, not including its use as a core audio track on Atmos-compatible discs.
- There was also a version of TrueHD that implemented a matrixing component similarly to Surround EX for Dolby Digital, aptly named TrueHD EX. This was only used on a small amount of releases.
- Prior to May 2012, TrueHD streams were capped to a 48 KHz audio frequency. Starting in mid-May 2012, 96 KHz support was added, with three Blu-ray releases taking advantage of the new format as its launch titles - Chinese release The Flowers of War for theatrical releases, and two music releases, San Francisco Symphony at 100 and Satchurated: Live in Montreal.
- As of January 2015, all legacy Dolby audio technologies prior to Dolby Atmos (including TrueHD) have been folded into the name of Dolby Audio, though the TrueHD name is still used in spots.