Server Version#: 1.14.1.5488
Player Version#: 7.12.1.9314
Hi everyone,
I have just purchased a Sony AF9 that is compatible with eARC (that can potentially transmit HD audio format such as DTS-HD MA and Dolby True-HD) and I am wondering whether the Plex app is able to transmit such HD audio format to a compatible A/V receiver in passthrough (as the TV is not able to decode these format).
I can not do the test for the moment as my A/V receiver is not compatible with eARC, but I am considering buying a new one compatible with this feature if it allows me to get HD audio format on movies watched on PLEX.
I’m with the OP in wanting the TV to support it… I don’t want additional devices in the chain. Plus I’m not a huge fan of the video quality from the Shield compared to the native app built into the TV.
I’m keen to see this working as well - it will be utopia for me!
Have you absolutely double checked this.
My Denon isn’t the latest model and I know it received a firmware upgrade around the turn of last year that enabled e-arc.
I’m pretty sure Denon weren’t the only ones to do this.
I have finaly purchased an AVR compatible with eARC (Denon AVR-X3500H) and this works fine with external HDMI inputs, with my 4K Blu-ray player for instance. The AVR receives every kind of HD audio formats (DTS-HD MA / DTS:X / Dolby True-HD / Dolby Atmos).
However, I doesn’t seem to work with any of the video App from the TV (Plex, Kodi, SPMC, VLC …). Plex always tells that the device is not able to play these formats, which is weird as it should send the audio in passthrough, and the TV decoding capabilities should not affect it. For the other apps, it either convert the sound in Dolby Digital Plus or output PCM 2.0 which is really disapointing.
munchit:
Yeah it would be so great to have it on the TV and not having to buy an other device …
Hitsville-UK
Yes my last AVR was to old to be compatible with eARC, I had to buy a new one.
Yes I am sure, as I said, the AVR receives well HD audio formats, and it is connected to the TV via eARC: Blu-ray Player => TV => AVR (with TV and AVR connected with eARC). This shows that this is not a cable / connexion problem but a software problem.
To be more precise, for Dolby True HD, pressing the info button shows that using this audio format forces audio (and video) transcoding which leads to audi/video quality degradation and freeze. For the DTS-HD MA, plex only shows DTS format and the AVR also receive only DTS.
gotcha, yes I would agree it is a software problem, but it seems to me that it is something with the TV itself, not necessarily the apps (again since it seems to be affecting all apps).
might check for any TV updates, and comb through the tv setup options to see if there is any settings that might affect the apps.
edit;
yes DTS/DTSHDMA are sort of backwards compatible (meaning the HD portion gets dropped/ignored for non-hd audio systems). DTSHD includes both lossy and losslessHD data.
unfortunately truehd/atmos does not degrade gracefully like DTSHD, there is no lossy truehd, it has to be transcoded to AC3 or EAC3 etc.
as far as atmos, there is the bluray HD audio truehd/atmos, and there is lossy atmos (DD+atmos) from some streaming providers.
Yes I also think it has to do with the TV. I did the last software update and checked every setup options and didn’t managed to find any solution. I think it is simply not working for the moment because of the TV App limitation. This is very disapointing from Sony … Buying a TV at this price and having to buy anonther device as Nvidia Shield to get the full potential of it is so lame …
Anyway, thanks for your help!
If any of you has the same problem or even a solution just let me know!
once the TV makers get their stuff sorted out, plex on smart tv may finally become the holy grail we all want it to be.
not only do we need working earc for smart tv apps, but ideally we need TV’s which can decode the HD audio itself without the need of a receiver or soundbar (so we don’t need to transcode the audio at the server side).
TrueHD being converted and DTS-MA only showing as DTS are normal behaviour for non compatibility. It could be that the app doesn’t yet support it… at least I’m hoping so as I’m planning on changing my TV soon to utilise it!
Thanks for testing it though, please keep us updated!
i am a bit confused if the receiver can get the data for DTS HD MA and correctly show it from PC plex and a Blu ray player why can it not receive it from TV’s eARC to ARC?
Apologies if this doesn’t work… trying a reply by email!
You need eARC to eARC in order for it to work. ARC is limited to 1Mbps of data transfer… which isn’t enough for the lossless audio systems which can hit 18Mbps.
I can’t speak to all TV manufacturers, but LG and Sony don’t support outputting Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD over eARC for any apps running on the TV itself (ie: Plex). Sony even states this in a FAQ article on their website. I don’t know if it’s a limitation of their respective OSes, or if they just didn’t see the need to output HD audio from onboard apps (I suspect the latter). For now, the only thing eARC is good for is outputting HD audio from devices plugged directly into the TV’s HDMI ports. I wish this was a Plex issue so they could fix it, but it’s not.
My setup is a Sony A9G and Denon x3600h. eARC support is enabled on both devices and I am using a premium certified HDMI cable.
@Legends92 - Your receiver will show Atmos on the display, but it’s being sent via Dolby Digital Plus, not True HD. Try playing a TrueHD test clip from the media player on your TV and you’ll find that you’ll either get Dolby Digital output or no sound at all.
