HELP! Do I need to buy a HD DVD player for True 5.1 surround

[eshwar13]

No need to take the file anywhere ..... just down a small tool called Media Info. Instal and then right click on the file opt media info from the windows context menu and you will have all the information about Audio and Video codes used .....

For your issue, if you ask me most of the TVs that play media files off USB only support DD5.1 (AC3). So make sure your file is in the correct audio format, or you TV can support audio other than DD.

Although with a Denon AVR 1311 at your disposal, I'd say getting a small media player that bit streams (All current media players do Bit Stream) is the best bet as then you can let your AVR do all the decoding stuff which make you safe with almost all the A/V formats.

Sam,

I faced the similar problem while checking the demo for Panny U30D plasma tv. I had samples of 1080p videos and I could get see only video and could not hear any audio. The audio was aac encoded.

Is there a way to change the audio to AC3 without loss? I also checked many media players and everything mentioned 1.3HDMI support. Is 1.3 sufficient for 720/1080p video?

 

[sam9s]

And now, I am getting greedy . What are the different types of 5.1 formats? I browsed and understood that there something lossless surround! Does it mean HD? And for that, probably I need to use an HDMI cable only (and it wont work on an optical). Is that right? If yes, then there is no way I can have lossless surround through my TV to my AVR. If yes, what do you recommend? An HD player, a DVD player with an HDMI port, a BD player or a media player?

There are loads of Audio formats and codec and compression techniques.
Check out this CHART for different audio formats available.

And yes you have to use HDMI for HD audio (Dolby True HD and DTS MA) which is "lossless" compression.
About you being able to get HD audio, well as I mentioned earlier the best and easiest option is to get a Media Player that Bit Streams. You just need to connect your Media Player to AVR with HDMI and choose Bitstreaming and let your AVR do all the decoding.
However there is a small catch here. Media Player supporting both the HD audios are less in number and are expensive. Like for example AC Ryan POHD2, bitstreams Dolby True HD but not DTA MA, same goes with xtremer prodigy, I dont think there is a player that currently support DTS MA bitstreaming AND Dolby TrueHD. (That is one of my reasons to shift to HTPC (in my sig ))

Apart from that a media player supports all formats and codes. So your best bet is to get a Media Player (cheaper options are also available like ASUS Oplay etc) and connect it to AVR using HDMI.

If you want HD audio you can opt to go for HTPC but then you have to spend some bucks, which would justify you getting greedy as well...

 

[sam9s]

Is there a way to change the audio to AC3 without loss? I also checked many media players and everything mentioned 1.3HDMI support. Is 1.3 sufficient for 720/1080p video?

Ofcourse there is ...... Here check my below post that explains in detail how you can convert AAC to AC3

http://www.hifivision.com/av-lounge/10051-aac-5-1-ac3-5-1-conversion.html#post138327

Also 1.3 support 1080p at all fps. No worries. Its for 3D you need 1.4 so relax.

 

[eshwar13]

Apart from that a media player supports all formats and codes. So your best bet is to get a Media Player (cheaper options are also available like ASUS Oplay etc) and connect it to AVR using HDMI.

If you want HD audio you can opt to go for HTPC but then you have to spend some bucks, which would justify you getting greedy as well...

Correct me if I'm wrong... If i get a ASUS mini media player, does that mean i will be able to play all those AAC encoded mp4 files through HDMI?

I also checked that the ASUS O Mini cost only 4k or less. So what' the catch there (sorry for too many questions)

 

[dillihifi]

@shail - It is time for the famous quotation " Alls well that ends well"

 

[sam9s]

Correct me if I'm wrong... If i get a ASUS mini media player, does that mean i will be able to play all those AAC encoded mp4 files through HDMI?

I also checked that the ASUS O Mini cost only 4k or less. So what' the catch there (sorry for too many questions)

Yes with ASUS mini you should be able to play all your MP4 encoded with AAC.
I said "should", as I personally have not tested this, but the specs of the player says it will. AFA HD audio is concerned as I mentioned, this also only supports DD TrueHD bitstreaming, no DTA MA here as well

About the cost, there is no catch as such. The lesser price just means it does not have those extra features. Most noticeable is the lack of Network support, so you can not play your file over a LAN. Others include no internet radio, no youtube support, no UPnP support ..... etc etc. On the hardware side there is no Component out ........ things like these makes the player lesser in price. For general public this is no big deal (except maybe the network support). So if you want you can go for it ......

PS :: And dont you worry about the questions, Forums is a place to ask questions .....

 

[baijuxavior]

Models like Kaiboer H1055+ will be better than the asus mini. You can fix an internal hdd and dump all your media files. It has component out also. It also supports DTS HD and Dolby HD.

 

[shail]

@shail - It is time for the famous quotation " Alls well that ends well"

VERY TRUE!!! :yahoo:
I am just looking to get some good 5.1 rips (BD or otherwise) now. Have a lot of plans - one of them to finish imdb top 100 movies hyeah:
2011 will be a busy year!