The Flaming Lips' CD and DVD release of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, one of the first major albums to employ the DVD-Audio format

DVD-Audio is a format for delivering high-fidelity audio content on a DVD. It offers many channels (from mono to 5.1 surround sound) at various sampling frequencies and sample rates. Compared to the CD format, the much higher capacity DVD format enables the inclusion of either considerably more music (with respect to total running time and quantity of songs) or far higher audio quality (reflected by higher linear sampling rates and higher vertical bit-rates, and/or additional channels for spatial sound reproduction). cover art from the CD+DVD version of the Flaming Lips Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots (fair use; copyright held by Warner Brothers Records) This work is copyrighted. ... The Flaming Lips are an American rock band with psychedelic influences, formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma by Mark Coyne, Wayne Coyne and Michael Ivins. ... Cover art of Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots is a 2002 album by The Flaming Lips. ... DVD is an optical disc storage media format that can be used for storing data, including movies with high video and sound quality. ... Monaural sound reproduction is single channel. ... Surround sound is the concept of expanding the spatial imaging of audio playback from 1 dimension (mono/Left-Right) to 2D or 3D. This is often performed for a more realistic audio environment, actively implemented in cinema sound systems, technical theatre, home entertainment, video arcades, computer gaming, and a growing... Size of CD compared to pencil. ... The sampling frequency or sampling rate defines the number of samples per second taken from a continuous signal to make a discrete signal. ... A bit (abbreviated b) is the most basic information unit used in computing and information theory. ...

Audio on a disc can be 16, 20 or 24 bit, with sampling rates of 44.1, 48, 88.2, 96, 176.4 or 192 kHz. (The highest sampling rates of 176.4 and 192 kHz are limited to two channels.) Different sampling sizes and frequencies can be used on a single disc. Audio is stored on the disc in LPCM format (uncompressed or losslessly compressed with Meridian Lossless Packing). The DVD-Audio player may downmix surround sound to two-channel stereo if the listener does not have a surround sound setup. Unfortunately, there is only support of downmix to two-channel stereo, not to configurations like 4.1. DVD-Audio may also feature menus, text subtitles, still images and slideshows. Inclusion of DVD-Video also is possible. Such discs commonly contain Dolby Digital or DTS versions of the audio (with lossy compression, usually downsampled to lower sampling sizes and frequencies) in the DVD-Video section. This is done to ensure compatibility with DVD-Video players. Pulse-code modulation (PCM) is a modulation technique invented by the British Alec Reeves in 1937. ... Note: This article is about audio data compression, which reduces the data rate of digital audio signals. ... Meridian Lossless Packing is a lossless compression technique for compressing PCM audio data. ... // Description Dolby Digital is the trademarked marketing name for Dolby Laboratories lossy AC-3 codec. ... In cinemas, DTS (Digital Theater Systems) is a multichannel audio source for synchronized film sound. ... Note: This article is about audio data compression, which reduces the data rate of digital audio signals. ...

The introduction of the DVD-Audio format angered many early adopters of the DVD format. While DVD-Audio discs are capable of higher fidelity sound than CDs, there is debate as to whether or not the difference is distinguishable to typical human ears. DVD-Audio currently forms a niche market, probably due to its dependency upon new and relatively expensive equipment. DVD-Audio is currently in a format war with SACD. DVD-Audio might find more success in the form of DualDisc and CD/DVD packages than as a standalone format. A format war describes competition between competing, and typically mutually incompatible, media formats, usually very costly to the format-owning parties involved. ... Super Audio CD (SACD) is a new audio recording format aimed at providing higher fidelity audio reproduction than the compact disc. ... DualDisc Logo DualDisc is an optical disc format for storing digital data promoted by the RIAA. Essentially, DualDisc is a combination of a compact disc (CD) with a DVD, with one format on one side of the disc and the other on the opposite. ...

Copy prevention

DVD-Audio discs employ a robust copy prevention mechanism, called Content Protection for Prerecorded Media (CPPM). CPPM, managed by the 4C Entity, prevents users from extracting audio to computers and portable media players. Copy prevention, also known as copy protection, is any technical measure designed to prevent duplication of information. ...

Because DVD-Video's content-scrambling system (CSS) was quickly broken, DVD-Audio's developers sought a better method of blocking unauthorized duplications. They developed CPPM, which uses a media key block (MKB) to authenticate DVD-Audio players. In order to decrypt the audio, players must obtain a media key from the MKB, which also is encrypted. The player must use its own unique key to decrypt the MKB. If a DVD-Audio player's decryption key is compromised, that key can be rendered useless for decrypting future DVD-Audio discs. DVD-Audio discs also can utilize digital watermarking technology developed by the Verance Corporation. Content-Scrambling System (CSS) is an encryption system used on some DVDs. ... Digital watermarking is a technique which allows an individual to add hidden copyright notices or other verification messages to digital audio, video, or image signals and documents. ...

As of 2005, CPPM has not been cracked. However, tools have been developed that will patch into a commercial software player and use it as middleware to decrypt the contents of the disc. 2005 is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Software cracking is the modification of software to remove encoded copy prevention. ...

The 4C Entity also developed a similar specification, Content Protection for Recordable Media (CPRM), which is used on Secure Digital Cards. CPRM or Content Protection for Recordable Media is a mechanism for controlling the copying, moving and deletion of digital media on a host device, such as a personal computer, or other digital player. ... 16Mb SD Card 1 GB SD Card Secure Digital (also known as SD) is a flash memory memory card format. ...

References

Labriola, Don. (August 25, 2003). Digital Content Protection, Part II. ExtremeTech.com

External links

• The 4C Entity LLC - licensors of the Content Protection for Prerecorded Media (CPPM) specification