Sony x900H/90H Dolby Atmos and DTS X doesn't Passthrough after eARC update

Plex Players Smart TVs
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Hello,

I recently bought myself a Sony Bravia x900H to replace my old TV. This TV didn’t come with eARC enabled but it has 2 HDMI 2.1 ports. One of the 2.1 ports is used for ARC. Just recently Sony released an update unlocking eARC for the TV. But when I play a movie with the TV’s Plex app that has DTS X or Dolby ATMOS tracks, my soundbar doesn’t light up with DTX or ATMOS. Meaning Plex isn’t passing through HD audio to my soundbar. My soundbar has eARC and I tested it with other apps on the TV and it seems to work perfectly except for Plex. Is there anyway to fix this issue?

Server Version#: 1.20.3.3437
Player Version#: 8.7.2.20952

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Make sure you have Passthrough = HDMI in the Plex app settings on the TV (not Optical or Disabled). Even with that set, it may not work.

AFAIK, TV manufacturers to not permit any TV app to pass TrueHD and dts-HD via HDMI-eARC.

A Blu-ray player, streaming box, etc attached to the TV via HDMI can pass TrueHD/dts-HD audio through the TV, via HDMI-eARC, to attached soundbars, receivers, etc.

This would be great news if it is working with other apps. It would mean at least one manufacturer has lifted the restriction on TV apps sending HD audio via HDMI-eARC.

Could you provide additional details to confirm things?

What make/model of soundbar are you using?

Please provide the the Plex XML or MediaInfo text output of the media files you are using. See Investigate Media Information and Formats for details on gathering the information. Save the information as a .zip or .txt file and attach it to the thread.

The XML/MediaInfo information will show the specifics of the video and audio tracks.

There are two forms of Atmos audio for home theaters.

“Streaming Atmos” is Dolby Digital Plus + Atmos, and is used by Netflix, Amazon, etc. TV apps can pass this form of Atmos to attached sound equipment via HDMI-ARC and HDMI-eARC.

“Blu-ray Atmos” is TrueHD 7.1 + Atmos and is the form found on Blu-ray discs. TV manufacturers restricted TV apps from sending TrueHD audio to attached sound equipment via HDMI-eARC (HDMI-ARC cannot pass TrueHD due to bandwidth limitations).

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Here’s example MediaInfo output for the two types of Dolby Atmos

Partial MediaInfo output for TrueHD 7.1 + Atmos audio track:

Audio #1
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : MLP FBA 16-ch
Format/Info                              : Meridian Lossless Packing FBA with 16-channel presentation
Commercial name                          : Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos
Codec ID                                 : A_TRUEHD

Partial MediaInfo output for Dolby Digital Plus + Atmos audio track

Audio
ID                                       : 2
Format                                   : E-AC-3 JOC
Format/Info                              : Enhanced AC-3 with Joint Object Coding
Commercial name                          : Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos
Codec ID                                 : A_EAC3
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there are no known tv apps that will pass through TRUE HD+ATMOS via built-in (3rd party) tv app, so please let us know exactly what tv apps you used to prove TRUE HD+ATMOS from the tv itself.

keep in mind, some native ‘media player’ apps (ie that play from usb stick) may have more ability than 3rd party apps, like plex, netflix, etc.

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It appears that I used one those apps that use EAC3 Dolby ATMOS. I guess I would have to go purchase an Nvidia Shield. Thank you for clarifying that no TV can passthrough HD Audio via built in apps.

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