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I’m looking to purchase a new TV and Plex is the center of my universe. Can anyone confirm they own Sony Bravia TV with Google TV as the OS, eARC enabled on a soundbar with DTS, ATMOS, TrueHD Atmos, all working passthrough audio with the Plex App?
I know the Sony A80J Supports eARC passthrough of all those audio formats, but on my Chromecast with Google TV built in on my LG TV it does not direct play DTS audio and always transcodes it to PCM Stereo so I am suspicious of a TV that uses the same ecosystem.
Before I spend big dollars on a new TV I really would like to know it supports the way I watch my media. Any feedback from existing Sony users is greatly appreciated!
The Plex app on the TV will not passthrough TrueHD audio.
No TV supports TrueHD passthrough for TV apps.
According to rtings.com, the Sony will passthrough TrueHD + Atmos and dts-HD/:X audio via HDMI-eARC for devices connected to an HDMI input.
If you want TrueHD + Atmos audio you must use an external streaming device.
The Shield Pro will be your best option. It will passthrough TrueHD + Atmos and dts-HD / dts:X audio to equipment that support those formats. Do not purchase the non-Pro “tube” model. It has issues with high-bit rate media such as 4K HDR movies.
TrueHD passthrough was recently added to the Plex Xbox app. Additional information: Audio Passthrough support on Xbox beta . Others can fill in the blanks on how well this works. I’ve never used Plex on an Xbox and can’t speak to how well it does or doesn’t work.
Streaming devices from Apple, Roku, Amazon, etc do not support TrueHD passthrough. Some, such as Apple, convert it to lossless PCM, which is fine for TrueHD, but any Atmos info is lost. Others, such as Amazon FireTV devices, have no support, and TrueHD is transcoded to a lossy format such as AAC/AC3/EAC3, and Atmos info is lost in the process.
What a great answer, thanks for taking the time. What about the TCL 6 series from 2020? Would those apps possibly be able to do trueHD passthrough in Plex? According to rtings it also supports eARC FOR DTS:X, TRUEHD + ATMOS, but would that also only apply for attached HDMI devices? It seems like since it’s the Roku OS there’s the chance that the apps would be made to work correctly with the hardware?
No known TV supports TrueHD passthrough for TV based apps. There are many people on this forum that would like to find a TV that does pass TrueHD from TV based apps, but so far, no one has found one.
rtings.com shows which TVs support passthrough from HDMI connected devices and for which audio formats.
Not all TVs passthrough all audio formats from connected devices. For example, LG CX TVs support passthrough for TrueHD + Atmos, but block passthrough for any dts audio format.
If you want TrueHD + Atmos you have to look at the Shield Pro. It stinks that you have to spend another $200 USD after already spending a lot more on the TV, but that is the current situation.
So if I were to plug in an Nvidia shield TV pro to my Vizio m51a-h6 to HDMI in, then use ARC from soundbar to ARC on my LG E8, I should be able to play trueHD Atmos audio directly through the sound bar and I just put it on HDMI 2 for the LG TV?
I’ve never done it like this but I’m hoping that when I use my Xbox from HDMI 1 on the LG TV the audio would still pass through the HDMI arc to the soundbar? I can’t think of a reason why it wouldn’t but also like don’t know why TV apps do not support true HD passthrough!
As @TeknoJunky mentions, for Plex, the best connection is:
Shield ← HDMI → Vizio Soundbar ← HDMI-ARC → LG E8 ← HDMI → Xbox
The Shield will passthrough audio to the soundbar. Video will pass through the soundbar to the LG TV.
Audio from the Xbox will passthrough the TV to the soundbar via HDMI-ARC(*). HDMI-ARC will pass Dolby Digital, Dolby Digital Plus, and dts up to 5.1 channels, and PCM 2.0. It will not pass lossless audio such as dts-HD or TrueHD.
(*) The soundbar supports eARC. The LG E8 TV supports ARC. Therefore, the connection will use ARC.
Yeah I don’t think the other guy fully followed what I was saying. But this makes perfect sense to me and matches what I need. I just want Plex to play true HD from the shield through the soundbar on HDMI in and Xbox will do it’s Dolby Atmos via HDMI ARC
Unless I’m grossly misreading this this sounds exactly like what I want. Except I would prefer if my TV supported VRR.
I have a new sony xr65x90j and sony htx9000f soundbar. I can confirm that you will not get all audio passthrough using the plex app. I bit the bullet and bought a 2019 shield to run the plex app. You will need earc enabled between the shield, soundbar and tv. This is the only way you’ll get everyhthing working.
Well, I bought an Nvidia shield and connected to HDMI in on soundbar, HDMI arc to arc on tv and all works amazing. Every format of audio, perfect. Unfortunately I didn’t buy the Pro model because I was arrogant and thought surely it could still work. And some 4K HDR movies with true HD do still work but I got decent bunch buffering so I guess I’ll try the Shield Pro now as advised.
What about PGS subtitles and vobsub? Do those work better on Nvidia Shield? Always kept player from working on LG TV app
Glad you have got it all going. You shouldn’t need to go to the pro version. All the features you require are available in the standard version. Just make sure you’ve got the shield plugged into the earc port on the soundbar, soundbar out through eARC (HDMI 3 IN on Sony TV). If you are getting some buffering issues it could be due to Plex transcoding. Check playback info within the plex app when running these videos. They ahould all show direct play. If your sound bar supports earc and 7.1 simulated you can change/force what is passed through under sound settings on the shield just in case your soundbar is not reporting all available formats. Also make sure the Plex app on shield is set to passthrough on hdmi.
Pgs subtitles work without transcoding on the shield (native support). Was watching a movie with this type 2 days ago. Vobsub will always require transcoding by plex
Thanks for the correction on the physical connection. I didn’t know about the issue with the standard shield. I have the pro version so haven’t had the issue. I’ll look into my setup to see why I’m still getting transcoding with vobsub
You are a wise man who clearly does his research before responding!
and @NwbElectrical I already know the regular Sheild has 4k problems because almost everything including SOME 4k movies work fine, when other higher bitrate rips definitely stuttered or had audio problems.
I almost upgraded my TV thinking I would need eARC but since I learned I can do HDMI in on soundbar for maximum compatibility and it supported passthrough of Dolby Vision and HDR10, the HDMI ARC works as expected when I change inputs to the PS5 or Xbox! Spectacularly happy with the setup. If I wanted to plug Shield into HDMI on tv, then I WOULD need eARC, which I think was your point @NwbElectrical - but with this setup as explained by @FordGuy61 it’s perfect.
Now as long as I can play my rip of Avengers with TrueHD audio and no stuttering on the Shield Pro? I’ll be an ecstatic man. I’ve been chasing this perfect compatibility dragon for like 5 years now!
