Bitstream-mode meaning

A mode on Blu-ray/DVD players that sends out Dolby Digital and DTS surround sound "bitstreams" on the disc without decoding them. The decoding is performed in the A/V receiver or audio processor. Also called "Bitstream Bypass" or "Bitstream Audiophile."In contrast, "PCM" mode refers to uncompressed audio that comes straight from the optical disc or that has been decoded to PCM in the player (see PCM).Bitstream Re-EncodeBitstream Re-encode is another mode that decodes these formats to PCM in the player and re-encodes them to earlier DTS or Dolby Digital formats for older A/V receivers that do not support newer encoding technologies such as DTS-HD and Dolby TrueHD. See Dolby Digital and DTS.