Recently purchased an LG G1 which supports Dolby Atmos + True HD passthrough through eARC with the LG DSP9YA soundbar. However, when using the Plex app, files using this format are still transcoded.
DD + Atmos works fine, btw.
Will this support ever be added to the app?
Currently I’m using my Shield still as a dedicated Plex box, If this’d be added, I can get rid of my Shield entirely. 
I can live with the lack of DTS support.
Server Version#:
Player Version#:
There is a good amount of work needed to get eARC support into the app. It is something the team is aware of. I have no information on if/when this may happen.
If you use the decoders available in webOS, TrueHD will never be possible - unless LG would update the OS for it, which will never happen for the currently available models.
Here’s a list of what is actually possible with webOS 4.5 (webOS 6 can be found here).
So what does this have to do with eARC support if the OS’s decoders don’t even support TrueHD? To my knowledge even audio passthough (when playing media through a webOS app) requires decoder support.
Theoretically, Plex could perhaps deliver its own native decoder libraries bundled in the webOS client app and thus enable more than LG supports in the firmware. But I doubt very much that this will be possible without direct cooperation and support from LG.
Your answer sounds like high bitrate audio codecs (TrueHD, DTS-HD/MA, DTS:X etc.) support for the webOS client app is actually possible and may one day be implemented.
For the reasons described, however, this seems extremely unlikely to me, which is why one should not raise false hopes here. Feel free to correct me if you have actually found a technical possibility here.
Hi @PlexHex,
I reached the conclusion that the LG G1 is capable of passing through TrueHD, because of this review. – look for the Audio Passthrough section.
I know it’s not an official source, but RTINGS are usually pretty accurate.
The list you mentioned only mentions codecs. Is a codec needed to passthrough a sound format?
Yes, from external HDMI sources.
However, internal players only support the codecs that LG lists on the pages I linked. And we’re talking about the webOS version of Plex running directly on the TV, not external players running Plex. The processing pipeline is different for external signals and internal players.
I.e. the webOS version of Plex is limited to what LG officially supports and what any webOS video / audio player can use.
Yes and no.
It’s not that the TV doesn’t need to know what it’s passing through when the passthrough method is being used. I.e. technically a full codec may not be required in all cases, but basic detection and processing of TrueHD audio streams.
Why the internal webOS players don’t support TrueHD decoding while the TV supports passing a TrueHD audio stream through via eARC is a question you need to ask LG. Maybe this also has licensing or performance reasons.
But as described, you have to distinguish whether a signal comes from an external source or whether an internal player is used.
Passthrough for an internal player still means that the player must be able to decode video and audio from the source. With an external source, this is logically done by the external player.
I couldn’t ask for a more thorough answer.
Thanks a lot, learned something today! 
This topic was automatically closed 90 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.
