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



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rtings.com just posted an extensive article on TVs that support 5.1 surround passthrough with specs for a lot of current TVs. Great article:

http://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/inputs/5-1-surround-audio-passthrough


Great find tbshaw! Do you mind reposting that here: https://en.community.sonos.com/home-theater-228993/home-theater-megathread-6735001
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code:
When the receiver (i.e Home Theatre) is set to On, you can hear sound
output from the TV’s Optical jack. When
the TV is displaying a DTV (Aerial)
signal, the TV will send out 5.1 channel sound to the receiver. When the
source is a digital component such as a DVD and is connected to the TV via
HDMI, only 2 channel sound will be heard from the receiver.
This i not verified by me but it doesn't look good for my TV.

Any ideas to a splitter?
Movie signal is from an Intel NUC with XBMC and just HDMI out so I guess I need a splitter/converter with (HDMI passthrough and) optical out in DD5.1 right?
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.


2015 Samsung UN75J6300AFXZA 75".
Passes Dolby 5.1 no problems
Sounds great w/ Playbar, Sub, and 2 threes
I have both my PLAYBARs hooked up to Sony TVs, one two years old, the other a month old and both pass 5.1 through the optical port just fine.

What model Sony TV is the newer one? Thanks.
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Anyone make a recommendation on a tv ...thread is slightly confusing ... In the market for a new tv to support the play bar and eventually 5.1 when funds available .. Looking for one about 50 inches ... Help
Anybody having a newer Panasonic LCD TV connected to the Playbar?

I think about buying either a Sony 46-W905 or a Panasonic 47-DTW60, both 2013 models...

Would be great to know if either one is capable of passing through DD5.1 (good chance, that the sony does it, though)

Best regards,
Juergen
Userlevel 7
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Anyone make a recommendation on a tv ...thread is slightly confusing ... In the market for a new tv to support the play bar and eventually 5.1 when funds available .. Looking for one about 50 inches ... Help

Hi bumph1, there's a lot of great recommendations here, including all of the TVs in this thread.
I have a newer Panasonic smart TV. . .when I use it to play either Netflix or Amazon content that is in 5.1 it plays thru the soundbar nicely at 5.1 (checked it via the App). However, when switch to watching cable (Verizon FiOS) the sound quality drops and the app says "stereo" input. The cable box is set to output surround and with my other (non playbar) systems in the house 5.1 works fine.

So what is going on? I thought the issue was with the TVs not passing 5.1 thru the toslink cable but if I can get it with Netflix/Amazon, why isn't it working with my cable box?

Thanks
Userlevel 3
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I can confirm that the Samsung 60 Ks7000 2016 model does the pass through for 5.1 it is so nice to ditch the optical splitter and additional splitter remote and not to have optical leads from my Sky Q, DVD and Apple TV
It's possible the Panasonic won't pass 5.1 from the HDMI inputs (this wouldn't be the first TV to do such a thing). The SmartTV choices are internal to the TV.
I own an LG OLED 65EG9600 and have researched this extensively. Both this TV and the EF9500 (the non curved version, same TV) come from the factory without the ability to pass the 5.1 signal from external HDMI sources. HOWEVER, you can enable the feature.

You will need a service remote. Press the ADJ button on the service remote, the pass key is 0413, and once you're in the service menu, you will need to go to the ez adjust tools option 7 and change EDID from PCM to AC3.

TV will reboot and you will now be able to pass 5.1 from HDMI sources to the optical out.

There are instructions on how to make a universal remote do what the service remote does. I found it cumbersome and just called LG customer service and they sent a tech out with the remote. Beware, the tech may not know what to do, so follow the steps above if he does not.

Disappointing that LG didn't enable this from the factory on a very high end tv, but I'm satisfied I now have it working on mine.


Hi Johnny5Alive, I bought the oled 55EG920V. I am getting DD5.1 from HDMI (blue ray player), but with the normal TV and the WebOs apps (e.g NetFlix) I get DD2.0 and sometimes even stereo. Did you had this issue on your device ?
Thanks
Seems to be that all Panasonics do NOT pass through 5.1 from HDMI input....

Sony seems to do so?! Can anybody check with a new one (W905 or W805)

Thanks,
Juergen
Does anyone know if the XBR-65X850A passes 5.1 over optical?

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

I can confirm it does when selecting compressed audio format on the tv 

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New w805 purchased and passing 5.1 superbly well
Have to say the sound on hd channels is amazing on the playbar and sub
Robert,

I went ahead and googled your TV manual, to read it for you. Based on the information on page 85, I'd say yes.
Userlevel 2
I have a sharp Aqous tv about 2 years old, i switched my optical input to go directly from bell PVR and Apple TV box via a splitter to the playbar, I am in canada will this solve the problem or do I need to buy an oppo blu ray or is there any other manufactured blu rays that do the same thing?
Robert,

I went ahead and googled your TV manual, to read it for you. Based on the information on page 85, I'd say yes.


Thanks.
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I can confirm the new Vizio M-seriels pass full DD 5.1 from all sources.

Personally tested and verified on the following:
M701D-A3
M801D-A3

In the audio menu, turn off internal speakers and set optical out to Bitstream, instead of PCM. Awesome!
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Sony KD-49X8000C can passthrough DD5.1 from HDMI / USB/streaming source on the TV.
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My new Toshiba TV passes DD5.1 through. It's:

Toshiba 50L5200U
Software version Jun 19 2012 - 10:37FW:1.12

I don't have a Playbar yet, but will likely get one as we're going to be mounting this TV to the wall and hang the Playbar underneath.


How did you find out if the TV passes DD5.1 without a playbar? I don't have a playbar yet and am getting a new TV soon, would like that TV to be playbar compatible. Need a way to test the TVs in the showroom before settling down with one.
Hi, I just got a playbase for my birthday (complimenting the Play 5, Play 1 and Connect I have elsewhere in the house) and have been really disappointed to find out that the Samsung TV I have (UN55H7150AF) does not support 5.1 passthrough for HDMI connected sources. Similar to others on this thread, I was given this information by Samsung support themselves. I had queried whether ANY Samsung model supported pass-through and was told they did not (like all of them, even models in 2017); they only supported outputting 5.1 when the source was the aerial or streaming from one of their apps or from USB.

After lots of digging, I found this article which I found very useful.

http://www.bigpicturebigsound.com/How-to-Get-5-1-Dolby-Surround-Sound-from-a-SONOS-PlayBar.shtml

This appears to confirm that MOST samsung TVs simply will not support 5.1 pass through from HDMI input sources.

Others in this thread have mentioned that there is a list here of TVs which have been tested for pass through:

http://www.rtings.com/tv/tests/inputs/5-1-surround-audio-passthrough

However, when I looked at the manuals for both my tv and one of those listed in there that could do pass through (the Samsung MU8000), the text is identical that: "Digital audio is only available with 5.1-channel broadcasts" which seems again to indicate that it's only truly antenna broadcasts that will be supported, not any old HDMI inputs. There is the option for DTS neo 2:5 but from what I have read that is taking the 2 channels that the TV has reduced the original signal to and synthesising 5 again - I do wonder if that is what people are actually getting when they are saying they have got 5.1 on Sonos working with a Samsung TV.

I had ordered a 2nd Play 1 from amazon earlier this week (Arriving tomorrow) to set up what I had thought was going to be 5.1 for all sources. 😞

I am now thinking my only option will be either to buy a new TV (not going to happen unless I want to make my wife very cross with me) that does support pass through or getting an HDMI/Toslink switch that will allow my HDMI sources (Samsung BD player, Apple TV 4th gen, Amazon Fire TV) to to output 5.1 to the Sonos. Spending $250 on a switch seems very excessive though.

I do love the sonos interface so very disappointed that without further investment, I won't be able to enjoy 5.1 with their kit 😠
Perhaps the sales staff could connect the TV to an AV receiver (or something similar) that can indicate presence of a 5.1 input.
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This thread is impossible to try to search. Is there a wiki somewhere we could create?

In meantime I’m wondering if a Samsung 65MU8000 (http://www.samsung.com/us/televisions-home-theater/tvs/4k-uhd-tvs/65--class-mu8000-4k-uhd-tv-un65mu8000fxza/) will pass DD5.1 through optical for playbar.

Anyone know?
Userlevel 2
This is interesting... when asked Samsung officially states that none of their TVs support 5.1 passthrough. I sent an email to their support online asking for a list of TVs that support the feature and this was the response

Dear djc6535,

Thank you for contacting Samsung.

I understand that you are looking for a Samsung TV that outputs 5.1 audio through Digital audio out using the optical cable.

Thank you for choosing Samsung.

I would be happy to provide you with the necessary information.

I have checked all our resources and I see that the HDMI input on Samsung TV cannot pass Digital 5.1 Surround Sound to the Digital Optical Audio output jack. Samsung TV can pass only 2.1 surround sound to the Digital Optical Audio output jack.

If you want Digital Video and Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, you must connect the video output of your source to your TV using DVI or HDMI, and connect the digital audio output from your source directly to the digital audio input of your Home Theater System or Stereo. You can also convert the 2.1 surround sound output from TV to 5.1 surround sound on the home theatre.

For example, if you have connected the source (a DVD player) to your TV using the DVI, or HDMI, you would then connect the digital audio output from that source (the DVD player) to the digital audio input on your Home Theater System or Stereo.