Hello!
I just bought a Philips 706 TV and immediately installed the Plex App.
Unfortunately the Audio gets transcoded to OPUS instead of Direct Play (TrueHD 7.1 Atmos).
The same files work with Plex HTPC on Windows, also the Netflix-App of the TV plays Atmos directly.
The TV is connected through eARC to a Denon X1200W. As the files worked previously and Netflix can play Atmos, it has to do something with the Plex App. It is set to Pass-Through.
Is there any chance that get fixed?
Thanks!
Netflix only plays EAC3 (Dolby Digital Plus) Atmos, not TrueHD Atmos. Iām not sure if those devices support passing through TrueHD from an app to the receiver. While I know eARC is technically capable, apps cannot always make use of those capabilities, depending on the device.
100% this. I donāt believe any TV from any manufacturer passes through HD/lossless audio over eARC from the built-in apps.
Iāve been recently (last week or so) looking at the current TV lineups to see what I might want to replace my aging set with and I havenāt seen any confirmation anywhere that HD/lossless gets passed through eARC from built-in apps - only seen complaints that they donāt.
Thanks for the quick reply!
In the end, my goal is that my movies make use of all of my 5.1.2 speakers. And that as native and lossless as possible.
If you say, Netflix plays EAC3 Atmos, it does that, but āonlyā lossy? Or does it fake anything?
What are my best options, besides buying a Nvidia Shield? My HTPC is too old for HDR, although TrueHD worked 
Thanks!
Acquire a Nvidia Shield Pro, connect it directly to the Denon.
Shield ā HDMI ā Denon ā HDMI ā TV
The Shield and Xbox are the only two off the shelf streaming devices that support TrueHD & TrueHD + Atmos passthrough.
The Shield also supports passthrough of dts-HD MA and dts:X audio (not sure about the Xbox).
Your other alternative is to use Plex Desktop or Plex HTPC on a Windows PC.
Do not use the non-Pro ātubeā Shield. It has problems with high bit-rate material such as 4K HDR rips (search the forum, youāll find several reports).
As @DaveBinM mentions, the streaming services use EAC3 + Atmos. TV based apps can pass this format to attached audio equipment over HDMI-ARC/eARC.
Blu-ray discs use TrueHD + Atmos. No known TV manufacturer supports passing TrueHD audio from TV based apps to attached audio equipment. That is why Plex has to transcode it to a supported format.
Thank you!
Itās such a bummer that I need a third, 200 Euro device and a third Remote Control. And even this Nvidia is āuselessā, because it canāt play 4k HDR 120fps, which I already used on the TV itself with Moonlight and local Game-Streaming. So I need to switch āsystemsā depending on what I want to do.
Everything Smart until Detailsā¦
Canāt you do some lobbying at the TV providers? 
Is transcoding it to EAC3 an option, so I at least get lossy Atmos?
Thank you very much!
Yep. Iāve a Shield, Denon 4300, & LG B7. Bought the Shield after running into the limitations of the SmartTV apps.
You would get EAC3, not EAC3 + Atmos.
Iām sure Dolby has a way to make EAC3 + Atmos from TrueHD + Atmos.
They probably want a very large amount of money for it, and Plex doesnāt exactly have the revenue stream of Netflix, Amazon, Apple, etc.
Iām not aware of any freeware/shareware tools that can perform the conversion and keep Atmos intact. Most use FFMPEG, which does not have the capability.
The WAF (Wife-Acceptance-Factor) is not very high with this oneā¦ 
I was very hyped about getting a new TV-Upgrade (from 43" FullHD to 55 4k OLED), but it faded pretty quickly because of that and missing 1Gbit on the TV (which I fortunately could add with a USB-Adapter).
Can I use the TV Remote to control the Shield, as I like the Philips Remote? Or at least the other way around to get rid of one remote?
You should be able to use the Shield remote to control a) apps on the Shield, b) power and volume on the Denon and TV.
Part of the HDMI specification includes HDMI-CEC, which controls power and volume.
My setup: Shield ā HDMI ā Denon ā HDMI-ARC ā LG B7 OLED
When I press the power button on my Shield remote it powers on all three devices and switches the TV to HDMI2, the interface connected to the Denon.
Volume up/down on the Shield remote controls the volume on my Denon receiver.
This works quite well with the Plex, YouTube TV, and other apps on the Shield.
My Shield is the 2015 model, which does not support Dolby Vision. Because of this I use the LG TV apps for Netflix and Amazon, since they support Dolby Vision. The Plex app on the current Shield will direct play Dolby Vision video. I do not know if the Netflix & Amazon apps on the current Shield support Dolby Vision.
The LG remote will also control volume up/down and power on/off on the Denon receiver. I do not know if it will control apps on the Shield. Iāve never tried.
Bottom line, 99% of my media consumption is with four apps: Plex, YouTube TV, Netflix, and Amazon. I use both the Shield and LG remotes. If my Shield supported Dolby Vision I would be down to just the Shield remote.
I use the Shield for Plex and YouTube TV. I press the power button on the Shield remote. It powers on the Shield, Denon, and TV and switches the TV to the correct HDMI input. I use the Shield remote to control the apps.
I use the LG TV apps for Netflix and Amazon. I press the Netflix or Amazon button on the LG remote. It powers on the TV and Denon, switches the Denon to receive audio from the TV, and launches the appropriate app. I use the LG remote for volume up/down, forward/rewind, etc.
Okay, thanks for clarification!
I just ordered a Shield TV Pro, letās see how it will work out.
I donāt know which comment to use for āSolvingā this issue though
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