New LG TV's and 5.1 pass through

I know this is a recurrent topic, but I actually believe it would be very helpful if Sonos address this issue in a concise webpage with continuous updates. Right now the whole forum is full of questions about TV's ability to pass-through a 5.1 HDMI signal. The (so voted) most helpful comment on amazon about the playbar is about the problem of not getting a real surround but an artificial constructions from a PCM 2.0 signal from the TV. And this is also the main issue mentioned in CNET for the review of the playbar.

So, guys, could you make a systematic and compressive study/review of which TV's will work with the Sonos surround system? I'm currently considering to get a full sonos surround pack, but I cant not make a decision before knowing if my LG 65UB930T (LG65UB9500 in USA) is able to pass the signal form the devices connected to the HDMI ports. And I believe this situation is generalized for all potential consumers, many of them buying your product without being aware of the issue with the 5.1 signal.

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I own a LG65UB9500, and the TV forwards and plays Dolby Digital 5.1 from HDMI sources.

If your source however plays DTS, TrueHD, etc., the playback device like BluRay player or console has to take care of the upstream conversion, or the TV's audio format has to be set to PCM.

Hope this helps.

Many thanks Bernhard! that's very useful, I have been looking for that information for days. I wish that information was included in the manuals/specifications of the TV's.

Ok, in case this is useful for someone else; I finally bought the Sonos system and I can confirm my TV PASS THROUGH the 5.1 signal form HDMI to the optical out, providing real surround to the SONOS system, and this is probable true for all LG XXUB9XXX TVs since all of them have the same technology.

As Benhard mentioned, the TV just pass the signal without modification, so you need to configure your HDMI devices (XBOX, PS, Bluray Player...) to output 5.1 Dolby.

I have an LG 58UF830V and it passes 5.1 through. nice

Does anyone know if a LG 55LW5600 passes true 5.1 through the digital output?

so a similar question from me: I unpacked my 65EF9509 yesterday and I noticed that PLEX APP (Xplay) seems not to provide 5.1 and also my first trys with 4k content from Netflix and Amazon Prime did not play in 5.1. on the Playbar. So what is your experience so far?

passing 5.1 from external devices will be fine (if it will work - I will try that later) but the future is streaming the content from Netflix & Co. and so there is no possibility to influence the upstream conversion while you stream directly to the LG

Peter

There will likely be a setting in the audio menu of your TV to output audio in DD5.1. When watching a program on an app (say Netflix) that you are fairly sure will have DD then if you aren't getting that on your Playbar check the audio out settings on your TV menu.

On my TV the DD output option was greyed out until I actually had a DD5.1 source

I can give me the answer myself: LG passes perfect 5.1 in Dolby Digital,Dolby Digtal Plus, AAC and also in MPEG.

BUT after selecting that in the preferences I got a lot of Audio dropouts :-((( very, very bad. in an other thread here in the forum is that problem heavly discussed. Since about 2 years!! and it seemed not to be solved :-(((

ist there anybody having the same problems and solved that?

thanks for your help

Peter

P.S. its definitly not the LG! I tried the same Movies streamed from my fire TV and got the same dropouts

I mentioned this in another thread, but I have a 65 inch OLED EG9600 model.. Both this and the flat version (EF9500) can pass DD 5.1 from external HDMI sources as well as from internal apps, however from the factory the setting is off.

For internal apps, you must go into sound settings and under format, and change it from PCM to auto and it will send 5.1.

For HDMI connected devices, in order for the TV to pass DD 5.1 you will need a service remote. In the EZ Adjust menu go to tool option 7 and change the EDID setting from PCM to AC3. TV will reboot and you will have full 5.1 pass through. You will still need to solve the DTS conversion to DD 5.1 issue separately. PS3, PS4, and XBOX One supposedly all solve that issue.

HI - what is a service remote? I will send input using a ROKU via HDMI to the TV .. and via optical digital out to the Playbar. So to get true 5.1 I need to 1. change LG tv setting to output Digital 2. roku setting to 'auto' output and 3. anything more? And how can I tell I am finally listening to 5.1 not simulated 5.1? Appreciate the clarity in this thread. About to buy EF9500 and wanted to seek this level of knowledge before jumping in.

Sorry I don't know much about the Roku but I can assure you that the EF9500 will send 5.1 audio through optical using the internal apps right out of the box.

As for the hdmi connected sources, yes you will need a service remote. It's a remote that technicians use to access the service menus. You can buy these, or emulate a service remote using a logitech harmony remote. In my case, I didn't have the patience to program a harmony remote, so I simply called LG tech support and asked for a tech to come to my house to help me access the menu. they were more than accommodating.

A big thank you to Johnny5Alive for making it clear that the LG 65EF9500 is set to pass through the 5.1 signal from an HDMI source. I was confused, howeveer, about the need tor a service remote to change settings on HDMI connected sources. Could he explain what sources he is referring to. At present, I only have a Verizon FiOS cable box and a SONY Blu- Ray player connected by HDMI to the TV. Do I need to change settings on these sources?

Okay to be clear, your LG will not take a 5.1 audio signal from anything connected to any hdmi port and pass it to the optical out. It can be enabled through the use of a technicians remote. If your source setting (Blu ray player, cable box etc) is sending the 5.1 audio then your TV's internal settings must be accessed by the technicians service remote to enable the pass through of that signal to the optical port. Otherwise it will be down mixed to 2 channel stereo.

Thanks for clarifying that for me. In the event that LG declines to send a technician to my home, can you tell me what I would have to do to a Harmony or other universal remote in order to emulate an LG service remote?

If you google LG service remote harmony remote there are various sites with instructions. As I said it sounded like a pain so I just called LG. They were happy to send a tech to my home with the remote. I advise you to read my previous post to find the right menu as my technician didn't know where it was.

Thanks again for your helpful and prompt replies. I hope you are enjoying the LG OLED TV as much as the Sonos sound system.

I have just got a Samsung 55JU6000 UHD TV

TV Settings HDMI Audio Format "Bitstream"

Audio Format "Dolby Digital"

HD Audio "On"

Sky Box set to "Dolby Digital"

Sounds Superb

Mike57, do you have the optical cable connected to your tv and the skybox to the tv via HDMI? I'm looking at the Samsung 50JU6500F UHD TV and want to confirm it works with Sonos out of the box. Right now I have an older Samsung that lacks audio pass through to the HDMI sources so I have to use a crappy external converter box.

Hi

I have HDMI cables from my Sky Box and Pioneer Blu-ray to my TV

And just a fibre cable between the TV and Sonos Bar.

What ever I set the setting on my TV it passes the sound through.

Not always sure what it is though.

Sky needs to be showing an HDMI channel

I have a Fleetwood Mac Blu-ray, one side is Stereo the other side Dolby 5.1

The difference is amazing.

One downside I have returned my Sonos Play 1's as they did not seem to add anything, in fact they cancelled out the playbar to a degree.

Thanks

Nice, thanks for the quick reply. Do you have the Sub with the Playbar? I currently have the Playbard and two Play 1s and don't notice the canceling out that you mention but I don't have the sub and am considering adding that soon.

mike57 - did you "bond" the Play 1s or "group" them? I understand that if you group them, they can mess up the sound, they should really be bonded.

Hi, Thank you for your replies.

I do not have the sub yet.

I listened to the Sonos with the sub and play 1 in the shop and they sounded fantastic.

I'm an old audiophile and image and balance were important to me. I never felt 5.1 systems ever sounded right.

The problem I have is that I can't get the rear speakers behind the listening position. They were on the side walls.

As soon as I disconnected the rears the bar came alive. Filling the front and sides with amazing sound.

I think I tried everything, no balance adjustment doesn't help.

Mike

I recently bought the LG 55EG920V. Does anyone have experience with this model? DD 5.1 is correctly passed through using HDMI, both from the Netflix app and the blue ray player, not from Maxdom (German's kinda of Netflix). Normal Tv and LG apps pass only DD 2.0 through. With my old Philips I was always getting DD 5.1. should I contact LG? Please advise

Can anyone confirm if the LG 43UH603V will passthrough 5.1 to optical?

I have an LG 65UH770V. I have set my PS to Dolby but it's still sending the signal out as stereo. Is there anything I can do? Please help

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