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Hey guys, first post here, I bought my first Sonos product last week (Sonos Beam G2) and I’m loving it since then. But I’m having a little issue when I’m watching content on the streaming apps (D+, Netflix) of my tv (LG C2). The thing is, when I put Digital Sound Out to “Passthrough” I get a 2-3 seconds delay when pausing and unpausing movies/series, on DV, HDR and regular 4K content. When I unpause, the video starts and the sound takes a few seconds, and when unpausing the same, the video stops but sounds keeps playing. When I try, for example, Youtube videos, it doesnt happen, it pauses and unpauses fluidly without delay.

 

The “solution” I found to avoid the delay is to put Digital Sound Out to “Automatic” but it loses a lot of sound quality. 

 

If someone can help me why this happens on streaming platforms and why on Passthrough setting, or help me fix it, would be so thankful

 

Sorry if my English is not perfect, not my main language, thank you in advance!

Hi @jotti 

Welcome to the Sonos Community! Your English is great!

I can assure you that if video stops playing but the audio continues - and if lip-sync is good - then the TV or source device playing the media is responsible.

I recommend rebooting your TV by unplugging it for at least 2 minutes. Also, if you have a “Bitstream” option in the TV’s audio format settings, it might be worth trying it. Auto or Passthrough should suffice, however.

I hope this helps, but if it doesn’t, I recommend you contact LG support.


Hi @jotti 

Welcome to the Sonos Community! Your English is great!

I can assure you that if video stops playing but the audio continues - and if lip-sync is good - then the TV or source device playing the media is responsible.

I recommend rebooting your TV by unplugging it for at least 2 minutes. Also, if you have a “Bitstream” option in the TV’s audio format settings, it might be worth trying it. Auto or Passthrough should suffice, however.

I hope this helps, but if it doesn’t, I recommend you contact LG support.

Thank you so much for your answer. I talked with a guy on reddit that has the same setup as I do ( LG C2 + Sonos Beam G2) and he has the same “problem”. As long as I don’t get lip sync issues I’m okay with that, but I’m wonderwing why it happens on streaming apps and on Youtube it works fine, maybe it changes anything related to the audio format or something like that?


Hi @jotti 

I would assume so. YouTube is a streaming app, but delivers stereo PCM only - on free-to-access videos, anyway. Your other streaming apps are probably delivering at least Dolby Digital, and it sounds like the TV or the apps aren’t ending the stream playback cleanly. PCM is the easiest to handle as there’s no decompression.

 


Hi @jotti 

I would assume so. YouTube is a streaming app, but delivers stereo PCM only - on free-to-access videos, anyway. Your other streaming apps are probably delivering at least Dolby Digital, and it sounds like the TV or the apps aren’t ending the stream playback cleanly. PCM is the easiest to handle as there’s no decompression.

 

Oh I see, but if I put the Digital Audio Output setting to Auto the delay between pauses goes away, why would that happen? On my Sonos app, when I have it on Auto it says Dolby Atmos (DD+) is playing, but sometimes when I pause it before it goes to “Silence” on the app it says “Dolby Digital Plus 5.1”. On the other side, when Pass through is on, it won’t change from Dolby Atmos (DD+). There’s a difference betwen those two or they are just the same? Because Auto fixes it but I’m not sure what changes when that option is on.


Hi @jotti 

Oh I see, but if I put the Digital Audio Output setting to Auto the delay between pauses goes away, why would that happen?

I have no idea why it’s happening in the first place, so I can’t tell you why it stops either. I know who might know - see my first reply. If you haven’t checked your TV for available software updates, I highly recommend it.

On my Sonos app, when I have it on Auto it says Dolby Atmos (DD+) is playing, but sometimes when I pause it before it goes to “Silence” on the app it says “Dolby Digital Plus 5.1”. On the other side, when Pass through is on, it won’t change from Dolby Atmos (DD+). There’s a difference betwen those two or they are just the same? Because Auto fixes it but I’m not sure what changes when that option is on.

DD+ 5.1 has 6 channels - 3 at the front, 2 at the back and a Subwoofer channel. DD+ (Atmos) has 8 - the same 6 that 5.1 has, plus 2 height channels. It sounds like the TV might be confused about whether to play DD+ or DD+ (Atmos) as the playback stops - it makes a kind of sense as in Auto mode the TV is working on the audio.

Passthrough used to mean that a digital audio stream was passed from input to output without alteration in any way. Things seem to have changed recently - at least with TVs - but it varies from brand to brand. This is the general idea, however.

Auto will involve the TV asking the audio device which formats it can handle, and the TV choosing the best from the list. If a format is not accepted by the audio device, the TV will re-encode it in real time into a supported format - usually DD+ or DD. It seems the TV is better able to end the video and audio together when it is processing the audio on Auto mode, and when on Passthrough takes it’s time. But, we’re back to the “why” of the first question.


Hi @jotti 

Oh I see, but if I put the Digital Audio Output setting to Auto the delay between pauses goes away, why would that happen?

I have no idea why it’s happening in the first place, so I can’t tell you why it stops either. I know who might know - see my first reply. If you haven’t checked your TV for available software updates, I highly recommend it.

On my Sonos app, when I have it on Auto it says Dolby Atmos (DD+) is playing, but sometimes when I pause it before it goes to “Silence” on the app it says “Dolby Digital Plus 5.1”. On the other side, when Pass through is on, it won’t change from Dolby Atmos (DD+). There’s a difference betwen those two or they are just the same? Because Auto fixes it but I’m not sure what changes when that option is on.

DD+ 5.1 has 6 channels - 3 at the front, 2 at the back and a Subwoofer channel. DD+ (Atmos) has 8 - the same 6 that 5.1 has, plus 2 height channels. It sounds like the TV might be confused about whether to play DD+ or DD+ (Atmos) as the playback stops - it makes a kind of sense as in Auto mode the TV is working on the audio.

Passthrough used to mean that a digital audio stream was passed from input to output without alteration in any way. Things seem to have changed recently - at least with TVs - but it varies from brand to brand. This is the general idea, however.

Auto will involve the TV asking the audio device which formats it can handle, and the TV choosing the best from the list. If a format is not accepted by the audio device, the TV will re-encode it in real time into a supported format - usually DD+ or DD. It seems the TV is better able to end the video and audio together when it is processing the audio on Auto mode, and when on Passthrough takes it’s time. But, we’re back to the “why” of the first question.

Thank you very much for your explanation! I will try to contact LG Support or someone who may have the same problem.