Uncompressed PCM Audio
Uncompressed audio is typically referred to as PCM, although the files usually have a
“.wav” or “.aif” extension. The DVD specification supports uncompressed PCM audio at
sample sizes of 16 bits and 24 bits and sample rates of 48 kHz or 96 kHz. Audio in this
format is completely compatible with DVD players worldwide and is of higher fidelity
than data-compressed audio. The disadvantage of PCM audio is the relatively large file
sizes, compared to compressed audio formats.
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Chapter 5
Preparing Audio Assets
There are two common PCM audio formats:
• AIFF audio (Audio Interchange File Format-uncompressed PCM audio; the most common
Macintosh audio format)
• WAVE audio (Windows uncompressed PCM audio; the most common Windows audio
format, also referred to as WAV)
The DVD Studio Pro integrated MPEG encoder creates AIFF format files. In most cases,
DVD Studio Pro converts WAVE files into AIFF files.