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I have setup my new TCL Android TV with HDMI pass through in the TV settings to a Samsung Q700a soundbar which supports all formats via eArc. I then have tried selecting HDMI pass through via plex and can get only atmos support, when I try playing anything DTS or TrueHD related it says DTS or TrueHD is not supported by this device as my transcode reason? I then read some stuff that suggests to try turning on optical pass through instead which makes DTS work!! Except, it kills my atmos support and then that no longer works… I don’t understand the issue here, why is DTS refusing to work under HDMI pass through even though all of my hardware supports it? Seems like an obvious software flaw considering it works with a magical optical checkbox. So what can I do here?
Many TV manufacturers don’t allow passthrough of DTS from internal apps anymore. Apparently, because it requires acquiring a separate license (which isn’t free of course).
Do I have to use a Roku Ultra or Nvidia Shield or something? I think it’s nuts of they do that. Why advertise it as DtS compatible if it actually isn’t? They are basically lying.
I could be wrong but I don’t think any TV will pass through TrueHD from its internal apps and I think @OttoKerner has a perfect explanation for why you aren’t getting DTS either. I think audio compatibility has proven time and time again why investing in an Nvidia Shield Pro is so worth it. Internal TV apps are always going to be garbage because manufacturers are cheap. This is why you will consistently see people suggest the Nvidia Shield Pro. It doesn’t have these problems.
Understood, so if i connect a shield pro to the HDMI 2 of this TV and use the bar through earc then it should theoretically play everything direct without issue?
Also, as another quick update again. Atmos works when I select HDMI pass through in plex, but DTS does not. Then when selecting optical pass-through even with no optical connection or with one still connected over EARC I get DTS to work but then atmos will not work and transcode instead. So given this isn’t the android tv plex client passing through audio just fine? I will buy a shield pro if I must but it works just fine when I select those different options but it disables the other from working which is a software issue within plex is it not? I see the dts logo/atmos logo pop up when I use either optical or HDMI pass through so it seems that some codec is not being utilized or something properly like it is when the optical checkboxes are selected. Of you had the ability to add those checkboxes with additional support to HDMI pass through wouldnt both dts and atmos work at the same time? I also tried a 1st Gen roku ultra and neither atmos or dts would work because I don’t think those old ultras support either via pass through sadly so I’m stuck until I can convince my wife to let me spend more money on a shield pro or I will most likely have better luck convincing someone with the plex team to check this out.
Passthrough is not Passthrough. You have to differentiate what is passed through.
There is no way of passing through Atmos over an optical connection. Of course it transcodes when you select optical, because it has to reduce the audio to the limited capabilities of the optical connection.
Sure, but no optical cable is being used here. That’s the kicker. I can select optical pass through in plex even though I’m using Earc HDMI 2.1 and then DTS works flawlessly. But then atmos won’t work. Then when I just change the settings to HDMI pass through then atmos works and not dts… All through HDMI EARC. So all I’m changing is a software setting with no optical use whatsoever
So why is dts working over EARC with that checkbox selected? That doesn’t make sense… It doesn’t matter what I’m telling it… If I can force it on with that dumb checkbox then why can’t we force it on under HDMI? Doesn’t make sense.
I’ll reread it again. I did a full few reads before I made my purchase and during troubleshooting but I’ll look again… All my hardware is reporting as compatible with all these formats and as described each dts and atmos works using those silly pass-through settings. But if the other guy is saying that it’s not real dts but instead lossy when selecting optical pass through I guess I don’t really understand the big deal? As long as it direct plays and avoids transcoding and sounds somewhat good then I don’t really care but Im probably missing something.
check your tv model at https://www.rtings.com/ which typically indicates what audio the pass through supports.
many tv do not support pass through of DTS, even through EARC.
assuming your soundbar supports dts-hd-ma, you should plug the shield into the soundbar directly, then you should get full truehd/atmos and dts-hd-ma direct play and no transcoding.
So I don’t have a shield pro yet. But if I do I would try via plugging into the sound system to pass through the audio via earc then that should just throw the video at the TV. I tested with an old roku ultra and that works but that ultra does not support any dts or atmos so I’m trying to make this work via the native Google TV plex app baked into the TV. But! Since this is running Google TV on Android then the manufacturer TCL shouldn’t have any say in the pass through of this app in particular right? As proven by the rtings page and that I can get atmos to work right now just fine and I guess partially dts when selecting optical pass through on plex without an optical cable. The TV and soundbar combo support all of these formats through earc. I did my research pretty good before spending my hard earned money and it should work out of the box so the shield pro is going to be a hard sell to my penny pinching wife considering dts works when I change that pass through setting to optical but not atmos and when using HDMI pass through atmos works but not dts (all while NOT using any optical cable lol)
