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studiomatthewbrooks
Contributor I
November 17, 2020

LG C9 + Arc + UB820 / Multichannel PCM for DTS Blu-Ray discs

  • November 17, 2020
  • 344 replies
  • 32087 views

I’m running an LG C9 with a Panasonic UB820 Blu-ray player, Sonos Arc + Sub gen 3 + One SL surrounds. The lack of DTS support on the Arc has been frustrating for non Dolby encoded Blu-ray discs, so I have been eagerly awaiting the multichannel PCM update.

It’s finally arrived (thanks, Sonos!) and I tried playing a DTS encoded Blu-ray and… no dice. Still stereo PCM 2.0. Has anyone running a similar set-up managed to get 5.1 PCM output from the Arc?

The C9 supports eARC and multichannel PCM, I’m using 48gbps HDMI cables that support up to 8k60Hz, all of the devices are up to date, I have the C9 set to PCM with eArc enabled, DTS output set to PCM on the UB820… I’m really at a loss here. Any ideas or suggested settings?

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    344 replies

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    GuitarSuperstar
    Lead Maestro
    January 6, 2021

    @Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the info. We have determined that the LG can pass through multichannel PCM. The problem has always been the LG working with specific external media devices. In this case, it is the Panasonic UB820 UHD player.

    "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
      Ken_Griffiths
      Ken_Griffiths
      January 6, 2021

      @Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the info. We have determined that the LG can pass through multichannel PCM. The problem has always been the LG working with specific external media devices. In this case, it is the Panasonic UB820 UHD player.

      Sadly, I don’t have the UB820 to test, but at least the Arcana works okay looking at your earlier posts. 

      ...it appears the devices ‘handshake’ rather than the ‘pass-through’ on the TV may have some issues. I did have to manually force the handshake to get the PS3’s multi-channel LPCM 5.1 codec as it’s ‘sound out’, to then pass-through the LG TV ports, otherwise had I set the PS3 to its default auto settings, I am fairly sure it would have transcoded the audio to PCM stereo only.

        dal_t
        Lyricist I
        January 6, 2021

        Purchased HDFury Arcana and am now able to get Multichannel PCM 7.1 through Sonos while watching a DTS-X disc on my LG CX and Panasonic 820.

        However, this only works if you plug the Panasonic directly into the Arcana via the HDMI IN port. So it appears that I will need to use an HDMI switcher for my other devices (Apple TV 4K, PS5, Fios, and Nintendo Switch) so that they can all plug directly into the HDMI IN port of the Arcana.

        Someone above suggested that for e-ARC televisions, it would not be necessary to plug the devices into the Arcana because the e-ARC TV would act as the “switcher”. However, when I tried plugging the Panasonic directly into the TV via HDMI like I usually do, I was only able to get Stereo PCM 2.0 through the Arc.

        My next thought was to connect only the Panasonic to the Arcana through the HDMI IN port and leave my other devices (Apple TV 4K, PS5, Fios, and Nintendo Switch) connected directly to the TV via HDMI. But when I tested a Dolby Atmos Netflix film on the Apple TV, I was getting “Dolby Atmos (DD+)” through the Arc. When I used to watch Dolby Atmos content on Netflix, the Sonos app showed “Dolby Atmos”.

        I did some research and it appears that the “(DD+)” indicates that the Arc is not connected via e-ARC, only regular Arc. I believe this is a lossy Atmos rather than lossless.

        All in all, I’m happy to have found an (annoying) solution and will need to purchase a different HDMI switcher because my current one only has 3 external ports and I have 5 devices that will need to feed into the Arcana.

        A word of caution to you because I am in a similar position. If you care about the HDMI 2.1 capabilities of the PS5 (same for Xbox Series X) then a HDMI switch is a no go. At the time of current writing I have not been able to find a switcher on the market that is HDMI 2.1 compliant/capable. 

        I have the same issue in that I cannot get Tenet (which only contains 2 audio tracks here in the UK) to play in anything other than stereo through a UB820 player on an LG CX (despite the new software update to the Arc meaning we can do multichannel 5.1 PCM). I considered the HD Fury Arcana but I realised because I have both a PS5 and Xbox series X it’s a no go. The Arcana would need several ports for me to use (Xbox, PS5 and Ub820) that for e-Arc and still use HDMI 2.1 capabilities. As far as I am aware I can’t still output sound from the Ub820 through the Arcana with E-ARC and leave my console plugged into the TV’s HDMI 2.1 ports and output sound from all 3 devices through the Arc soundbar. That would be 2 e-ARC systems (1 being within the TV and the other being the Arcana).

        I’ve ripped my Tenet disc and confirmed this has just 2 audio tracks FYI. DTS-HD MA and DD 5.1 unforunately audio described so a no go’er. I cannot get this to work BUT for stereo on the UB820 on an LG CX which for a big budget film I want to have my full surround in use with the sub, Arc and surround old play:1’s that I am using.

          Ken_Griffiths
          Ken_Griffiths
          January 6, 2021

          A word of caution to you because I am in a similar position. If you care about the HDMI 2.1 capabilities of the PS5 (same for Xbox Series X) then a HDMI switch is a no go. At the time of current writing I have not been able to find a switcher on the market that is HDMI 2.1 compliant/capable. 

          I have the same issue in that I cannot get Tenet (which only contains 2 audio tracks here in the UK) to play in anything other than stereo through a UB820 player on an LG CX (despite the new software update to the Arc meaning we can do multichannel 5.1 PCM). I considered the HD Fury Arcana but I realised because I have both a PS5 and Xbox series X it’s a no go. The Arcana would need several ports for me to use (Xbox, PS5 and Ub820) that for e-Arc and still use HDMI 2.1 capabilities. As far as I am aware I can’t still output sound from the Ub820 through the Arcana with E-ARC and leave my console plugged into the TV’s HDMI 2.1 ports and output sound from all 3 devices through the Arc soundbar. That would be 2 e-ARC systems (1 being within the TV and the other being the Arcana).

          I’ve ripped my Tenet disc and confirmed this has just 2 audio tracks FYI. DTS-HD MA and DD 5.1 unforunately audio described so a no go’er. I cannot get this to work BUT for stereo on the UB820 on an LG CX which for a big budget film I want to have my full surround in use with the sub, Arc and surround old play:1’s that I am using.

          So can’t you use bitstream and no transcoding to play the disk in DD5.1 from one of your players?

          Silverthorn
          Prodigy II
          January 6, 2021

          Purchased HDFury Arcana and am now able to get Multichannel PCM 7.1 through Sonos while watching a DTS-X disc on my LG CX and Panasonic 820.

          However, this only works if you plug the Panasonic directly into the Arcana via the HDMI IN port. So it appears that I will need to use an HDMI switcher for my other devices (Apple TV 4K, PS5, Fios, and Nintendo Switch) so that they can all plug directly into the HDMI IN port of the Arcana.

          Someone above suggested that for e-ARC televisions, it would not be necessary to plug the devices into the Arcana because the e-ARC TV would act as the “switcher”. However, when I tried plugging the Panasonic directly into the TV via HDMI like I usually do, I was only able to get Stereo PCM 2.0 through the Arc.

          My next thought was to connect only the Panasonic to the Arcana through the HDMI IN port and leave my other devices (Apple TV 4K, PS5, Fios, and Nintendo Switch) connected directly to the TV via HDMI. But when I tested a Dolby Atmos Netflix film on the Apple TV, I was getting “Dolby Atmos (DD+)” through the Arc. When I used to watch Dolby Atmos content on Netflix, the Sonos app showed “Dolby Atmos”.

          I did some research and it appears that the “(DD+)” indicates that the Arc is not connected via e-ARC, only regular Arc. I believe this is a lossy Atmos rather than lossless.

          All in all, I’m happy to have found an (annoying) solution and will need to purchase a different HDMI switcher because my current one only has 3 external ports and I have 5 devices that will need to feed into the Arcana.

          A word of caution to you because I am in a similar position. If you care about the HDMI 2.1 capabilities of the PS5 (same for Xbox Series X) then a HDMI switch is a no go. At the time of current writing I have not been able to find a switcher on the market that is HDMI 2.1 compliant/capable. 

          I have the same issue in that I cannot get Tenet (which only contains 2 audio tracks here in the UK) to play in anything other than stereo through a UB820 player on an LG CX (despite the new software update to the Arc meaning we can do multichannel 5.1 PCM). I considered the HD Fury Arcana but I realised because I have both a PS5 and Xbox series X it’s a no go. The Arcana would need several ports for me to use (Xbox, PS5 and Ub820) that for e-Arc and still use HDMI 2.1 capabilities. As far as I am aware I can’t still output sound from the Ub820 through the Arcana with E-ARC and leave my console plugged into the TV’s HDMI 2.1 ports and output sound from all 3 devices through the Arc soundbar. That would be 2 e-ARC systems (1 being within the TV and the other being the Arcana).

          I’ve ripped my Tenet disc and confirmed this has just 2 audio tracks FYI. DTS-HD MA and DD 5.1 unforunately audio described so a no go’er. I cannot get this to work BUT for stereo on the UB820 on an LG CX which for a big budget film I want to have my full surround in use with the sub, Arc and surround old play:1’s that I am using.

           

          Why do you need to run the PlayStation and Xbox through the Arcana and not plug them into the TV?

          "I saw the Stooges and the MC5"
          iBoyley
          Trending Lyricist I
          January 7, 2021

          @Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the info. We have determined that the LG can pass through multichannel PCM. The problem has always been the LG working with specific external media devices. In this case, it is the Panasonic UB820 UHD player.

          Sadly, I don’t have the UB820 to test, but at least the Arcana works okay looking at your earlier posts. 

          ...it appears the devices ‘handshake’ rather than the ‘pass-through’ on the TV may have some issues. I did have to manually force the handshake to get the PS3’s multi-channel LPCM 5.1 codec as it’s ‘sound out’, to then pass-through the LG TV ports, otherwise had I set the PS3 to its default auto settings, I am fairly sure it would have transcoded the audio to PCM stereo only.

          Yes you are now the fourth person to suggest it being a handshake issue. 

          The TV can pass LPCM through from other devices such as XSX or PS5 but for some reason not the UB820 which is capable of outputting it. 

           

          When you say you had to manually force a handshake, what did this involve exactly?

          Ken_Griffiths
          Ken_Griffiths
          January 7, 2021

          @Ken_Griffiths Thanks for the info. We have determined that the LG can pass through multichannel PCM. The problem has always been the LG working with specific external media devices. In this case, it is the Panasonic UB820 UHD player.

          Sadly, I don’t have the UB820 to test, but at least the Arcana works okay looking at your earlier posts. 

          ...it appears the devices ‘handshake’ rather than the ‘pass-through’ on the TV may have some issues. I did have to manually force the handshake to get the PS3’s multi-channel LPCM 5.1 codec as it’s ‘sound out’, to then pass-through the LG TV ports, otherwise had I set the PS3 to its default auto settings, I am fairly sure it would have transcoded the audio to PCM stereo only.

          Yes you are now the fourth person to suggest it being a handshake issue. 

          The TV can pass LPCM through from other devices such as XSX or PS5 but for some reason not the UB820 which is capable of outputting it. 

           

          When you say you had to manually force a handshake, what did this involve exactly?

          On the PlayStation I was using, under its sound settings, I ‘manually’ added the LPCM 5.1 codec with sampling rates of 44.1kHz and 48kHz to the audio-out on the HDMI port connector.. if left set to automatic the ‘handshake’ does not include that codec when connected to the LG C9 TV - it showed it as supporting LPCM 2.1 channels only, at various sampling rates, (which is correct for the TV audio output). The TV however will allow the ‘pass-through’ of the 5.1 codec through its own ports, even though it doesn’t support it and hence I was able to get it to work with the Arc.
           

          Hope that answers the question.

          iBoyley
          Trending Lyricist I
          January 8, 2021

          So Panasonic responded to me directly contradicting all advice that i have come across online

           

          “I would like to inform you that the Technical Department has advised that this Blu-Ray player would not be able to send out PCM content as 5.1 or 7.1 as this is a Downmix to 2.1 channel only. The unit is only capable of outputting 5.1 or 7.1 audio format in Bitstream.”

           

           

          The issue i have is when i select the playback info screen it always displays 2ch Stereo regardless of whether DTS is set to Bitsteam or PCM in the device settings

          GuitarSuperstar
          Lead Maestro
          January 8, 2021

          So Panasonic responded to me directly contradicting all advice that i have come across online

           

          “I would like to inform you that the Technical Department has advised that this Blu-Ray player would not be able to send out PCM content as 5.1 or 7.1 as this is a Downmix to 2.1 channel only. The unit is only capable of outputting 5.1 or 7.1 audio format in Bitstream.”

           

           

          The issue i have is when i select the playback info screen it always displays 2ch Stereo regardless of whether DTS is set to Bitsteam or PCM in the device settings

          Panasonic’s Technical Department is wrong. I have the UB820 and I am getting it to send 5.1/7.1 PCM to the Arc.

          "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
          GuitarSuperstar
          Lead Maestro
          January 8, 2021

          This is from the Panasonic UB820 manual:

           

          "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you." - Rashi
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