The MLP Lossless Compression System for PCM Audio

Lossless compression provides bit-exact delivery of the original signal and is ideal where the highest possible confidence in the final sound quality is required. Meridian lossless packing (MLP) was adopted in 1999 as the lossless coding method used on DVD-Audio. MLP uses four principal strategies to reduce both the total quantity and the peak rate of encoded data. MLP can invert a matrix transformation losslessly, this allows a two-channel representation to be transmitted alongside a multichannel signal, with a minimal increase in the data rate. It is illustrated how the characteristics of the incoming audio affect the coding performance, and MLP's versatility, achieved by the use of substreams and an open-ended metadata specification, is demonstrated.