Panasonic DMP-BD91 setup -- don't understand the manual

[bartbrn]

For space and simplicity reasons, I recently bought a Panasonic DMP-BD91 Blu-ray Player to replace a 17"-wide Panasonic DMP-BD75 Blu-ray Player. I wanted something that had a small footprint and would play several kinds of media and formats and , and as I use an ethernet-connected Roku 3 for streaming Netflix, Amazon video, etc., and Plex Media Server and the Roku Plex channel on my (also ethernet-connected) iMac for DLNA functions, the paucity of those functions on the BD91 were no problem.

Then came the setup for the DMP-BD91 Blu-ray Player. Maybe I'm just old and stupid, but I still don't understand how to correctly set this very simple machine up, especially the audio. First, understand that the BD91 Is connected to a Denon AVR3312-CI A/V receiver, which in turn is connected to a Panasonic Viera 42" HDTV via HDMI (ARC). The BD91 is also connected by WiFi to my Apple Airport Base Station, and the BD91 just completed a firmware update.

Last night I tried to play my first Blu-ray disc on the BD91, the first disc of the complete "Battlestar Galactica" (modern) set. All the discs in this set contain extra material in the form of deleted scenes, interviews with actors and series creator Ron Moore, and other background info, but no matter how many different ways I tried to set up the BD91's audio, I got either the soundtrack to the episodes and no sound at all from the extras, or no sound at all, period.

I've attached an image of the audio setup steps from the manual, but I obviously don't know what I'm doing, and I'll try to explain my lack of understanding, referencing the attached image.

(I have Dynamic Range Compression set to "off")

My first question has to do with "HDMI Output" > "24p Output" On or off?

"Digital Audio Output":

<<Digital Audio Output
Press [OK] to show the following settings:
Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD
DTS/DTS-HD
Select the audio signal to output.>>

I don't understand this. In "setup," this is NOT an "either/or" -- you get BOTH "Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD" AND "DTS/DTS-HD," the only choice you have is to set them to "PCM" or "Bitstream," which brings us to:

<< Select “PCM”, when the connected equipment cannot decode the respective audio format. This unit decodes the audio format and transmits to the connected equipment.>>

Do I want "Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD" or "DTS/DTS-HD" BOTH set to "PCM" or "Bitstream" (both currently set to "Bitstream"), or which one to Bitstream and which one to PCM?

<< BD-Video Secondary Audio
Select whether or not to mix the primary and secondary audio (including the button click
sound)
If “Off’ is selected, the unit outputs the primary audio only. >>

Is this this where I'm having a problem with extra material in the form of deleted scenes, interviews with actors and series creator Ron Moore, and other background info having no sound? "BD-Video Secondary Audio" IS currently set to "Off")

<< Downmix
Select the downmix system of multi-channel to 2-channel sound.
Select “Surround encoded”, when the connected equipment supports the virtual
surround function.
The downmix effect is not available when “Digital Audio Output” is set to “Bitstream”>>
Currently both "Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD" AND "DTS/DTS-HD" “Digital Audio Output” are set to “Bitstream," so I assume this is a non-issue, unless I need to change the "Digital Audio Output” of both "Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD" AND "DTS/DTS-HD" from "Bitstream" to "PCM."

<< The audio will be output in “Stereo” in the following cases:
AVCHD playback
Playback of secondary audio (including the button click sound).>>

Again, "BD-Video Secondary Audio" IS currently set to "Off;" Is this this where I'm having a problem with extra material in the form of deleted scenes, interviews with actors and series creator Ron Moore, and other background info having no sound?"

<< DTS Neo:6
2ch (2.1ch) audio is expanded to 7ch
(7.1ch).
This function works when the following
conditions are met:
Audio recorded at 96 kHz or lower is output.
“Digital Audio Output” is set to “PCM” when
audio other than PCM is output. >>

Don't understand this one at all. All I know (well, I THINK I know) is my Denon AVR-3312CI is natively 7.1ch, with 7 discrete channels, each channel with its own 175W power supply.

Hope someone can help.

Thanks

Barton Brown

 

[j_garcia]

24P = on. That is video related, not audio.

DD/DTS digital out should be set to bitstream. That is not an and/or it will apply to all formats. Where you may encounter an issue is if you use the receiver to pass thru and only listen on the TV at times, you may get no audio because the TV can't decode those formats in bitstream.

Secondary audio = off, though it may be as you've said, the commentary tracks are on the secondary audio tracks. In which case, I'd try it with both settings to see. Usually a commentary track is its own track though, not a secondary audio track, so I don't think that's it.

 

[bartbrn]

Can only get program audio (Battlestar Galactica PROGRAM sound, still no "Extras" sound at all), when both Dolby D/Dolby D+/Dolby TrueHD AND DTS/DTS-HD are set to PCM.

Thanks for the help!

Bart

 

[lovinthehd]

Can only get program audio (Battlestar Galactica PROGRAM sound, still no "Extras" sound at all), when both Dolby D/Dolby D+/Dolby TrueHD AND DTS/DTS-HD are set to PCM.

Thanks for the help!

Bart

What about when set to bitstream? Can your avr or player identify the type of audio for the extras? I looked briefly at a blu-ray.com entry on the disc set and it mentions DTS-HD only.

 

[j_garcia]

If you click on "audio" on the BD remote, it should give you a list of available audio tracks. Cycle through them and see if it fires up? Most extras material is stereo. You may also try downmix to stereo to see if that works - you'll just have to switch it for the extras.

 

[bartbrn]

What about when set to bitstream? Can your avr or player identify the type of audio for the extras? I looked briefly at a blu-ray.com entry on the disc set and it mentions DTS-HD only.

In the BD91 Player set-up, here's what it says:

<<Digital Audio Output
Press [OK] to show the following settings:
Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD
DTS/DTS-HD
Select the audio signal to output.>>

BOTH Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD AND DTS/DTS-HD show up on the Set-up screen, there's no choice to turn one or the other off; the only choices are whether to set them to Bitstream or PCM. I've tried every combination:

1. Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD set to Bitstream
DTS/DTS-HD set to Bitstream

2. Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD set to PCM
DTS/DTS-HD set to PCM

3. Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD set to PCM
DTS/DTS-HD set to Bitstream

4. Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD set to Bitstream
DTS/DTS-HD set to PCM

So far, the only combination that gives me program sound (and nothing else) is:

2. Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD set to PCM
DTS/DTS-HD set to PCM

Further examination of the manual reveals this:

<< This unit supports high bit rate audio (Dolby® Digital Plus, Dolby® TrueHD, DTS-HD High

Resolution AudioTM and DTS-HD Master AudioTM) adopted in BD-Video.

If “Dolby D/Dolby D +/Dolby TrueHD” is set to “PCM” and “DTS Neo:6” is set to “Off”, the maximum possible number of Dolby® sound is 2ch PCM. >>

However, my son-in-law, who does this stuff for a living, emailed me "You do not want to set anything to DTS Neo:6, you have the Denon which can decode everything. Plus you have all the speakers [L, R, Center, Subwoofer, soon two Rear speakers -- BB], so no need to convert to 2 channel."

I'll try it with “DTS Neo:6” set to “On”

j_garcia posted this:

If you click on "audio" on the BD remote, it should give you a list of available audio tracks. Cycle through them and see if it fires up? Most extras material is stereo. You may also try downmix to stereo to see if that works - you'll just have to switch it for the extras.

My eyes are so bad, I never noticed the audio button: "5 Change audio (p. 16)" on the vastly overcrowded remote (see attached image). If you go to the indicated page 16 of the equally vastly uninformative manual, here's what you find:

<< Changing audio
Press [AUDIO].
You can change the audio channel number or soundtrack language, etc. >>

That's it. So I need to waste more time screwing around with this.

Just to put a little more icing on the cake, there's this:

<< Operations during playback

The following functions may not work depending on the media and contents.

Press [∫STOP].

The stopping point is memorized [NO, it isn't -- BB].

Resume play function

Press [1PLAY] to restart from this point.

≥ The point is cleared if the media is removed.

≥ ON BD-VIDEO DISCS INCLUDING BD-J, THE RESUME PLAY FUNCTION DOES NOT WORK.

Press [;PAUSE].

≥ Press [;PAUSE] again or [1PLAY] to restart play.

[The "RESUME PLAY" function doesn't work on the BSG BD discs, and "PAUSE" almost immediately reverts to the Universal splash screen, and, in either "STOP" or "PAUSE" modes, the disc WON'T restart from the "STOP" or "PAUSE" point; you have to back out to the original top menu of the disc, find your episode, start it, and FF to the point you hit STOP or PAUSE -- BB]

I bought this particular BD player because of the small footprint and because it said it would ALSO play DVD (but, it turns out, NOT DVD-HD) discs, Music CDs, USB, and and would play media disks as shown in the "Playable Media" table, also below.

 

[j_garcia]

There haven't been any HD-DVD capable players put out since the format died.

 

[bartbrn]

QUOTE="j_garcia, post: 1183420, member: 10856"]There haven't been any HD-DVD capable players put out since the format died.[/QUOTE]

lovinthehd and j_garcia -- Thanks for your help! I'm ready to throw the BD91 in the trash...

Bart

 

[j_garcia]

I have the same problem with my PS4. Certain content streamed from the store doesn't have any audio anymore. Used to work, but after an update I get no sound. Haven't figured that one out yet either.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

QUOTE="j_garcia, post: 1183420, member: 10856"]There haven't been any HD-DVD capable players put out since the format died.

lovinthehd and j_garcia -- Thanks for your help! I'm ready to throw the BD91 in the trash...

Bart

Really, don't worry about HD-DVD. That disk format is about as popular as Laserdisk
I wish I had more time to help you read the manual, but be patient. Everyone here is right - just set everything you can on the BD player side to bitstream and let your receiver handle the codec, unless you know a specific codec which your receiver doesn't support.
For example my Kodi supports AAC decoding, but my ancient receiver doesn't, but it does support DD/DD-HD, DTS, DTS-HD and DTS-HD-MA

 

[lovinthehd]

Do you have HD-DVD disks to worry about? Are you having trouble with playing any other discs other than the BSG set? Most modern blu-ray players will play CD, DVD and BD discs with few exceptions (like HD-DVD or perhaps SACD).

I'd sure like to know what format the audio of the extras in that disc set is, I'd also guess 2.0. What mode in the avr are you using when playing the discs with the player set to bitstream?

Can your son visit any time soon?

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

If you want secondary audio, commentary, and button sounds you have to use pcm.

 

[bartbrn]

"just set everything you can on the BD player side to bitstream and let your receiver handle the codec"

"If you want secondary audio, commentary, and button sounds you have to use pcm"

Oddly enough -- or not -- last night I set up the BD91 audio again, with no disc in the tray, to what "seemed" to work, Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD set to PCM AND DTS/DTS-HD set to PCM. Put a BSG BD disc in, checked the player's audio setup AFTER inserting the disc, and the Dolby D/DoIby D +/Dolby TrueHD AND DTS/DTS-HD NOW showed as being set to Bitsream, NOT PCM. The display screen on the Denon showed the audio as "DTS-Surround," and, finally trying out the no-see-um "change audio" button on the remote, a window popped up on-screen which gave me the choice of "2 channel" or "DTS-HD MSTR 3/2.1 Ch". It went away so fast, I hardly had time to select one or the other, and by that time, I was so fed up, I switched to my Roku 3 (ethernet connected, not WiFi) and watched a few episodes of Season 1 of "Carnivàle" (I'm slow on picking up on new shows; "Carnivàle" Season 1 aired in 2003. I'm pretty much slow in picking up everything).

"Do you have HD-DVD disks to worry about? Are you having trouble with playing any other discs other than the BSG set? Most modern blu-ray players will play CD, DVD and BD discs with few exceptions (like HD-DVD or perhaps SACD)"

Yes, I've tried other BD discs and had the same audio problems, and tried several modern commercial DVDs, and gotten the screen message "This disc cannot be played".

Obviously, I have no idea what an HD-DVD disc is, I just listed what the manual said couldn't be played.

Now that I can SEE that the remote has an "audio" button, and the manual (p.16) so expansively explains what it does:

<< Changing audio
Press [AUDIO].
You can change the audio channel number or soundtrack language, etc." >> [Period. Very enlightening -- BB]

I realize that I'm going to have to do some experimenting. I was under the apparently mistaken impression that I could drop a supported disc in the BD91's tray, and it would just play.

"Can your son visit any time soon?"

I wish. Unfortunately my son-in-law, daughter, and grandchildren live in Parkville, Missouri, and I live on the Connecticut shoreline. My son-in-law is manager of the graphical user interface department at Garmin, in Olathe, Kansas, just over the Missouri border.

Thanks again...

Bart