Petteri Pyyny
30 Jun 2003 12:08
According to a thread on 3ivx.com the version of Apple Quicktime (6.4d37) bundled with WWDC Panther, has options for decoding 5.0 and 5.1 multi-channel AAC audio.
Indeed our sources have confirmed that the upcoming QuickTime will have multi-channel AAC support. Taking a look at the screenshot accompanied in the thread, there are three different channel profiles for both 5.0 and 5.1 audio (the difference being that 5.1 includes the LFE, or Low Frequency Encoding channel).
The different 5.1 configurations are:
· L R C LFE Ls Rs
· L R Ls Rs C LFE
· L C R Ls Rs LFE
The 5.0 configurations are the same excluding the LFE-channel. It is unknown whether or not the decoder will be able to detect the channel configuration automatically. It would be obviously quite frustrating finding out through trial and error, which configuration is correct for a specific video. Of course it's easy to notice if you've got the wrong profile active.