Univeral HD - no center channel??

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jdr01930

jdr01930

Pub Member / Supporter
Original poster
Pub Member / Supporter
Feb 28, 2005
427
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Gloucester, MA
Sometimes I have no center channel on Universal HD.
Caught it in the act right now, while watching Back To the Future.

Actually, seem like I just have left and right channels, no center or rear surrounds.

If I switch to another HD channel, I get full 5.1
Receiver (Denon AVR3801) shows Dobly Digital.

Are they just broadcasting stereo (no center/rear), or is something messeed up?

Anyone else watching Back To The Future hearing this?
 
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Watched an hour of Back to the Future; had center channel, but no meaningful surround sound; although the Sony Receiver's blue Dolby Digital light was on.
 
Battlestar Gallactica is on Uni now, got full surround during the show, but no center/surround during the last commercial set (ha - who cares!!).

PQ on Battlestar is way better than Back to the Future too, so I'm guessing it's the source material.
I guess some of the movies they're showing just have a 2 channel sound track.
Maybe they're broadcasing the VHS version. :rolleyes:
 
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jdr01930 said:
Battlestar Gallactica is on Uni now, got full surround during the show, but no center/surround during the last commercial set (ha - who cares!!).

PQ on Battlestar is way better than Back to the Future too, so I'm guessing it's the source material.
I guess some of the movies they're showing just have a 2 channel sound track.
Maybe they're broadcasing the VHS version. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
This happens a lot with several HD channels including HBO, ESPN and network sports broadcasts. I have a DVR'd recording of Titanic from HBO and it is 2-channel stereo!

When this happens, I switch my surround sound system to Dolby surround (analog) and it works pretty good, but it is not as dynamic as DD.
 
Here's the thing - much of UniversalHD's content is in 2.0 stereo. However, they don't bother to add the proper flags into the audio stream to tell your receiver to switch into 2.0 Pro Logic surround mode. The best solution, if you can't force your receiver into Pro Logic mode, is to have an analog stereo input connected as well (red & white connectors), and just switch to that when UHD is broadcasting in 2.0. Then you'll be hearing the proper Pro Logic sound field.

grb said:
This happens a lot with several HD channels including HBO, ESPN and network sports broadcasts. I have a DVR'd recording of Titanic from HBO and it is 2-channel stereo!
Click to expand...
However, those channels usually add the proper Pro Logic flags to the stream instead of keeping it in Dolby Digital.
 
All of UHD's movie presentations are 2.0 (I'll have to try that analog trick). While just about everything else- commercials, series, etc are sent 5.1... Why no one at UHD cares is a mystery.

Hammer
 
Well, most of the older films you see on HDNet are actually 2.0. Except they have the proper equipment that upscales it to fake 5.1. If UHD would add pro logic flags to their stream, or get the proper audio upscaling equipment, that would be very smart - then people wouldn't have to fiddle with their receivers.
 
Mark Strube said:
Here's the thing - much of UniversalHD's content is in 2.0 stereo. However, they don't bother to add the proper flags into the audio stream to tell your receiver to switch into 2.0 Pro Logic surround mode. The best solution, if you can't force your receiver into Pro Logic mode, is to have an analog stereo input connected as well (red & white connectors), and just switch to that when UHD is broadcasting in 2.0. Then you'll be hearing the proper Pro Logic sound field.


However, those channels usually add the proper Pro Logic flags to the stream instead of keeping it in Dolby Digital.
Click to expand...
Good point!

I got so used to 5.1 DD not in service on TV broadcasts (when DD first became available on satellite well before HD was around) that I set up the alternate (red & white) connectors. When an SD movie was supposed to be in DD (and wasn't), it was always in 2-channel. There were several movies on the premium networks from the 1970's that they were trying to broacast in 5.1 DD and the broadcast source obviously wasn't capable of producing 5.1.

I'm surprised you haven't noticed this years ago...
 
problem with universal hd dolby digital audio

I noticed when watching universal hd that no sound is coming through the center channel speaker but sound is coming through all the other speakers. On the other hd channels, the dolby digital is fine and i hear peoples dialogue through the center speaker like it should be. is anyone else having this problem? i noticed it when watching svu and the jackal.
 
I sent them a E-mail will let you know what I found out which I also told them I would love to see more BattleStar Galatica on their network also.. :)
 
thanks a lot. I receive an email from them wanting so info off my systen info screen so im gonna email that information to them and go from there. hopefully it will get resolved. battlestar is awesome. i think its cool they are showing firefly in hd!!!!!!
 
I posted that same basic question here a few weeks ago.
Here's a link the the thread - it might help shed some light on the issue.
[EDIT by JDR01930 - that thread has been merged with this one :up ]

I'll be interested to hear if you guys get any info from those emails.
My understanding, based on the other thread, is that Uni doesn't have their sound configured ideally.

[EDIT by JDR01930 - Link to other thread removed since it just points back to this one now]

Scroll down a little to get to the meat - of note were some replies from Mark Strube:

"Here's the thing - much of UniversalHD's content is in 2.0 stereo. However, they don't bother to add the proper flags into the audio stream to tell your receiver to switch into 2.0 Pro Logic surround mode. The best solution, if you can't force your receiver into Pro Logic mode, is to have an analog stereo input connected as well (red & white connectors), and just switch to that when UHD is broadcasting in 2.0. Then you'll be hearing the proper Pro Logic sound field."

"Well, most of the older films you see on HDNet are actually 2.0. Except they have the proper equipment that upscales it to fake 5.1. If UHD would add pro logic flags to their stream, or get the proper audio upscaling equipment, that would be very smart - then people wouldn't have to fiddle with their receivers."
 
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ok i just received an email back from dish concerning this issue. now its in the techs hands. heres the email.

Dear Mr. Spencer,



Thank you for your e-mail. Thank you for providing the information for our engineering department. They will try to resolve this issue as soon as possible. Unfortunately, there is not a way for us to know the status of their work; these issues are usually fixed in a software update. Please remember to turn off your receiver when you are not watching TV, so that it can receive the update when it becomes available.



We hope we have properly addressed your concerns. If you have further questions you can respond to this e-mail or access our online technical support at the following link: http://tech.dishnetwork.com/departmental_content/techportal/index.shtml.



Thanks,



Matt J.

Technical E-mail Support

Dish Network
 
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