What is DVD Audio?

DVD-Audio is finally here. And while the number of software titles encoded in the new multi-channel, high-resolution audio format is about the same as the number of WWE superstars named Mendlebaum, the good news for audiophiles and music lovers is that DVD-Audio is now a reality, with players on dealers' shelves.

DVD-Audio is the audiophile, music-centric version of DVD-Video. While a conventional DVD movie disc spends most of its data on the video picture and only trickles a small fraction for the compressed Dolby Digital 5.1-channel soundtrack, DVD-Audio dispenses with video entirely and uses all of the data for extremely high quality sound. And most importantly, unlike DVD-Video, DVD-Audio uses no audio compression whatsoever, so every subtlety and nuance from the original recording session is presented in full fidelity and stunning detail.

View the video.