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David_367
Contributor I
July 8, 2018
Answered

New Samsung TV's seem to pass 5.1 Dolby?

I'm in the market for a new TV - when I looked a few years ago, it seems that only Sony/LG consistently passed 5.1 to the playbar from their optical output. Looking at rtngs.com - it now seems that most/all Samsung also pass 5.1. Is that correct? Rtngs.com mentions "5.1 Passthrough ARC Dolby Digital" as Yes - is this what I need to look for?
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MikeV
MikeVAnswer
July 8, 2018
The issue with Samsung TVs is that the option to pass through Dolby Digital is always present in the Sound settings... but it can only be selected if both...
  1. The source audio is in Dolby Digital
  2. The TV supports passing it through
So just seeing the option in the menu doesn't mean it will pass it through. My parents have a 2014 (I think) Samsung that shows the option, but it's not able to be selected, even when the source is sending a DD signal. If they were using a soundbar via HDMI-ARC, it would likely be available.

But to your original question... I would imagine that most new Samsung TVs are now passing through DD to optical AND HDMI-ARC, where before they may have only passed it through HDMI-ARC. I know my 2016 Samsung passes DD through to the optical connection.
The S in IOT stands for Security.
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MikeV
MikeVAnswer
July 8, 2018
The issue with Samsung TVs is that the option to pass through Dolby Digital is always present in the Sound settings... but it can only be selected if both...
  1. The source audio is in Dolby Digital
  2. The TV supports passing it through
So just seeing the option in the menu doesn't mean it will pass it through. My parents have a 2014 (I think) Samsung that shows the option, but it's not able to be selected, even when the source is sending a DD signal. If they were using a soundbar via HDMI-ARC, it would likely be available.

But to your original question... I would imagine that most new Samsung TVs are now passing through DD to optical AND HDMI-ARC, where before they may have only passed it through HDMI-ARC. I know my 2016 Samsung passes DD through to the optical connection.
The S in IOT stands for Security.
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