Question about Dolby Digital decoding? (I think)

[Chris Maxwell]

Setup: Yamaha RX-A770, SVS Speakers, Samsung Smart TV, internet speed consistently over 110Mbps.

(I apologizer for my possible ignorance and searched through the forum last night but I still can't find a good recent answer.)

I have the setup listed above and am running a single HDMI as ARC from the Samsung (not so) Smart TV to the Receiver. I almost exclusively just streaming movies from Netflix and Vudu.

My question is: I am streaming a movie from Netflix for instance, Planet Earth II and it's listed as Ultra HD 4K and Dolby 5.1 from Netflix. My receiver never says Dolby 5.1 or anything like that on the display. It shows the 5 channels and sound is defiantly coming from all 5 speakers but it seems like it should say somewhere its actually decoding it and what it is.

When I started searching the forum last night it looked like some samsung tvs wouldn't decode 5.1 from arc and just transmit the sound as stereo and the receiver then adjusts it to 5.1. Then some people said go back to an optical cable out from the tv but others said I wouldn't get the best quality that way. The majority if these posts were over 2 years old so maybe Samsung fixed the issue?

Then I went down the rabbit hole of Yamaha 'Cinema DSP' all the modes, straight, direct, blah blah blah.

My goal is just to watch the dang movie with the highest quality sound I can achieve with my current set up. If its meant to be decoded and heard in Dolby 5.1, DTX etc I want to watch it like that.

***sorry for the novel***

 

[lovinthehd]

What specific Samsung TV? What audio settings in the tv do you have? What exactly does the avr say when it shows it is getting 5.1 channels of info from the tv for the Netflix movie? Does your Netflix app indicate Dolby Digital or is it Dolby Digital Plus (+)?

 

[TheWarrior]

Yamaha receivers do that. My RXA3060 does that. Theres all sorts of weird copy right protections Denon and Marantz have taken for their setup menu layouts, which apparently are able to include what formats are being displayed by the receiver.

That said, I still prefer the Yamaha menu layout now that I've gotten used to it. Have no fear!

 

[panteragstk]

With HDMI and ARC you should be able to get DTS, Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital+, but that's it.

As stated above it's probably a setting on your TV. It could be set to stereo output.

 

[Chris Maxwell]

The TV is a Samsung Model Code: UN60KU6300
Audio Settings from the TV are:
Speaker: Receiver (HDMI) ----(as opposed to TV Speaker or Optical)
HDMI Audio Format: Bitstream
Audio Format: PCM
Netflix says HD or HDR and 5.1 next to it, Vudu will say HDX Dolby Digital Plus 5.1 on the movie audio menu.

As for the receiver the only reason I know its going to five channels is on the lower right side it says LC, C, RC, RR, etc and I can hear output from those speakers.

I was just under the impression that especially with Vudu ithe receiver should display 'Dolby Digital' or something.

Otherwise what settings should I be using to get the most accurate sound from the receiver. The manual sucks as far as telling me that it just talks about 'Cinema DSP' and explaining Sci-Fi mode, etc.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

"Audio Format: PCM" The problem is right here. This will always send a simple PCM to the receiver, not original audio.

 

[Chris Maxwell]

Well, now that I wrote while looking at the tv settings with nothing playing I started watching a Vudu in Dolby and went back to the TV settings. Now they have automatically changed to:

HDMI audio format: Bitstream
Audio Format: Dolby Digital

So I guess that means the tv is sending that? The receiver still sad ‘AUDIO 1’. If I press info during the movie it’s cucles through ‘DSP PROGRAM’, ‘AUDIO DECODER’, and ‘INPUT’

 

[TheWarrior]

I don't care for the DSP modes.

'Surround Decode' will get you whatever the highest resolution format is that the media is encoded in. Straight offers a modified surround sound or it defaults to stereo, pressing the button twice will alternate. And then of course Pure Direct disables unnecessary circuits for better stereo listening, YMMV - I like it for CD listening.

 

[Chris Maxwell]

I don't care for the DSP modes.

'Surround Decode' will get you whatever the highest resolution format is that the media is encoded in. Straight offers a modified surround sound or it defaults to stereo, pressing the button twice will alternate. And then of course Pure Direct disables unnecessary circuits for better stereo listening, YMMV - I like it for CD listening.

Thank you!! That is what I was looking for surround decode. I appreciate your input.