Checklist
Problem Description / Use Case
The audiotag filter is a godsend to those who use a TV & AV receiver/speaker setup & want streams prioritised to hear the best/most suitable surround sound bitstreams for their home AV receiver/surround speaker setup.
However, the 'sources' of media files may not have an AV receiver (hardware surround audio decoder), nor have a good understanding of surround sound formats, and/or simply mislabel filenames. i.e. using 5.1 & Atmos tags together [Dolby Atmos by definition is an extension to a baseline Dolby TrueHD (7.1), Dolby Digital Plus (7.1), or Dolby AC-4 format & typically should contain 7.1+ audio channels].
Adding to the confusion are formats such as DD+ which contain up to 7.1 channels, but can/are often stripped/encoded or only contain 5.1. This is also true of DTS-HD MA/DTS-HD formats.
For example, using the DTS-HD MA audiotag could return any of the following results:
DTS-HD MA 7.1
DTS-HD MA 6.1
DTS-HD MA 5.1
I might prioritise Atmos (typically 7.1+) above DTS-HD MA, but end up with streams that contain Atmos 5.1 ranking higher than streams containing DTS-HD MA 7.1.
Other files can contain 7.1/6.1/5.1 audio, but are encoded using aac/opus codecs. Most (if not all) home AV receivers can't decode these 'psuedo' surround formats, hence no sound or no surround sound playback.
Due to the broad range of surround audio formats, their backwards compatibilities/flexibility, and file encoding choices, it complicates the ability of AIOstreams to accurately filter results by audio 'quality' using just the current audiotags. The term 'quality' might also be considered (by some) as a proxy for the number of surround channels contained. Despite all this, AIOstreams has done a damn fine job so far.
For understanding & clarification, here are the current (v1.12.3) surround AudioTags & what each should technically mean in terms of # of encoded surround channels:
Atmos (7.1+ based on TrueHD/DD+/AC4)
TrueHD (up to 7.1*)
7.1
DTS-HD MA (up to 7.1*)
DTS-HD (up to 7.1*)
DD+ (up to 7.1*, also known as EAC3)
DTS (5.1)
DD (5.1, also known as AC3)
5.1
- up to 7.1 can be any one of the following standard speaker/channel configurations: 5.1, 6.1, or 7.1
References used:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS,_Inc.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS-HD_Master_Audio
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dolby
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dolby_Digital_Plus
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dolby_TrueHD
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Atmos
I am by no means a true audiophile, just someone who enjoys surround sound setups, so I jumped down the decoders/formats rabbit hole to increase my own understanding.
Additional info/tags beyond the ones I propose likely will be suggested by others with deeper knowledge and/or by those who have a better understanding of other non-common audio metatags used in filenames e.g. is AC4 in filenames used?
Proposed Solution
UPDATE/EDIT:
To avoid the sheer number of audiotags you would need to create for all the decoder formats & surround channel combinations that exist, perhaps a new/seperate selectable audio/speaker category containing 7.1, 6.1, 5.1, & 2.0 can be created as a solution.
This should allow for more accurate & granular filtering (by audio quality) in combination with the prexisting audiotags in the final sort order.
1.Please add a new speaker/channel tag group as described above. Move the exisiting 7.1 & 5.1 from audiotags to this group. Possibly add an 'unknown' tag as well.
2.Please add the following new audiotags to the pre-existing group:
a) DTS-ES
The existing DTS tag already captures 'DTS-ES' streams, but if were it's own tag we could now prioritize DTS-ES (6.1) over DTS (5.1).
b) OPUS
To be able to exclude/prioritize 'pseudo' 7.1/6.1/5.1 surround encodes using this codec. These are incompatible with most (if not all) commercial/home AV receivers (hardware surround decoders).
Thank you for all your efforts & for the consideration of this proposal!
Checklist
Problem Description / Use Case
The audiotag filter is a godsend to those who use a TV & AV receiver/speaker setup & want streams prioritised to hear the best/most suitable surround sound bitstreams for their home AV receiver/surround speaker setup.
However, the 'sources' of media files may not have an AV receiver (hardware surround audio decoder), nor have a good understanding of surround sound formats, and/or simply mislabel filenames. i.e. using 5.1 & Atmos tags together [Dolby Atmos by definition is an extension to a baseline Dolby TrueHD (7.1), Dolby Digital Plus (7.1), or Dolby AC-4 format & typically should contain 7.1+ audio channels].
Adding to the confusion are formats such as DD+ which contain up to 7.1 channels, but can/are often stripped/encoded or only contain 5.1. This is also true of DTS-HD MA/DTS-HD formats.
For example, using the DTS-HD MA audiotag could return any of the following results:
DTS-HD MA 7.1
DTS-HD MA 6.1
DTS-HD MA 5.1
I might prioritise Atmos (typically 7.1+) above DTS-HD MA, but end up with streams that contain Atmos 5.1 ranking higher than streams containing DTS-HD MA 7.1.
Other files can contain 7.1/6.1/5.1 audio, but are encoded using aac/opus codecs. Most (if not all) home AV receivers can't decode these 'psuedo' surround formats, hence no sound or no surround sound playback.
Due to the broad range of surround audio formats, their backwards compatibilities/flexibility, and file encoding choices, it complicates the ability of AIOstreams to accurately filter results by audio 'quality' using just the current audiotags. The term 'quality' might also be considered (by some) as a proxy for the number of surround channels contained. Despite all this, AIOstreams has done a damn fine job so far.
For understanding & clarification, here are the current (v1.12.3) surround AudioTags & what each should technically mean in terms of # of encoded surround channels:
Atmos (7.1+ based on TrueHD/DD+/AC4)
TrueHD (up to 7.1*)
7.1
DTS-HD MA (up to 7.1*)
DTS-HD (up to 7.1*)
DD+ (up to 7.1*, also known as EAC3)
DTS (5.1)
DD (5.1, also known as AC3)
5.1
References used:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS,_Inc.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/DTS-HD_Master_Audio
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dolby
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dolby_Digital_Plus
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dolby_TrueHD
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dolby_Atmos
I am by no means a true audiophile, just someone who enjoys surround sound setups, so I jumped down the decoders/formats rabbit hole to increase my own understanding.
Additional info/tags beyond the ones I propose likely will be suggested by others with deeper knowledge and/or by those who have a better understanding of other non-common audio metatags used in filenames e.g. is AC4 in filenames used?
Proposed Solution
UPDATE/EDIT:
To avoid the sheer number of audiotags you would need to create for all the decoder formats & surround channel combinations that exist, perhaps a new/seperate selectable audio/speaker category containing 7.1, 6.1, 5.1, & 2.0 can be created as a solution.
This should allow for more accurate & granular filtering (by audio quality) in combination with the prexisting audiotags in the final sort order.
1.Please add a new speaker/channel tag group as described above. Move the exisiting 7.1 & 5.1 from audiotags to this group. Possibly add an 'unknown' tag as well.
2.Please add the following new audiotags to the pre-existing group:
a) DTS-ES
The existing DTS tag already captures 'DTS-ES' streams, but if were it's own tag we could now prioritize DTS-ES (6.1) over DTS (5.1).
b) OPUS
To be able to exclude/prioritize 'pseudo' 7.1/6.1/5.1 surround encodes using this codec. These are incompatible with most (if not all) commercial/home AV receivers (hardware surround decoders).
Thank you for all your efforts & for the consideration of this proposal!