Can PlexHT (or the server) downmix to Dolby Pro Logic II?

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1

My current setup is RPI (PlexHT 1.6.2) , with a TV and a surround sound amplifier that only has 2-channel RCA input. The TV has S/PDIF and HDMI-ARC audio output, however “tvservice -a” only reports “PCM supported: Max channels: 2, Max samplerate: 48kHz, Max samplesize 16 bits.”

I guess this means that the software in the TV can only handle 2-channel audio despite apparently having the hardware to do AC3 Passthrough etc.

However, my amplifier supports Dolby Pro Logic II (which is an analog encoding of 5.1 channels over a 2-channel link - devices that can decode it will recover the 5.1 channels, whereas ‘dumb’ devices just hear normal stereo).

Is it possible for Plex to send an 2-channel audio signal that has the Dolby Pro Logic encoding, so that (assuming my TV passes the audio through untouched to its audio out connectors) the amplifier will be able to recover the 5.1 separate channels?

2

I have Plex on both my HT Mac, and Xbox One S, and neither seem to treat DPLII soundtracks properly. All channels come through only the front LCR speakers, and the LFE channel is silent.

3

@“Old Wolf 2” said:
My current setup is RPI (PlexHT 1.6.2) , with a TV and a surround sound amplifier that only has 2-channel RCA input. The TV has S/PDIF and HDMI-ARC audio output, however “tvservice -a” only reports “PCM supported: Max channels: 2, Max samplerate: 48kHz, Max samplesize 16 bits.”

PCM is an uncompressed lossless audio format and s/pdif can only handle the bandwidth for 2 channels, but
that doesnt mean you cant passthrough DTS or DD