5.1 sound

[Olderdog12345]

In the past 5.1 sound was active on some channels. At this time the speaker icon is vacant and not filled in on all HD channels I view. Has D* trashed 5.1 sound?

I subscribe to HD package and receive all Las Vegas Network channels in HD

It seems to me that at one time D* INFO display had a pair of DD where it now shows R ratings
on the INFO panel? Perhaps my senior memory is failing? LOL

I have made no changes on my system a Panasonic 42" plasma TV
H20 600
Dolby Digital is turned ON on my H20
HDMI cable from H20 to TV.
Optical audio cable from TV to 5.1 receiver.
Receiver is set to 5.1
receiver TEST shows all speaker are acrive.

 

[FHSPSU67]

Was also brought up on dbstalk. It is still there, but in a different form. You'll see "English DD" under the "Fav: xxx" in the upper right corner of info panel.

 

[joed32]

Hi. I'm a senior too and I don't want to ask you any questions that may offend you. But have you made sure that the right input is selected on the receiver? I have an Onkyo and I have gone for days without DD trying to figure out what was wrong. I would keep changing inputs and it still didn't work and suddenly everything was fine. Recently it stopped working completely and I took it in for repairs, the circuit board for the optical inputs was loose. Not suggesting anything is wrong with yours. Another dumb question, are you seeing the red light coming out of the cable where you are plugging it in to the receiver?

 

[mluntz]

Was also brought up on dbstalk. It is still there, but in a different form. You'll see "English DD" under the "Fav: xxx" in the upper right corner of info panel.

That's where mine is too. No problems here!

 

[Olderdog12345]

OK Folks. I was in error. On my system there are only three channels on D*
that air 5.1 audio. As I was scrolling all the channels only three speaker icons would fill up which indicate digital dolby as active. NO HD channels air 5.1 at this time.

The three channels that air dolby digital audio on D* are:

Lifetime
TBS
USA

I bought a surround sound receiver for use with D* as I thought the HD channels would air 5.1

What a shame and disappointment.

 

[texasbrit]

Pretty well all the HD channels deliver 5.1 for a lot of the programming. And the channels you mention are not HD, so I am very confused.

 

[Olderdog12345]

Pretty well all the HD channels deliver 5.1 for a lot of the programming. And the channels you mention are not HD, so I am very confused.

Many PPV channels may support 5.1 audio. I do not view PPV channels.

I do subscribe to D* HD package that has the following channels
in HD and NONE as of today air 5.1 sound.

72 ESP2H
73 ESPH
74 UHD
75 TNTH
76 USHD
78 HDNM
79 HDNET

The following NON HD channels support 5.1 audio and work
well on my D* system.

TBS
TOON
Lifetime
USA.

I also receive the local Networks via D*
NO Local HD channels in my area support 5.1 audio via D*
not sure about OTA as I live to far away to receive OTA TV.

 

[Bob Nielsen]

Many PPV channels may support 5.1 audio. I do not view PPV channels.

I do subscribe to D* HD package that has the following channels
in HD and NONE as of today air 5.1 sound.

72 ESP2H
73 ESPH
74 UHD
75 TNTH
76 USHD
78 HDNM
79 HDNET

The following NON HD channels support 5.1 audio and work
well on my D* system.

TBS
TOON
Lifetime
USA.

I also receive the local Networks via D*
NO Local HD channels in my area support 5.1 audio via D*
not sure about OTA as I live to far away to receive OTA TV.

I see the Dolby 5.1 "English 1 DD" on all the HD stations but not on the SD stations you mentioned. I also get 5.1 on Starz and Starzw. This is confirmed by the indicator on my A/V receiver.

I believe that the speaker icon indicates an available second audio track, not DD 5.1.

p.s., I am also a senior, FWIW.

 

[TulsaCoker]

Yes old dog I think you have it backwards. TBS Lifetime etc all do not deliver DD5.1 Only select PPV and Premium channels. ALL HD channels excpet CBS her in tulsa send out DD 5.1 most of the time.

 

[Olderdog12345]

I see the Dolby 5.1 "English 1 DD" on all the HD stations but not on the SD stations you mentioned. I also get 5.1 on Starz and Starzw. This is confirmed by the indicator on my A/V receiver.

I believe that the speaker icon indicates an available second audio track, not DD 5.1.

p.s., I am also a senior, FWIW.

OK Bob...Thanks for your posts. You are correct that the speaker ICON is for alternate audio. I quote from page 24 of the H20 manual ""Some programs have alternate audio available(such as other language or Digital Dolby)"

My receiver does not have a light or display that shows DD is active.

I tuned to TNTH and went to each of the 5 speakers, they all had audio so DD must be active as the manual says in part.

"you can set the default so that whenever a program has alternate audio available it automatically plays this audio"

I have my D* alternate audio set to DD.

I suppose my senior moments have been active. LOL

As for the 4 SD channels the alternate audio could be another language or dolby digital.

 

[bk63ross]

DD vs Pro Logic II

Does your stereo receiver have other sound formats like Dolby Pro Logic II? My receiver is set to Auto which means if a DD signal is present it will select the DD format. I found that all of the OTA stations come in DD with the H20 but most of the channels I watch like Fuel and Sci Fi, I manually select Dolby PL II and now I dont need to change it everytime I change the channel. PL II gives me 5.1 that sounds much better than just the front LR sound...

 

[frogg]

Olderdog-my surround system shows "dolby digital" when it receives 5.1 sound, and "pro logic or pro logic 2" when it is receiving stereo. I depend on my surround system to tell me when the program is being broadcast in dd, and not my H20-600 or HR20-100. Most, but not all HD programming is dd. To reiterate what has already been said, dd has to be turned on at the H20-600, and you need to be connected directly from the H20-600 to your surround receiver with the optical audio out. Your receiver aslo has to be set to receive dd. Count me as a senior, also, and it took me a while to get mine set up properly the first time. After re-reading your original post, I think the problem is that you are connected by HDMI to TV, and the TV will not pass through dd from the H20-600 to your surround receiver. You get dd to receiver if viewing OTA on TV tuner, but not dd from H20-600 unless you hook up optical directly from H20-600 to receiver.

 

[texasbrit]

Olderdog-my surround system shows "dolby digital" when it receives 5.1 sound, and "pro logic or pro logic 2" when it is receiving stereo. I depend on my surround system to tell me when the program is being broadcast in dd, and not my H20-600 or HR20-100. Most, but not all HD programming is dd. To reiterate what has already been said, dd has to be turned on at the H20-600, and you need to be connected directly from the H20-600 to your surround receiver with the optical audio out. Your receiver aslo has to be set to receive dd. Count me as a senior, also, and it took me a while to get mine set up properly the first time. After re-reading your original post, I think the problem is that you are connected by HDMI to TV, and the TV will not pass through dd from the H20-600 to your surround receiver. You get dd to receiver if viewing OTA on TV tuner, but not dd from H20-600 unless you hook up optical directly from H20-600 to receiver.

You are right in that virtually no TVs pass DD 5.1 on the audio output from an HDMI input, all you get is PCM stereo. The H20 needs to be connected to the A/V receiver via an optical audio cable, and the TV speakers should be switched off.

 

[frogg]

texasbrit-Thanks for catching the part about turning off the TV speakers.

 

[Olderdog12345]

OK Folks. Thanks for all your replys. When I first set the system up my TV has a digital audio optical output. I used this source of audio to my receiver.

I was in ERROR. I just changed the optical audio to connect my H20 satelite receiver directly to my 5.1 receiver.

Local Cable channel audio still functions as it still uses the HDMI cable.

ALL IS WELL!!!!!

The 5.1 receiver prior to this gave several selective options of audio. It now just displays Dolby digital. with no other options.