ps3 sending pcm vs. dts hd

I just got a Yamaha RX-863. I already had a ps3. I hooked it up and it just shows PCM on the front of the Yamaha when I play the BD...even when I check in the settings of the disc to play it in hd audio. I am confused. Is PCM just as good as hd audio? Will the dts-hd or dd-hd ever show up on the front screen of my Yamaha receiver. I bought the new receiver so I could take advantage of the better uncompressed sound of blu ray discs. Any help would be really appreciated. Thanks.

The new PS3 slim is the first PS3 model to bitstream the advanced Blu-ray audio codecs. The older models decode DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD and output PCM which sounds identical to DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD bitstreamed to me, which are compressed lossless PCM formats. I guess potential exists for the Yamaha RX-V863 to do a better job decoding, but I don't believe that is the case. I have the Yamaha RX-V663 and can certainly tell no difference between having the PS3 decode and output PCM and other players bitstream, other than seeing the DTS-HD MA and Dolby TrueHD indicator lights lit up rather than PCM.

Bottom line in my opinion, don't worry about it, the PS3 handles everything Blu-ray very well.

Chris

The lossless formats (DtHD & DTS-HD MA) are basically simply a lossless zip compressed version of the original LPCM soundtrack used to save space on the disc. It does not matter WHERE it is unzipped since it is a lossless zip format just like PK ZIP.

The only way there would be any difference is if a receiver only did post processing of bitstreamed signals, but i doubt this. Most likely when someone says they hear an improvement letting the receiver do the decoding it is because the receiver likely boosts the sound level beyond what it does for the LPCM that is already decoded. That would be resolved by simply adjusting the volume level in the receiver. Many people think louder sounds better, but it is simply louder. ;)

Hope this helps explain this.

"PCM" is EXACTLY what should be displayed on your receiver when hooked to a PS3. Nothing to worry about. You're getting the TrueHD or MasterAudio soundtrack into your receiver. Sit back and enjoy.