Kodi can also do passthrough that bypasses the hardware.
That’s my point. Kodi can bypass the hardware and just send DTS over the line. But Plex does not really bypass the hardware and does some more checks on the way??
Plex relies on the hardware, that’s the way it was designed. Kodi relies on software, that’s the way it was designed.
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I think what everyone is asking for is for an option to force passthrough and ignore the tv channels. At the moment I cant use the plex android app due to this issue. I either have to use plex for windows or kodi which sucks. Just because it was designed that way does not mean it cannot be changed, ultimately this is a bad user experience. With TV manufacturers like samsung and lg not supporting DTS in the latest models, more users are going to have this issue if trying to pass through to a soundbar/receiver that does support DTS
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I fully agree with movo here… Maybe you should just give the user the option in “Advanced Settings” to passthrough (maybe with a selection of the different codecs like it is now the case with SPDIF passthrough) whatever audio is coming in without verifying anything.
It would be up to the end user to get his setup correctly, but since it would be an “advanced” setting, it should not have an impact on “standard” users…
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In the mean time, I already logged a case at Philips.
I would urge all other users with this issue to enable network logging and verify the same footprint:
[MediaCodecCaps] Support detected: (audio/vnd.dts, Max: 1)
or
[MediaCodecCaps] Support detected: (audio/vnd.dts.hd, Max: 1)
If you see this same footprint, please log a case with your TV vendor. For Philips, you can reference my case:
ref:_00D2pQMZI._500681cq9b:ref
Let’s hope it will get solved…
Got a Philips myself, will definitely do this!
MovieFan, I need to come back on this… I just checked the Android logcat file (requested by Philips) and found some interesting things…
To start, HDMI is detected with 8 channels and 9 codecs:
01-06 13:25:30.444 2324 2324 V MediaRouter: Audio routes updated: AudioRoutesInfo{ type=HDMI }, a2dp=false
01-06 13:25:30.445 2324 2324 V MediaRouter: Selecting route: RouteInfo{ name=HDMI, description=null, status=null, category=RouteCategory{ name=Systeem types=ROUTE_TYPE_LIVE_AUDIO ROUTE_TYPE_LIVE_VIDEO groupable=false }, supportedTypes=ROUTE_TYPE_LIVE_AUDIO ROUTE_TYPE_LIVE_VIDEO , presentationDisplay=null }
01-06 13:25:30.445 6149 6149 D cr_AvSettingsAndroid: [AvSettingsAndroid.java:150] HDMI plug update: action=android.media.action.HDMI_AUDIO_PLUG, plug=1
**01-06 13:25:30.445 6149 6149 D cr_AvSettingsAndroid: [AvSettingsAndroid.java:158] Max channel count = 8**
01-06 13:25:30.445 2978 2978 V MediaRouter: Audio routes updated: AudioRoutesInfo{ type=HDMI }, a2dp=false
01-06 13:25:30.446 2978 2978 V MediaRouter: Selecting route: RouteInfo{ name=HDMI, description=null, status=null, category=RouteCategory{ name=Systeem types=ROUTE_TYPE_LIVE_AUDIO ROUTE_TYPE_LIVE_VIDEO groupable=false }, supportedTypes=ROUTE_TYPE_LIVE_AUDIO ROUTE_TYPE_LIVE_VIDEO , presentationDisplay=null }
01-06 13:25:30.450 2324 2335 I AlarmManager: Setting Wakeup Alarm type[2] sPackageName is null @24024681 and next wakeup alarm is @Wed Jan 06 14:47:10 GMT+01:00 2021
01-06 13:25:30.454 2384 10424 D AudioPolicyManagerMediatek: AudioPolicyManagerMediatek::getDeviceForStrategy reroute STRATEGY_ACCESSIBILITY to STRATEGY_MEDIA
**01-06 13:25:30.453 6149 6149 D cr_AvSettingsAndroid: [AvSettingsAndroid.java:141] Supported audio codecs:9**
01-06 13:25:30.455 6149 6346 I chromium: [6149:6346:INFO:media_manager_impl.cc(1196)] New audio codecs supported: new_codecs=[codecs][AC3, EAC3][spatial_rendering][AC3, EAC3], old_codecs=[codecs]None[spatial_rendering]None
It’s a pity the logfile does not indicate what codecs are supported.
But 1 minute later, when launching Plex, I got this:
**1-06 13:26:10.277 2324 2335 I ActivityManager: START u0 {cmp=com.plexapp.android/com.plexapp.plex.activities.tv17.SettingsActivity} from uid 10101**
01-06 13:26:10.285 3048 3086 D MonitorActivityController: ** Activity starting: Intent { cmp=com.plexapp.android/com.plexapp.plex.activities.tv17.SettingsActivity } : com.plexapp.android
01-06 13:26:10.287 3048 3086 D MonitorActivityController: ** setOTTSrc currentOttSrc: com.plexapp.android
01-06 13:26:10.326 2324 2335 I ActivityManager: completeResumeLocked: packageName:com.plexapp.android
01-06 13:26:10.330 13360 13360 W ActivityThread: handleWindowVisibility: no activity for token android.os.BinderProxy@8aeb899
01-06 13:26:10.421 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/x-adpcm-ima
01-06 13:26:10.424 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/x-adpcm-ms
01-06 13:26:10.427 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/ape
01-06 13:26:10.430 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/mp4a-islatm
**01-06 13:26:10.431 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/vnd.dts**
**01-06 13:26:10.432 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/vnd.dts.hd;profile=lbr**
**01-06 13:26:10.435 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/vnd.dts.hd**
01-06 13:26:10.440 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/mpeg-L1
01-06 13:26:10.441 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/mpeg-L2
01-06 13:26:10.445 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/x-ms-wma
01-06 13:26:10.446 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/x-ms-wmapro
01-06 13:26:10.494 13360 13360 W VideoCapabilities: Unsupported mime video/dolby-vision
01-06 13:26:10.541 13360 13360 I chatty : uid=10101(com.plexapp.android) identical 18 lines
01-06 13:26:10.543 13360 13360 W VideoCapabilities: Unsupported mime video/dolby-vision
01-06 13:26:10.561 13360 13360 W VideoCapabilities: Unrecognized profile 4 for video/hevc
01-06 13:26:10.564 13360 13360 W VideoCapabilities: Unsupported mime video/mjpeg
01-06 13:26:10.567 13360 13360 W VideoCapabilities: Unrecognized profile/level 0/3 for video/mpeg2
01-06 13:26:10.567 13360 13360 I VideoCapabilities: Unsupported profile 4 for video/mpeg2
01-06 13:26:10.567 13360 13360 I VideoCapabilities: Unsupported profile 5 for video/mpeg2
01-06 13:26:10.569 13360 13360 W VideoCapabilities: Unrecognized profile/level 0/3 for video/mpeg2
01-06 13:26:10.577 13360 13360 W AudioCapabilities: Unsupported mime audio/vnd.rn-realaudio
01-06 13:26:10.578 13360 13360 W VideoCapabilities: Unsupported mime video/x-vp6
01-06 13:26:10.594 13360 13360 W VideoCapabilities: Unsupported mime video/x-ms-wmv
So now I am wondering if you guys read out the correct information? Aren’t you reading out the specs from the TV itself, instead of the specs of the HDMI/Soundbar?
Linking the output of the logcat above, with the plexlog and mix-match the Codecs with a “Max:1” seems to be a pretty good match…
01-06 13:27:01.517 i: [MediaCodecCaps] Support detected: (audio/raw, Max: 8)
01-06 13:27:01.517 i: [MediaCodecCaps] Support detected: (audio/mpeg-L1, Max: 1)
01-06 13:27:01.518 i: [MediaCodecCaps] Support detected: (audio/mpeg-L2, Max: 1)
01-06 13:27:01.519 i: [MediaCodecCaps] Support detected: (audio/mpeg, Max: 2)
01-06 13:27:01.521 i: [MediaCodecCaps] Support detected: (audio/ac3, Max: 6)
01-06 13:27:01.522 i: [MediaCodecCaps] Support detected: (audio/eac3, Max: 16)
01-06 13:27:01.523 i: [MediaCodecCaps] Support detected: (audio/vnd.dts, Max: 1)
01-06 13:27:01.524 i: [MediaCodecCaps] Support detected: (audio/vnd.dts.hd, Max: 1)
01-06 13:27:01.525 i: [MediaCodecCaps] Not support: audio/true-hd
Just thinking out loud here… If needed and if it would be of any help to pinpoint/doublecheck/verify your theory, I can share my logcat.
Reviewing your logs again, it could be the soundbar that is causing the issue.
The app checks 2 things. The “MediaCodecCaps” which you found is what the device reports it supports and the capabilities of what’s connected via hdmi.
01-05 17:05:42.813 i: [HdmiCaps] Capabilties changed (AudioCapabilities[maxChannelCount=8, supportedEncodings=[5, 6]])
5 is AC3, and 6 is EAC3. The app is not detecting that DTS is supported by your soundbar. I’m not positive, but that could be what you are seeing in that second logcat, which shows a bunch of stuff not supported, including DTS.
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Thank you.
Are these numbers defined by Plex or is this an Android thing in general? If Android, do you happen to know where it is documented? (So I have ammo to send to Philips).
This however opens up the question again why it is working on Roku… I would assume Roku is using a similar process to detect what is supported? I have to admit I have set the settings in Roku itself (not in the plex app) to fix (DTS, AC3,…) and not to autodetect…
(Update: Changed Roku settings back to auto, rebooted Roku, tested again: DTS still detected fine). So that question stays semi-open (although not in scope in this thread…)
These are from Android. All android devices should follow this. Old versions of Android may not be able to show newer codecs but DTS (7) and DTS-hd (8) have been there for a while.
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You can try plex for windows, it will pass through dts just fine. The issue is the plex android app. Even kodi plays dts fine, either natively or through the plex plug-in. From all the scenarios I have tried, I have had no success in passing trough dts unless I use the “hack” you mentioned in this thread. Just the mere fact that we can use this hack means that it is possible to enable pass through for advanced users that want it. Plex for windows allows you to select all the formats to pass through and so does kodi. My configuration is Android tv box > Receiver > tv and pc > receiver > tv. In my case the receiver supports all formats but the TV does not. Plex for windows and Kodi on Android with plex plugin work perfectly fine.
As said, when using the same setup, but my Roku stick with Plex instead of the Android TV OS Plex app, everything works fine and all encodings are direct streamed to the soundbar.
So it must be the way Android Plex handles things differently that Roku (or Windows in your case) Plex.
Different OS’s, different apps, different way of working. Let’s hope the analysis of MovieFan is correct and wait until Philips comes back with a reaction…
Obviously sony changed something in last update (9) and while with 8 everything was working fine through hdmi arc now it killed it. Since we cant have a solution from sony our only hope is for plex to change its app and get dts back. Or add eac3 (because it converts it to dolby digital from optical) to its optical passthrough menu so we have the same functionality as before.
I’m experiencing the same thing. Here is my setup.
Plex App on Sony XBR75X850E <-> HDMI ARC <-> Denon X2400H
On a particular season of a show I was having popping/crackling and DTS 5.1 was automatically being passed through to my receiver. I set out to fix this issue as I haven’t updated Android on this TV in a year and a half (moved, was in storage). At the time of DTS being passed through to my receiver correctly the Android version was 8.
After the firmware update on my TV to the latest Android 9 - I now experience these same episodes playing as Stereo while other TV shows that didn’t have an issue with DTS passing through still working. I’ve messed with Android TV’s passthrough settings from the various Autos to PCM which still result in Stereo. I do have to set the Plex apps Passthrough to HDMI.
I tried setting the passthrough to Optical and sure enough. DTS goes through…but it’s transcoded. I checked other TV shows and sometimes episodes that direct played DTS are now being transcoded (which I/we shouldn’t want).
I plugged my Chromecast V3 into one of the TV’s HDMI ports and cast to it from my phone. The episode in question direct plays with full non transcoded DTS. This is really annoying…why isn’t there an advance option to undo this? It was working in Android 8…
Edit: Amusingly I forgot this TV has a Chromecast built in. Just casted to it from my phone, direct play with full non transcoded DTS as well. Why is the Plex app on the TV struggling so much with this?
Still no real help from Plex?
Yes, strange. The same problem exists on the Chromecast with Google TV too, which seems to be a popular device, but this issue still hasn’t been fixed.
The Chromecast with Google TV claims it support DTS but it doesn’t work. It’s an issue with the device.
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