5.1 not working when connected to TV via hdmi then optical out

[shik1]

5.1 not working when connected to TV via hdmi then optical out to reciever

my set up:
radeon 6570 hdmi out to LG tv
optical out to surround reciever, result =stereo sound!

i have the exact same set up with my xbox
hdmi to TV,optical out to reciever= 5.1 surround!!


why won't i get surround this way from the pc card??

 

[shik1]

Also when i go to sound options/configure hdmi output in control panel, the option for surround is greyed out!

 

[astrallite]

Because optical can only transmit 2 channel uncompressed sound, or a surround sound container format like Dolby Digital or DTS.

Your PC is transmitting 8 channel uncompressed sound via HDMI. Your xbox is transmitting Dolby Digital.

Hence, you only get 2 channel from your PC, and surround sound from your xbox.

 

[shik1]

thanks for that info!.. so how would i get surround sound from a hdmi lead when that has to go into the tv for the picture signal?

buy a better reciever with hdmi input/output?

plug it into that and then output via another hdmi cable to the tv for the picture?

 

[astrallite]

You need to route the pc hdmi output to a receiver or an audio/video processor, which connects to the tv.

 

[Schwahman]

I have done this, and it still only allows stereo setup.

 

[Josh7890]

I have done this, and it still only allows stereo setup.

Did you find a solution to this? I have a similar setup:

Radeon 7870 --- HDMI --- LG AV Receiver --- HDMI --- Sony TV

The same setup with my PS3 connected instead of my computer outputs great 5.1 surround sound with no configuration needed. When I hook up my computer, Windows only gives me the option for stereo. It recognizes the "LGHomeTheatre" and the "AMD High Definition Audio Device". The video passes through my receiver to the TV just fine.

 

[astrallite]

Update your AMD drivers.

 

[George3356]

Hi everyone, sorry to revive this old thread, but I have the exact same problem.

after spending several hours checking google, I gave up and am asking my question here.

I have this TV: https/www.amazon.co.uk/Samsung-UE55KU6172-55-inch-Sma... and I have it connected to my PC via HDMI cable. So far everything worked fine, I used the TV's speakers.

However, now I bought this soundbar: https/www.amazon.com/Samsung-HW-M360-ZA-Wireless-Soun...

And I bought these rear speakers for it: https/www.amazon.com/Samsung-Electronics-Surround-SWA...

So now I have it connected like this:
PC->TV (through HDMI cable)
Soundbar->TV (through optical cable)
Subwoofer->Soundbar - bluetooth
Rear speaker base->Soundbar - bluetooth

Samsung advertises that together it creates a full surround system, so I thought it would be like a 4.1/5.1 system. However, I have 2 problems now.
1) when I run a surround test video, when it shows that the front left/right speaker should be playing, the rear ones are actually playing as well and vice versa. So it doesn't seem like it is a real surround, but more like stereo?

2) When I run my regular setup (as described above), my SOUND settings only show Stereo settings, no surround and I also checked my TV settings and Dolby Digital is greyed out.
However, when I play a movie from a USB plugged right into the TV, the DOlby Digital can be chosen and the sound is amazing.

Would anyone know what I should do? I am really desperate.
I don't think I can return the soundbar anymore. Did I make a bad choice by buying it? Should have I gone for some regular 5.1. setup like Logitech Speaker System Z906, in case I could still return the soundbar?

Thank You very much!
Best regards,
George

 

[c_chekay]

5.1 not working when connected to TV via hdmi then optical out to reciever

my set up:
radeon 6570 hdmi out to LG tv
optical out to surround reciever, result =stereo sound!

i have the exact same set up with my xbox
hdmi to TV,optical out to reciever= 5.1 surround!!


why won't i get surround this way from the pc card??

Because you are under the impression any Digital SPDIF links are multichannel, they are 2 channel. you need to encode (NOTE encode not decode!) your discreet 5.1, 7.1, etc into 2 channel surround encoded. Look for a sound chipset/card that supports Dobly Digital Live, and/or DTS connect encoding.

They do this by having you set your speakers as default and that set to a surround speaker configuration, then hook up your SPDIF and it will pass the speaker outputs into the encoder making it 2 channel then pass thrus to the SPDIF. And its iffy at best, take it from someone who has been doing it for awhile now... even after 5 years no-one has still made this foolproof nor bug proof (I still deal with audio randomly stopping and having to disable and renable the encoder)

You always can watch movies and stuff using 2 channel cuz its typically already 'encoded for surround' the problem comes down when something is using discreet 'multi channel audio' example any video game that says they support surround sound but you never once see a dolby symbol show up anywhere for that title will result in you never hearing anything but the front L and R channels because you have no way to mix all the channels into 2 channels hence where DD Live and DTS Connect for PC comes in.