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Surround sound setup but Sonos still says Stereo PCM


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Hi,

My Panasonic Viera is set to 'surround' in the sound settings and it's connected to my Playbar with an optical cable.

But when I watch standard freeview TV and a movie on disney plus on my Roku; my Sonos app still reports a Stereo PCM output.

I am a bit nonplussed. Is there an obvious next step for me to check?

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Best answer by GuitarSuperstar 3 June 2022, 16:53

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Userlevel 7
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I’d check the Roku’s setting first, but I’ve read older Panasonic TV’s do not transfer surround that they get delivered from HDMI (your Roku) to the optical out. The Playbar needs Dolby Digital, so if your Panasonic does not output that from Freeview (take another look at the settings) you will not get surround from the Playbar.

Userlevel 7

Hi,

My Panasonic Viera is set to 'surround' in the sound settings and it's connected to my Playbar with an optical cable.

But when I watch standard freeview TV and a movie on disney plus on my Roku; my Sonos app still reports a Stereo PCM output.

I am a bit nonplussed. Is there an obvious next step for me to check?

It sounds like you have an older model Panasonic TV. They can’t pass through 5.1 audio from external media devices connected to HDMI. I have the same limitation with my Panasonic plasma from 2013. The only way I can get 5.1 audio is from the TV’s native VUDU app and from multichannel files played from a USB flash drive plugged into the TV.