List of TV’s that will pass 5.1 from HDMI Sources to Playbar

11 years ago
11 March 2013
370 replies
378312 views

All,

Would you mind listing your TV and mode/year in this thread if you have tested it and confirmed it will pass DD 5.1 to the Playbar and from what source. This will help those of us in the market for a new TV and playbar.

Thanks

MikeB.

Page 15 / 15

Does anyone know if the Samsung ue55d7000 passes 5.1 through the optical out? I'm wanting to buy the playbar and sub to create a home theatre set up.

@TrevorFL

Thanks a lot for having looked into this. Yes, I do have grey options that I noticed when I was looking for your "stop sound" option, which I don't have, even in grey.

However, you gave me a great idea: as soon as I can, I will plug an optical cable out of my TV into an A/V receiver that indicates whether the source is 2.0 or 5.1.

I let everyone know here if my TV passed the test.

-cheers-

I bit the bullet and bought a new TV to go with the Playbar/Sub/P3s in my family room. The sound is great and simplifies things over the Monoprice HDMI switch I had before.

Sony model KDL-60EX645 does pass DD5.1 from the following HDMI sources: Directv, AppleTV, Samsung BD player. It will also pass DD5.1 from Netflix. I did not test any other streaming services.

BTW, Fry's has a great deal today on Sony XBR 55HX950 for $1919. 😃

As negative results count as equally important I suppose, the now older Samsung UE40ES6715 does NOT pass through 5.1 (only PCM/Dolby DIgital 2.0)

If I may ask...Witch device are you using to stream from Netfix? The TV app or the Apple TV?

Thank you in advance for your information.

TrevorFL,

I used both the Sony TV by itself and the AppleTV to stream Netflix. Both sent a 5.1 signal to the optical output.

Good advice Evan, I have an almost identical setup. It's worth adding that by NOT passing audio through the TV there is a potential for getting silence from Blurays encoded with DTS but no DD5.1. What is then needed is a Bluray player that will transcode DTS to DD5.1, which is true of at least some games consoles and Samsung Bluray players.

There is also a monoprice HDMI switch with optical output that is often recommended on this forum.

Hello WifiStrut.

I don't know if you already own a Playbar or not. Read on...

I was reading somewhere here and learned the following. Maybe you already know it but just in case I would share it with you.

Using the IPad or IPhone app (if you have it) you can find out what is your playbar is getting. (Stereo or DD5.1)

Open the app while streaming or playing something that you know it is 5.1.

Select the little "gear" that will take you to the settings.

At the end select "About My Sonos System"

Pay attention to the Playbar setting.

In "Audio In" it will tell you if the current input is stereo or DD 5.1

I was glad to find out. I was sure my TV was passing 5.1 but was planing in getting a toslink switch just to be 110%. Now there is no need to do so.

Have a nice weekend.

Trevor

The Monoprice HDMI switch is probably a better solution because you don't get video passed through one cable and audio passed through another (which could create lip sync issues, but hasn't for me to this point), but until my switch fails me (two years so far and still in perfect working order), I'm taking the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" approach.

Anyone know if Toshiba 43UL5A63DB does Dolby digital pass through? Thanks

Dear TrevorFL --

Thank you so much for this most useful information! Unfortunately, I don't own yet a Playbar, precisely because I first want to be sure I will be able to input 5.1

Once I got one (which I hope) I will double-check with your tip.

Thanks again!

-cheers-

Just wanted to share that the LG 55EG9100 OLED TV will pass through 5.1 for native applications (Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, etc.) but will NOT do 5.1 passthrough via HDMI for external sources like Blu Ray players or the XBox One, PS4 or XBox 360.

As a work around, for about two years now, I have been using this optical switch. http://amzn.com/B00BB0GY1C

For external sources, I send an toslink connection out of my source and into the switch and then send the one output on the switch to the Sonos Playbar. The switch has its own remote control, but it is very tiny and pretty crappy. However, the switch will sync with a Harmony remote for even more convenience. It works perfectly and should be an optimal solution for most of the users on this forum that want Dolby 5.1 from all sources through their Playbar.

Thanks for this information, Evan. I have been planning to upgrade my TV to an LG OLED 65", so a bit disappointed to learn it will not pass through Dolby 5.1 from external HDMI-connected sources. Just so I am clear, what do you do for the audio when you use the native apps in the TV set? I presume you also run the optical connection from the TV to the switch, so that all audio (from external sources as well as the TV output) runs through the switch to the PLAYBAR?

Many thanks!

Just to let people know the samsung UE55ES8000 will pass 5.1.

My Sky box is connected to the tv by hdmi the play is then connected to the tv. When i checked about my sonos system it says

Audio In: Dolby Digital 5.1this has only been possibly from today as my sky box had had a firmware update and now allows me to choose the sound setting for hdmi

Hi KenS and EvanS. I too am planning on upgrading to the LG 65EF9500 OLED 4K TV and currently have the Sonos system (playbar, sub, and 2 surround play1's). I'm currently using the monoprice HDX-401TA HDMI splitter (with an optical output) with my 8year old Panasonic plasma tv. This has worked well for me. However, my concern now is I don't want to use this same HDMI splitter with the OLED 4K TV since its not transmitting 4K video (since its not a HDMI 2.0/HDCP 2.2). And by using EvanS' optical switch may work better for the OLED 4K setup, it may not work for devices that don't have both HDMI and Optical Output. For example, the new Amazon 4K FireTV box does not have Optical Output; It only has HDMI output. Using this optical switch will not work in this case. I am disappointed that LG does not output DD5.1 via its optical output for external devices. I'm open to suggestions on workarounds.

I've got a Sharp 80" 632u with Playbar/Sub/P3x2. Is there somewhere in the app or desktop software that shows what the audio format currently being output is? Obviously there's no display on any of the Sonos components to let me know if it's PCM (stereo) or true DD5.1/DTS.

Hi,

Just wanted to say I picked up a Philips 55" 4K TV (55PUT4900) at Argos today for £499 to replace my Samsung 51' Plasma that lacked 5.1 pass through. The new Philips supports Dolby 5.1 from a HDMI source to the optical out on the back.

Is there somewhere in the app or desktop software that shows what the audio format currently being output is? Obviously there's no display on any of the Sonos components to let me know if it's PCM (stereo) or true DD5.1/DTS.

Go to About My Sonos System in any controller and look under the Playbar item for Audio In.

Here's a Playbar solution that I've been using successfully for several years.

Components:

Panasonic TC-P60GT50 TV (this model only provides PCM through its optical out port unless content is coming via the TVs internet connection)

FiOS QIP 72322 Cable Box

Apple TV 4th gen

Octava HD41-ARC HDMI/Optical audio switch with ARC support

Connections:

Cable Box to HDMI port 1 on switch

Apple TV to HDMI port 2 on switch

Switch HDMI out to HDMI-ARC port on TV

Switch Optical Out to Playbar

TV speakers set to Off

This configuration supports DD5.1 audio for cable content, internet content streamed by the TV, and internet content streamed by Apple TV.

This solution should work with any TV that has an HDMI-ARC input port.

Hope this helps.

Thanks ratty!

Hi Steve, your setup is similar to mine where I'm using the Monoprice HDMI splitter with optical out. Works perfectly as you stated above. My initial question is when using a new 4K TV, what should we use when the 4K TV's optical output still does not support DD5.1 audio. For us, using our current HDMI splitter will work but both splitters are not HDMI 2.0 compatible; thus, will not output 4K video. Do anyone know if there are new HDMI 2.0 splitters with optical output?

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