Can't Get TrueHD for Dolby or DTS to Work! Please Help!!

[EaterofWorlds]

Okay, I spent most of last night trying to figure out why I wasn't able to get a TrueHD signal on my new receiver/blu-ray player.

Here are the stats:

Receiver: Yamaha RX-V663
Blu-ray Player: LG Super Blue High Def Multiplayer BH200

Connection: I have an HDMI cable running from my player to my receiver and an HDMI cable in the OUT port on my receiver running to my TV. Yes, the HDMI icon is lit on my receiver.

I read all about the Bitstream/RAW settings and I think I have the right settings to receiver TrueHD. The options from my player are this for audio:

HDMI
PCM Stereo
PCM Multichannel
DTS Re-encode
Primary Pass-Thru

I have tried all of these options, none of them work at all. There is no option (at least none that I can find) to change from Bitstream to LPCM or visa versa. My sampling frequency on the player is set to 192.

Every time I try to play a Blu-ray with DTS Lossless Master Audio HD, I only get the regular DTS icon (in my instruction manual, it shows an icon for DTS HD and Dobly TrueHD that is supposed to light up). Worse still, when I try to play Dolby TrueHD, it will on play Pro Logic!

Any help here would be greatly appreciated. I'm becoming extremely frustrated with this device.

Thanks!



Charlie

 

[CAVU]

AKAIK, your player cannot bitstream DTS Lossless Master Audio HD ... the player must decode it and send it to the AVR by LPCM.

When set properly, your 663 AVR will display "PCM".

 

[EaterofWorlds]

I apologize for being so ignorant, but can you possibly explain that a bit more for me? Also, my receiver is set to Surround Decode. Is that the correct program?

 

[EaterofWorlds]

Okay, so if I set my player to "PCM Multi-Channel", the display will read PCM instead of DTS when processing a DTS Master Lossless signal. However, the DTS HD icon is still not lit and the sound is the same whether it says PCM or DTS. Dolby TrueHD still plays in Pro Logic no matter what. Help, anyone?

 

[adk highlander]

Your player will NOT bitstream which means your Receiver will NEVER say DTS-HD or TrueHD it will only say Multichannel PCM or LPCM.

Your player must decode DTS-HD or True-HD and send the LPCM to the receiver. When you start a movie you should press the audio key on the remote for the player and it will show you the available sound tracts for the disk. Most default to the dolby digital or standard DTS.

You should also update the firmware on the player to make sure it has all of the updates software.

I also found this on cnet that you may find useful. It looks like your player will only do 2 channel TrueHD.

Soundtrack support for high-definition disc players has always been confusing, but getting a handle on exactly what the BH200 can and can't do is mind-boggling. While the BH200 sports the Dolby TrueHD logo on the outside of the player, it's only capable of decoding Dolby TrueHD soundtracks to two-channel PCM. You do have the option to re-encode it to DTS to get multichannel, but Dolby TrueHD is essentially a standard feature on high-definition players now--there's no excuse for not having multichannel decoding. On the DTS side, the BH200 sports the logo for DTS-HD Advanced Digital Out, which means that the player should be capable of outputting high-resolution DTS soundtracks like DTS-HD Master Audio and DTS-HD High Resolution in bit-stream format. Unfortunately, when we connected the BH200 to our Denon AVR-3808CI via HDMI and set in "Primary Pass-through" mode, we only got standard DTS. The bottom line is that this definitely isn't the player for audiophiles, and home theater enthusiasts should study page 36 of the manual (PDF link) before making a purchase.

Did you just get the player?

 

[EaterofWorlds]

Yes, I just purchased it. Crap on a stick. I think I may be returning it tomorrow.

Can anyone recommend a good blu-ray player that can decode TrueHD and DTS HD? Just as long as it's NOT a PS3, lol.

 

[adk highlander]

I have the Samsung BD-P1400 which will send the bitstream to my processor to do the decoding. I don't think it will internally decode DTS-HD Master but as long as it bitstreams I don't care.

Many have had good things to say about the Panasonic DMP-BD30K.

 

[Seth=L]

Many have had good things to say about the Panasonic DMP-BD30K.

Which is sold at Wally World for $450.

OP, why no PS3? Don't say "because it's a gaming system, and I don't want to play games".

 

[timone]

Or get a Samsung Dou Player BD5000. As long as you update the firmware, you'll have a fantastic player that can play blu-ray and hd dvd. It will bitstream the audio formats you're interested in.

 

[EaterofWorlds]

When you guys say "bitstream the audio format" does that mean the playerr will send Lossless or TrueHD to my receiver, and my receiver's display will reflect that, or that the player will broadcast the format but my reciever's display will NOT reflect the corrrect format?

 

[adk highlander]

Bitstream will send the raw signal to your receiver that will decode it and display the correct format. You may still need to select which audio tract on the disc (most have Dolby Digial as well as TrueHD) but it will display the incoming signal.

Remember many of the Blu-rays come with a uncompressed LPCM tract that will not display as any of the DD or DTS varieties but is a lossless tract.

 

[patnshan]

Which is sold at Wally World for $450.

OP, why no PS3? Don't say "because it's a gaming system, and I don't want to play games".

Ditto, you must have a reason. The PS3 is the most capable player for the price.

Pat

 

[EaterofWorlds]

Problem fixed!... I hope?

I checked the LG website and there was a firmware update for the BH200 so that it could stream TrueHD and DTS Lossless on Primary Pass-Thru mode. I downloaded the firmware update and now when I play TrueHD or DTS Lossless the corresponding icons light up on my reciever and the program selection will revert to "Straight" with all my speaker icons lit up. It says any other audio programs are "Not Available." Is that normal??

Also, the 192/24 icon on my receiver... what is that and should it be lit up as well?? Does it have to do with the sampling frequency? Because I did set it at 192.

I can definitely notice the difference in sound, especially with Dolby TrueHD.

Is there any other reason I should dump this LG Blu-ray player? It does load a bit slow, but it can play Blu-ray AND HD-DVDs, a huge plus for my library. With the firmware update, I'm pretty sure my audio woes are gone, although that 192/24 question lingers in my mind.

 

[allargon]

Problem fixed!... I hope?

I checked the LG website and there was a firmware update for the BH200 so that it could stream TrueHD and DTS Lossless on Primary Pass-Thru mode. I downloaded the firmware update and now when I play TrueHD or DTS Lossless the corresponding icons light up on my reciever and the program selection will revert to "Straight" with all my speaker icons lit up. It says any other audio programs are "Not Available." Is that normal??

Also, the 192/24 icon on my receiver... what is that and should it be lit up as well?? Does it have to do with the sampling frequency? Because I did set it at 192.

I can definitely notice the difference in sound, especially with Dolby TrueHD.

Is there any other reason I should dump this LG Blu-ray player? It does load a bit slow, but it can play Blu-ray AND HD-DVDs, a huge plus for my library. With the firmware update, I'm pretty sure my audio woes are gone, although that 192/24 question lingers in my mind.

Slow loading??? It's the fastest loading standalone there is according to CNet.

http://reviews.cnet.com/video-players-and-recorders/panasonic-dmp-bd50/4505-6463_7-32815617.html

We also tested the disc-loading performance of the DMP-BD50, and it performed better than expected. For standard discs, such as Mission:Impossible III, it loaded them in 23 seconds with the player on, and it took 33 seconds starting with the player off. The Java-heavy Pirates of the Caribbean 2 loaded in 1 minute and 44 seconds, while Spiderman 3 loaded in 1 minute and 34 seconds. These speeds were all significantly faster than the Samsung BD-P1500, and among all of the standalone players we've tested, only the LG BH200 loaded discs as quickly as the DMP-BD50.

No HD DVD's are at 192/24 AFAIK. The 192 setting on your BH200 (I have one. Tom and Clint, I'm actually talking about a piece of gear I own! ) is the maximum that the player will pass to your receiver. However, if you're bitstreaming this should be a non-issue.

I assume you're running the April firmware update with the 702 driver. The LG BH200 is one of the few non Sony/Panasonic players that can play AVCHD discs as well. BTW, this player can do 7.1 channel PCM for Dolby TrueHD/Dolby Digital Plus over HDMI and can internally decode the 5.1 DTS core of DTS-HD (HR/MA). It can bitstream both to be decoded by a receiver for full 7.1 channel lossless audio. The 2 channel restriction was true at launch. It is no longer true now.

 

[itschris]

When the player bitstreams, it strips the encoded audio from the disc and shoots it over the HDMI cable to your receiver which decodes it. So, if you get the Panny BD30, it will not decode, but it will transmit the new lossless formats to your receiver which willl do the decoding for you. In that setup, the receiver will light up the proper decoding scheme.

 

[EaterofWorlds]

I returned the LG and picked up the Panasonic BD30... not as flashy, but it was $60.00 cheaper! I don't really intend on owning any HD DVDs so I guess this was the better choice. Thanks for all the help, guys!