Dolby D / DTS / HDMI what is truth?

[silkograph]

Hi,
Recently I hooked up my new Yamaha YHT 296 to STB / TV.

My setup is as follow
Plasma 51E550
Dish TV TRU-HD STB
Yamaha YHT 296

I have connected HDMI cable from STB to TV
I have connected Audio Optical cable from TV to Receiver.

The observation:
Dolby Digital 5.1 does not come from STB with above configuration but I get PCM stereo signal only.

If I connect audio optical cable from STB to receiver then only I get 5.1 surround.

Does this mean that HDMI cable does not carry Dolby Digital or DTS signal from STB to TV?
AM I going to get this 5.1 signal only from digital optical cable? and not from HDMI cable?
Is there any issue with HDMI cable?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks

 

[spirovious]

Hi,
Does this mean that HDMI cable does not carry Dolby Digital or DTS signal from STB to TV?
AM I going to get this 5.1 signal only from digital optical cable? and not from HDMI cable?
Is there any issue with HDMI cable?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks

This means TV doesnt output 5.1 audio from optical out.

 

[cmsajith]

Does this mean that HDMI cable does not carry Dolby Digital or DTS signal from STB to TV?
Thanks

Yes, STB dont send 5.1 thru HDMI

 

[silkograph]

This means TV doesnt output 5.1 audio from optical out.

If I play DD / DTS content from TV's USB port then I do get 5.1 original surround sound effect. That mean TV sends Dolby Digital / DTS contents through its audio optical output port.

cmsajith is correct. I am not getting 5.1 through STBs' HDMI connection.

Thus my doubt is, is it possible to get 5.1 through HDMI cable?
I am not sure, if HDMI supports 5.1 audio or not. Not sure about HDMI specifications really.

 

[wlg]

Yes, STB dont send 5.1 thru HDMI

Hi
I have Incable (Mumbai) HD set top box, if I connect the box HDMI to my Onkyo AVR only the center spkr & subwoofer work, however it says 5.1 output, can anyone guide me on the setup
Tks

 

[siva1306]

When u connect Optical out from TV to receiver, check audio settings in TV (for USb movies, we chose from either PCM or DTS/5.1).

 

[just4kix]

Why don't you connect as follows:

STB (Optical out) ===> AVR (Optical in)
STB (HDMI Out) ===> TV (HDMI In)

or better still (if AVR has HDMI in/out)

STB (HDMI Out) ===> AVR (HDMI In) ===> AVR (HDMI Out) ===> TV (HDMI In)

 

[shailenderb]

Why don't you connect as follows:

STB (Optical out) ===> AVR (Optical in)
STB (HDMI Out) ===> TV (HDMI In)

or better still (if AVR has HDMI in/out)

STB (HDMI Out) ===> AVR (HDMI In) ===> AVR (HDMI Out) ===> TV (HDMI In)

For 5.1 output from STB, only the first option would work. Second won't.

Regds

 

[cmsajith]

Whatever you do you will not get multichannel thru HDMI from the STB.

I am not sure, if HDMI supports 5.1 audio or not.

HDMI supports, but not STB.

 

[agupta20]

For 5.1 output from STB, only the first option would work. Second won't.

Regds

For tatasky HD, second option works perfect and i get Dolby digital sound

If HDMI is an available option, ideally best way to connect is -
Any source (STB, PS3, BD, etc) to AVR via HDMI
AVR to TV via HDMI

 

[just4kix]

For 5.1 output from STB, only the first option would work. Second won't.

Regds

Why not? I am confused here. As agupta20 said, it works for me (TataSky HD).

 

[baijuxavior]

Only a few HD DTH STBs like Tatasky support 5.1 over hdmi. Some others support 5.1 over SPDIF out. But some like Reliance HD has no 5.1 even through digital out. If your STB does not support 5.1 over hdmi, then it is better to connect the stb directly to TV and the optical out of STB to AVR for 5.1. This way you don't need to keep the avr on always. Turn it on only when you need 5.1.

 

[technobhatt]

For 5.1 output from STB, only the first option would work. Second won't.

Regds

Why not? I am confused here. As agupta20 said, it works for me (TataSky HD).

As of now, only Tata Sky is supporting 5.1 over HDMI, hence second option will work only for Tata Sky STB.
In case of DishTV, Airtel and Sun...5.1 is only possible through Optical/Coaxial output on STB.
Reliance and Videocon D2H are not providing 5.1 sound at all.

 

[spirovious]

I am not getting 5.1 through STBs' HDMI connection.
.

Your STB doest not output 5.1 via HDMI,but need separate digital cable(optical).

 

[prosenjit]

only tatasky hd sends true 5.1 DD signal via hdmi..no other stb company does
feels very lucky...
when I took tatasky hd connection did not know anything about this sound,hdmi,DD signal etc....was lucky then...
yes as kix and agupta20 mentioned STB------->AVR-------->TV....all by hdmi and avr glows DD signal perfectly in tatasky hd.but HD channels only....in SD channels case avr shows pcm and 2 channel sound comes via hdmi...
anyway in this case spdif from stb to avr spdif in can be tried....

 

[rahul.spjimr]

Guys I have Airtel STB. While I am getting 5.1 channel output from HD channels, the AVR doesn't show Dolby Digital. Does this mean Star Movies HD or Movies Now HD are not transmitting DD surround sound. I watched Predator (old one), Shrek 1, 2, 3, Percy Jackson and the olympians, etc. None showed DD. Ne ideas why?

 

[HTuser]

Guys I have Airtel STB. While I am getting 5.1 channel output from HD channels, the AVR doesn't show Dolby Digital. Does this mean Star Movies HD or Movies Now HD are not transmitting DD surround sound. I watched Predator (old one), Shrek 1, 2, 3, Percy Jackson and the olympians, etc. None showed DD. Ne ideas why?

I hope you have connected STB to AVR through Optical Audio Cable, as HDMI won't support Dolby 5.1 in case of Airtel HD STB

I don't know exactly about airtel STB setting, but in case of Tatasky+ HD STB there is an option to say whether STB should output PCM or Dolby. If we select Dolby then AVR will show Dolby.

 

[rahul.spjimr]

I hope you have connected STB to AVR through Optical Audio Cable, as HDMI won't support Dolby 5.1 in case of Airtel HD STB

I don't know exactly about airtel STB setting, but in case of Tatasky+ HD STB there is an option to say whether STB should output PCM or Dolby. If we select Dolby then AVR will show Dolby.

Yes. I have connected my STB to AVR through Coaxial (dont have optical option in my STB model). I am getting 5.1 channel sound. Is it possible to get 5.1 channel via PCM on STB?

 

[just4kix]

Yes. I have connected my STB to AVR through Coaxial (dont have optical option in my STB model). I am getting 5.1 channel sound. Is it possible to get 5.1 channel via PCM on STB?

PCM or more correctly Linear PCM (as used in audio) is a basic form of digital audio. Basically LPCM is uncompressed audio but quality depends upon the sampling rate. Unless the STB has option to output sound in LPCM, you cannot get LPCM.

 

[ketand]

Hi,
Recently I hooked up my new Yamaha YHT 296 to STB / TV.

My setup is as follow
Plasma 51E550
Dish TV TRU-HD STB
Yamaha YHT 296

I have connected HDMI cable from STB to TV
I have connected Audio Optical cable from TV to Receiver.

The observation:
Dolby Digital 5.1 does not come from STB with above configuration but I get PCM stereo signal only.

If I connect audio optical cable from STB to receiver then only I get 5.1 surround.

Does this mean that HDMI cable does not carry Dolby Digital or DTS signal from STB to TV?
AM I going to get this 5.1 signal only from digital optical cable? and not from HDMI cable?
Is there any issue with HDMI cable?

Any thoughts or suggestions?

Thanks

What did you have to do to get 5.1 channel sound via optical?

I activated a new DishTV HD connection yesterday, and connected an optical cable from the set top box to my Yamaha 6230 AVR. But I get only 2.0 stereo sound. PCM lights up on the AVR and only the indicator for Front L and R speakers light up. No sound from the centre and surround speakers. If I look at the incoming Signal Info on the AVR it shows only 2 channels.

FYI - for video there is a HDMI cable from the set top box directly to the TV.

Thanks!