Dolby Atmos on Samsung TV

Hi @mikewy 

Thanks for reaching out and for your detailed post, congratulations on having the Sonos system, let me help and try to figure this out.

The tricky thing about Dolby Atmos is that, for it to work, every ingredient in your home theater setup has to support Atmos. In other words:

• The movie you’re playing whether it’s physical, downloaded, or streamed, has to be encoded with Dolby Atmos (via Dolby TrueHD or Dolby Digital Plus).

• The hardware you’re playing it on has to be able to decode Dolby Atmos or pass it along to a Dolby Atmos-capable sound system without altering it. This is known as “pass-through.”

• The app you’re using e.g., Plex, Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Prime Video, etc. must be capable of delivering Dolby Atmos data to your playback device.

• And of course, your TV, A/V receiver, or soundbar must be Dolby Atmos compatible, if that’s the device you’re using to hear audio.

I suggest checking our support article that outlines the main factors to determine if your Sonos Arc can play Dolby Atmos audio.

Getting Dolby Atmos audio can also depend on the physical source device playing the content. Some TVs do not support Dolby Atmos audio even if the source device (e.g. Roku Ultra) does. In most cases, the TV will re-encode the audio to Dolby Digital 5.1.

Please check with the manufacturer of your TV to see if it supports Dolby Atmos.

Let us know how it goes and if you have any questions feel free to reach out, we’re always here to help.

Ok so if the TV does not support Atmos then it falls down.  Is there a workaround like using a fire stick instead of the TV built in apps etc?  Or is there a way to instruct the TV to pass through?

Hi @mikewy.

Thanks for your immediate response.

While most TVs are compatible with Sonos home theater speakers, some may need additional configuration or may not work with Sonos.

Connecting the Sonos home theater speaker directly to the TV’s HDMI ARC-eARC port is the supported configuration for Arc and we don’t recommend wiring to a source device.

No worries, some of the community members might provide their own opinion about this anytime soon.

If you have any other questions or run into any issues,  please do not hesitate to reach out, we’re always here to help.

Hi,

I have Samsung 2018 75" Q8D with the ARC and I am having the same problem. However I get Atmos from the built in Plex client with a valid source file (Dolby Digital Plus with Atmos that is). But none of the other built in apps I’ve tested does the same (Netflix, AppleTV etc). For some reason the manufacturer of those apps have been misinformed of the tv model supporting Atmos is seems?

Mathias

Hi @cimarron.

Thanks for reaching out, we’d be glad to assist.

We need to verify if the content you’re watching supports Dolby Atmos. Note that even if a service supports Dolby Atmos, some shows and movies may not have Dolby Atmos audio.

You can check which audio codec type the HT product is receiving using the Sonos app, Settings > System > About my System > Sonos System Info > Audio In. This article outlines the main factors that determine if your Sonos Arc can play Dolby Atmos audio. 

If you have verified that the content should support Dolby Atmos, then you need to check with the TV manufacturer if it supports the required codec.

If you have any other questions or run into any issues,  please do not hesitate to reach out, we’re always here to help.

I’m having the same issues I’m told my Samsung tv support Dolby atmos but I’m not getting it in the app, what do I do? 

Hi @Person123.

Thanks for reaching out and my apologies for the delayed response time, we’d be glad to help.

Kindly verify what type of connection is in use from Sonos Arc to your TV, is it via HDMI/ARC or eARC?

We need to know if the TV is passing a supported home theater audio format on to Sonos? Sonos speakers like Arc can only play what is handed to them.

Some TVs do not support Dolby Atmos audio even if the source device does, so the TV will re-encode the audio to Dolby Digital 5.1.

I suggest checking our support article that outlines the main factors to determine if your Sonos Arc can play Dolby Atmos audio.

If Arc is receiving an Atmos signal, we will display that within the Sonos App on both the "Now Playing" screen, and within the settings portion of our app.

Settings > System > About my System > Sonos System Info > Audio In

Kindly replicate the issue, then submit a diagnostic report through the Sonos app shortly when it happens, and reply with the confirmation number. I'd start by reviewing your system and go from there, it will help in identifying what's possibly causing the issue.

Let us know how it goes.

Hi there @Person123.

Thanks for getting back to us and sharing this helpful information.

I appreciate your effort in working through this, it can benefit those members with the same situation as yours and looking for answers here in the community.

This thread will be marked as ‘Resolved’ for there was an answer already provided.

If you have any other questions or concerns, feel free to reach out.

All the best!