Supported Audio Formats
- BrightSign TechDocs
This page covers the audio modes that different models support, recommended audio modes, and additional notes.
XC2055, XC4055 and XT2145
The audio modes supported by these player models are:
Stream / Codec Name | Common Name |
|---|---|
aac | AAC |
ac3 | AC3 or Dolby Digital |
eac3 | EAC3 or AC3+ or Dolby Digital Plus |
opus | Opus |
mp2 | MPEG1 Layer 2 or MP2 |
mp3 | MPEG1 Layer 3 or MP3 |
vorbis | Vorbis |
dts | DTS audio |
pcm_XXXXX | PCM audio (all types are supported) |
truehd | Dolby TrueHD |
mlp | Meridian Lossless |
adpcm_XXXX | ADPCM audio (all types are supported) |
flac | FLAC |
AU335
The audio modes supported by these player models are:
Container | Brand name | Audio | Codec | Channels | Max bit rate | Extension | Support | Support method |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Proprietary | Dolby Atmos™ | n/a | a metadata format (not a compression technology) | n/a | .mp4, ac3, ec3 | Arc/eArc (passthrough) | BrightAuthor: connected, BrightScript | |
Proprietary (DTS™) | DTS™ | compressed, lossy | AC3 (perhaps others) | 5.1 | 1.5 Mb/s | .mp4, tbd | Arc/eArc (passthrough) | BrightAuthor: connected (TBD), BrightScript (TBD) |
Proprietary (Dolby Digital Plus™ / EAC3) | Dolby Digital Plus™ / EAC3 | compressed, lossy | eAC3, others | 7.1 | 3 Mb/s | .mp4, ec3 | Arc/eArc (passthrough) | BrightAuthor: connected (if ac3, ec3), BrightScript |
Proprietary (Dolby® Digital / AC3) | Dolby® Digital / AC3 | compressed, lossy | AC3, others | 5.1 | 504 kb/s | .mp4, ac3, ec3 | Arc/eArc (passthrough) | BrightAuthor: connected (if ac3, ec3), BrightScript |
WAV aka PCM audio (Analog 16-24bit, 32-96 kHz), (Digital 16-24bit, 32-192kHz) | None | uncompressed | none | 2-8 | na | .wav | Analog Out (L/R only); Arc/eArc (eArc supports up to 8 channels) | BrightAuthor: connected, BrightScript |
MP3 | None | compressed | MPEG-2 Audio Layer III | 2 | na | .mp3 | Analog Out, Arc/eArc | BrightAuthor: connected, BrightScript |
MP2 | None | compressed | MPEG-1 Audio Layer II or MPEG-2 Audio Layer II | 2 | na | .mp2 | Analog Out, Arc/eArc | BrightScript |
m4a/AAC | None | compressed or uncompressed | PCM or (MPEG-4 Part 14) aka Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec, audio only | 2 | na | .m4a | Analog Out, Arc/eArc | BrightAuthor: connected, BrightScript |
m4v/AAC | None | compressed or uncompressed | PCM or (MPEG-4 Part 14) aka Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec, may have DRM | 2 | na | .m4v | Analog Out, Arc/eArc | BrightScript |
mp4/AAC | None | compressed or uncompressed | PCM or (MPEG-4 Part 14) aka Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec, often has video | 2 | na | .mp4 | Analog Out, Arc/eArc | BrightScript |
MP2TS/TS | None | compressed or uncompressed | PCM or MPEG-1 Audio Layer II or MPEG-2 Audio Layer II | 2 | na | .TS | Analog Out, Arc/eArc | BrightScript |
MOV | None | compressed or uncompressed | PCM or MPEG4 | 2 | na | .mov | Analog Out, Arc/eArc | BrightScript |
OGG | None | compressed | Ogg Vorbis (similar quality to MP3) | 2 | na | .ogg, ogz | None | BrightAuthor: connected, BrightScript |
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) | None | compressed | Codec by Xiph.Org | 2 | na | Analog Out, Arc/eArc | BrightAuthor: connected, BrightScript |
Series 4
The audio modes supported by these player models are:
Container | Brand name | Audio | Codec | Channels | Max bit rate | Extension | Analog supported? | HDMI® supported? |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Proprietary | Dolby Atmos™ | n/a | a metadata format (not a compression format) | n/a | .mp4, ac3, ec3 | No | passthrough | |
Proprietary (DTS™) | DTS™ | compressed, lossy | AC3 (perhaps others) | 5.1 | 1.5 Mb/s | .mp4, tbd | No | passthrough |
Proprietary (Dolby Digital Plus™ / EAC3) | Dolby Digital Plus™ / EAC3 | compressed, lossy | eAC3, others | 7.1 | 3 Mb/s | .mp4, ec3 | No | passthrough |
Proprietary (Dolby® Digital / AC3) | Dolby® Digital / AC3 | compressed, lossy | AC3, others | 5.1 | 504 kb/s | .mp4, ac3, ec3 | No | passthrough |
WAV aka PCM audio (Analog 16-24bit, 32-96 kHz), (Digital 16-24bit, 32-192kHz) | None | uncompressed | none | 2-8 | na | .wav | Yes (L/R only) | Yes (up to 8 channels) |
MP3 | None | compressed | MPEG-2 Audio Layer III | 2 | na | .mp3 | Yes | Yes |
MP2 | None | compressed | MPEG-1 Audio Layer II or MPEG-2 Audio Layer II | 2 | na | .mp2 | Yes | Yes |
m4a/AAC | None | compressed or uncompressed | PCM or (MPEG-4 Part 14) aka Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec, audio only | 2 | na | .m4a | Yes | Yes |
m4v/AAC | None | compressed or uncompressed | PCM or (MPEG-4 Part 14) aka Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec, may have DRM | 2 | na | .m4v | Yes | Yes |
mp4/AAC | None | compressed or uncompressed | PCM or (MPEG-4 Part 14) aka Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec, often has video | 2 | na | .mp4 | Yes | Yes |
MP2TS/TS | None | compressed or uncompressed | PCM or MPEG-1 Audio Layer II or MPEG-2 Audio Layer II | 2 | na | .TS | Yes | Yes |
MOV | None | compressed or uncompressed | PCM or MPEG4 | 2 | na | .mov | Yes | Yes |
OGG | None | compressed | Ogg Vorbis (similar quality to MP3) | 2 | na | .ogg, ogz | No | No |
FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) | None | compressed | Codec by Xiph.Org | 2 | na | Yes | Yes |
Additional Player Audio Format Information
XTx44, XDx34
FLAC codec (with the .ogg file format)
Opus codec
XTx43, XDx33/32, HDx24/23/22, LS424/423, 4Kx42
FLAC and Vorbis codecs (with the .ogg file format)
HD600
MP3 audio files as stereo or mono at a 48kHz sampling rate
HD2000
MP3 audio files as stereo or mono at a 48kHz or 44kHz sampling rate
WAV audio files as stereo or mono
Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 audio in a video file (decode or raw pass-through)
PCM Audio in a video file (LPCM)
Recommended Formats
AAC audio in H.264 Video (CBR only)
MP3 audio files as stereo or mono at a 48kHz or 44kHz sampling rate (MPEG1/MPE2 Video), with a maximum bit depth of 16 bits, and a maximum bit-rate of 320kBit/s.
WAV audio files as stereo or mono. We recommend a maximum bit depth of 24 bits at a sampling rate of 96kHz, 48kHz, or 44.1kHz (except for the HDx20, HDx10, and AU320, which may require a lower bit depth).
M4A and AAC audio files (Note that if you are using BrightAuthor, you must be on version 4.3.0.x or later and these formats are not supported in BSN presentations)
Notes
To play videos with surround sound, you must encode an AC3 audio layer along with an video layer in a supported codec and format.
All tracks must have the same sampling rate, or you must enable the Mixed Audio feature, if you plan to output multiple audio tracks simultaneously (from either audio or video files).
Series 4 and earlier players do not decode surround sound (AC3) audio but the audio can be passed through to a decoding device over HDMI of SPDIF.
If you are using Adobe Premiere to encode the video with the SurCode codec for audio, ensure that SurCode is in BluRay mode, not Dolby Digital mode.
Two-channel PCM and AAC currently requires specific settings and a plugin for BrightAuthor and BrightAuthor:connected, or else the output will be stereo down mix because they're handled in the "multichannel" output routing which currently isn't exposed in the UI. See https://brightsign.box.com/s/ni3dn4eztw2jjr4sgo14jpgjkigj36jj and note that:
Audio that the player can decode with 2 or fewer channels is routed as normal "stereo" audio.
Audio the player cannot decode, regardless of channel count, is routed as "compressed" audio.
Audio the player can decode with 3 or more channels is routed as "multichannel" audio - and that's where the UI doesn't match the output possibilities.
The pass through option currently routes only "compressed" audio through to the output. "Multichannel" audio isn't affected and therefore gets down-mixed to stereo and output.
The plugin enables "Multichannel" audio to go out through HDMI when in Fixed audio mode.
We do not decode Dolby AC3, but Dolby Digital (AC3) 5.1 audio can be used in an MPEG2 or MOV video (pass through over HDMI or TOSLINK with an expander). Other multichannel audio formats may work as pass through, but they are not officially supported.
DTS audio in the TS (transport stream) video container can be used as pass through. DTS in other containers (MOV, MP4, MKV) are not currently supported. The XTx44 currently does not support DTS audio in any container.
BrightAuthor version 8.0.73 fixes a bug that caused AC3 audio to play back louder than expected.
Gefen HDMI to HDMI Plus Audio converter, (SKU: GTV-HDMI-2-HDMIAUD, UPC: 845344056111) only supports multichannel analog output for LPCM 5.1 audio input. It does NOT output analog for compressed audio formats.