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billabong

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 7, 2004
397
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Does the DD 5.1 work over a HDMI connection?

What if there is no receiver involved and the HDMI goes directly to the TV? Will you still get audio, just down converted to stereo?

How does it work exactly?
 
A crap load of TV's decode Dolby Digital and a lot more can pass it through to an AV receiver.
 
I have a Sony TV with 3 HDMI inputs, I connected my DVD player with HDMI up-conversion to my TV and the sound was included, also my TV has the optical audio out, so I can send the audio to any other device.
HDMI is like DVI + the audio.
Also some of the HD shows out there broadcast with DD 5.1.
I'm not sure about the :apple:TV I don't have one.
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Toyota TF102 history
 
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My LG 47" lcd passes 5.1 through just fine.

Really? You have a device, such as an ATV or DVD player connected to your TV by an HDMI cable, and then another HDMI or optical cable connected from your TV to a Dolby Digital receiver and you're getting passthrough? That would be a violation of HDCP terms, I would think. My Samsung LCD TV doesn't do this (it's 2 months old), thus we have HDMI and RCA cables from our ATV and DVD player, respectively, to the TV, and Toslink and coax to our Onkyo receiver for DD.
 
So if I rent and HD movie w/ 5.1 DD, and I have my AppleTV hooked up to the tv via HDMI will I get sound out of my TV?
 
So if I rent and HD movie w/ 5.1 DD, and I have my AppleTV hooked up to the tv via HDMI will I get sound out of my TV?

Yes.

You probably won't get DD 5.1, but you will get sound. HDMI does carry audio.

Regards,
Michael
 
So if I rent and HD movie w/ 5.1 DD, and I have my AppleTV hooked up to the tv via HDMI will I get sound out of my TV?

Yes. The HD downloads with Dolby Digital come with two audio tracks: AC3 for the Dolby Digital and AAC for conventional analog audio (up to 5-channel Dolby Pro Logic II). The ATV2 software is able to assess your system for the presence of (1) a DD receiver and (2) whether the file has an AC-3 track. If both conditions are met Quicktime on the ATV2 uses the AC3 track for audio. If only one is met (or neither) then you get AAC audio (which is also the default audio track). See here for a little more info on HD DD downloads.

If you connect your ATV to your TV by an HDMI cable, your TV should be able to decode it even if it isn't DD-capable (because the ATV will only send it the AAC audio). If you connect your TV to a Dolby Digital receiver it is unlikely to passthrough the AC3 track from the ATV2. I have yet to see a TV that does this as it is apparently a violation of digital rights. Others claim their TVs do this, but I am highly suspect of that. It is for this reason why you should connect your ATV directly to a DD receiver using a Toslink cable - it guarantees that you can send the AC3 audio to your Dolby Digital receiver for 5.1 surround sound.
 
Now how about the 5.1 files created with VisualHub? I think they only contain one track right? So if I play one of those through my TV w/ HDMI I will get no sound then? Or will it downconvert the audio to 2.1?
 
-billabong

In order to get the HDMI cert, 5.1 has to be supportable.

the trick is to decode, and deliver. Obviously, you cannot deliver if you don't have the speakers. So your TV will mix the channels, but will tend to downvolume the rears.
 
Now how about the 5.1 files created with VisualHub? I think they only contain one track right? So if I play one of those through my TV w/ HDMI I will get no sound then? Or will it downconvert the audio to 2.1?

I think VH only puts in the AC3 track. If this is the case, and your TV does not have Dolby Digital decoder you will get static. This is what happens with my Samsung LCD TV. It has no DD decoder and when there's only one audio track (AC3) I get static on my TV's speakers.
 
I think VH only puts in the AC3 track. If this is the case, and your TV does not have Dolby Digital decoder you will get static. This is what happens with my Samsung LCD TV. It has no DD decoder and when there's only one audio track (AC3) I get static on my TV's speakers.

I really hope that visual hub at AAC+AC3 just like Handbreak does as I have two different TV's one AppleTV is hooked up just via HDMI and can only output Stereo while the other is hooked up to a surround system...
 
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