Still hanging onto that old Sony BDP-S300 Blu-ray player? Your faith has been rewarded now that the 4.20 firmware update adds Dolby TrueHD audio decoding. Support was rumored in past firmware updates, but as of 8/29, it's official, along with BD-Java fixes and BD-/RE BDMV compatibility. Remember when we thought $600 for a player with limited audio support and no Bonus View or BD-Live compatibility was cheap? Oh, how expectations change.

[Thanks, Mick]

Ooh, goodie! A full five months after Corel released its WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray application, the first major update pack has arrived. The unimaginatively named WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray Update Pack checks in at just under 50MB and size and promises to resolve the "Enable S/PDIF Out" / "HDMI output to speaker" issues while expanding the list of compatible commercial titles and enhancing compatibility for a slew of VGA chipsets within Windows Vista / XP. There's no direct mention of BD-Live support, but for those who purchased the original, why not give the update a go and report back?

[Thanks, Tyler]

Earlier this month, ASUS introduced the "world's first HDMI 1.3a compliant audio / video enhancement combo card." Who knew numero dos was so close behind? Auzentech has just announced its very own HDMI 1.3-native PCIe audio combo card, which is built around Creative's X-Fi processor and enables PC users to easily output 7.1-channel audio with no downsampling. Essentially, the Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater 7.1 "accepts video from either an internal or external connection, mixes it with digital audio, and outputs the combined video and lossless multichannel audio via a single HDMI 1.3 port." Yep, that means Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio codecs are fully supported. The only digs? For one, pricing remains a mystery, but the real kicker is the September release -- talk about a long wait.

Some Blu-ray Discs offer the highest quality audio around, but up until now every PC solution has been forced to re-sample the higher fidelity tracks to 16-bit because of the lack of a protected audio path. Thankfully this is rapidly changing with the newer hardware coming out, and today CyberLink has announced that with a little help from Realtek's embedded ALC889 audio codec, PowerDVD will no longer be limited to 48kHz/16-bit and will now be able to deliver audio playback at 192kHz/24-bit. The bad news is that the free update to PowerDVD won't be available until sometime in the second half of 2008, and we're a little confused on what hardware we'll need in addition to PowerDVD to obtain audio bliss.

Check it, Blu-ray fans. That totally believable rumor about Transformers finally fitting into a BD sleeve was indeed accurate, and now we're starting to see the nitty-gritty details about what we can expect come September 2nd. For starters, the Blu-ray edition will feature a 5.1 Dolby TrueHD track as well as a 5.1 PCM uncompressed track to complement the obligatory 1080p transfer. We're also told to expect a trailer for the BD release of Iron Man, BD-Live content and a lengthy list of supplemental material -- all of which is expected to be in beautiful high-def. Tap the read link for the full list of extras, and start saving that $39.99 (or so) right now.

[Thanks, Wii60Warrior]

Heads-up, BDP-S300 owners -- Sony has just unleashed a new firmware update for your machine. Posted today, the v3.90 update will bring you, well, we're not exactly sure what. According to users at AVSForum, the general consensus is that TrueHD support just has to be in there, but Sony's servers are so glacially slow that no one has been able to confirm or deny just yet. Once your download manages to complete (hey, it takes awhile when it's being uploaded from what appears to be a 14.4k modem connection), feel free to discuss any notable changes in comments below.

[Via AVSForum, thanks Peter]

Here we are almost two years with Blu-ray and we still don't have the perfect player. Sure, the PS3 is going to finally get DTS-HD support, but it still can't bitstream the latest codecs and it still need a gizmo to use with an universal remote. There are some nicely equipped stand-alone players, but none that support BD Live yet. This only leaves HTPC software, which with the most recent updates supports BD Live and the next-gen codecs, or do they? As always, the devil is in the details and in the case of trying to enjoy TrueHD or DTS-HD on a PC, it's a pretty big devil. You see while the latest versions support both next-gen codecs, because of the lack of a protected audio path in Windows, the audio gets down sampled. As you might expect this still ends up sounding better than we're used to, but it's by no means lossless. Like just about all the limitations of Blu-ray, it's a temporary problem -- in fact the required hardware is expected in the second quarter of '08. The cool part is that you'll have the option to either decode in the PC or in your AV/R. The bad part is that you'll have to upgrade your sound card and playback software.

For years we've sent digital audio in the form of a compressed bitstream from our disc player to our audio/video receiver for decoding. So whether we used a Toslink cable or coaxial digital cable, the Dolby Digital or DTS signal wasn't decoded by our player. But today -- thanks to HDMI -- we have the bandwidth to send uncompressed multi-channel audio from the player to the amp without having to resort to six or eight analog RCA cables -- ala the PS3. And with the latest version of HDMI 1.3, we also have the more traditional option of letting our AV/R do the heavy lifting. But of course this begs the question; which is best? On one hand if we decode in the player we lose the ability to use all the bells and whistles we paid for in the latest receiver we bought -- assuming we bought one. But on the other, if we don't decode in the player we lose any sounds from the interactive features or maybe even a secondary audio track that may play along side the main audio. Luckily, some players give you a choice, but the most popular Blu-ray player doesn't, as the PS3 doesn't support bitstreaming TrueHD or DTS-HD (it will bitstream Dolby Digital and DTS though). So assuming you even have a choice, which is better, decoding in the player or in your AV/R.

Watching baseball in high-def on TBS HD is a beautiful thing, but witnessing nearly everything else in unflattering stretch-o-vision isn't exactly enthralling. Thankfully, it seems as if the channel notorious for abusing its "HD" suffix may be coming back over from the dark side, as more and more content of late has shown up in actual 1080i. For instance, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle was aired over the weekend in true HD, and more recently, episodes of The Office have been broadcast sans the stretch. Heck, even the TBS watermark and on-screen graphics have been tweaked to signify the apparent coming out party. Surely we aren't the only one noticing an influx in actual HD content on TBS HD, right?

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Blu-ray 496*

Blu-ray

• The 6th Day (Sony)
• The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (Sony)
• Sharkwater (Warner)
• Space Ace (Digital Leisure)
• Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (Sony)
• The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (Sony)
• Yukikaze (Bandai Visual)

* Blu-ray total does not reflect 32 Paramount titles that were previously officially available.

The format that some say isn't done, just got one step closer for those with media PCs, as the latest version of WinDVD 9 Plus Blu-ray -- despite the new name, HD DVD is still supported -- finally includes support for the latest audio codecs Blu-ray has to offer. But improved audio support isn't all it has to offer, as BonusView is now supported, as well as support for the latest HD video camera codec, AVCHD. We had a chance to play around with it early, but unfortunately we weren't able to unlock TrueHD or DTS-HD -- still waiting to hear back from support. We also had a few HDCP errors despite the fact that PowerDVD plays just fine with our Radeon 2600HD video card. Either way, maybe you'll have better luck, and it'll only cost you $99 to find out -- or $69 if you are upgrading.

**Update** Thanks to support we got TrueHD and DTS-HD working by messing with the sound card settings, but the HDCP issue is still bugging us.

Now that HD movies fans everywhere can all get behind one format, the next question is which player. Unlike HD DVD, there's lots to chose from and it can be difficult to figure out which is the best for you. The PS3 might be the obvious choice to some, but for others, the lack of an IR port is a deal breaker -- or maybe the lack of DTS-HD MA support. No matter what your reason, we're going to try to help you on your quest. If you only care about features, you may just want to check the Blu-ray feature grid, otherwise, read on for a review of Samsung's latest Blu-ray player, the BD-P1400. The BD-P1400 shares many features (including the UI) with its dual format brother, the BD-UP5000 -- but there's one primary difference: we had a hard time finding anything wrong with this one.

The biggest complaint about Blu-ray is that it's a work in process, and while that is hard to argue, the manufactures aren't making us wait for revisions. With each new generation of player, Blu-ray fans wait with baited breath to see if it'll satisfy all their needs, but until Profile 2.0 players emerge, it's likely they'll be left at least partially unsatisfied. The BD-UP5000 is the latest player to try to be everything to everyone by not only playing both HD media formats, but also by enabling a few firsts for Blu-ray like internal decoding of all the latest codecs. While the BD-UP5000 does have a lot of promise, we feel it's not quite there yet.

With HD DVD and Blu-ray also came the ultimate audio options in a time when convenience trumps quality in most of the audio world. While SACD and DVD-Audio are all but a bust, audiophiles can turn to HD DVD and Blu-ray for the ultimate audio experience. But even if you aren't an audiophile, it's still worth it to many to take advantage of the master quality audio available on the HD discs that you've already paid for. Unfortunately, it isn't as easy as it used to be, and after realzing how much confusion there was surrounding these next-gen codecs, we decided to try to help clear up the confusion. So if you want to know how to take advantage of everything on the discs you already own, but don't know why Toslink doesn't cut it anymore (and what's so special about about HDMI 1.3), then read on, will ya?