I have a PS3 hooked up to my LG LH90 via HDMI. I have an optical cord running from my PS3 to my HTIB receiver's optical in (Panasonic SC-PT670). I believe I am getting true 5.1 surround with games. However, when I put in a Blu Ray, I get sound during the menu but no sound during the actual movie. The only way to get sound is to switch the "Optical Out Format" on the PS3 to Linear PCM (which is not 5.1) rather than Bitstream.

What is wrong here? It seems ridiculous that I have to get a receiver that decodes DTS HD to get surround sound from Blu Ray movies. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

i'm going way out on a limb here as I do not have a PS3. I do have a Sony S350, on which you can change the output priority from HDMI to SPDIF (not sure exactly what they call it). Maybe you have a similar situation. If the priority is HDMI, the system wants to preserve the HD sound formats, and can't, as near as I can tell, simulteneously output the lossy format to a different digital output. SO it's decoding inside the PS3 and sending as 2 channel, since SPDIF can't handle 5 channel PCM.

But that's just a WAG.

OR, you may have the PS3 set up to always use only the HD formats, in which case to output over optical, ithas to decode to PCM and downmix to 2 channel because the optical can't transfer the HD formats. I ran my S350 that way until I discovered that the .1 channel was not making it across the 2.0 mix at full levels. Then switched to using the lossy versions until I got a receiver that could decode them.

I have a PS3 hooked up to my LG LH90 via HDMI. I have an optical cord running from my PS3 to my HTIB receiver's optical in (Panasonic SC-PT670). I believe I am getting true 5.1 surround with games. However, when I put in a Blu Ray, I get sound during the menu but no sound during the actual movie. The only way to get sound is to switch the "Optical Out Format" on the PS3 to Linear PCM (which is not 5.1) rather than Bitstream.

What is wrong here? It seems ridiculous that I have to get a receiver that decodes DTS HD to get surround sound from Blu Ray movies. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Looking at your receiver specs, it only decodes lossy Dolby Digital and DTS. Also, it does NOT accept multichannel PCM. To my knowledge, the PS3 does NOT bitstream any flavor of DD or DTS, it only decodes them to multichannel PCM. However, since your receiver does not have an HDMI INPUT, it cannot accept a multichannel PCM input. The best that you can do is use the optical output from the PS3 which is downmixed to two-channel PCM to your receiver and then apply Dolby Prologic to it to get 5.1 channels. But it will NOT be 5.1 discrete channels. Quite frankly, your receiver is inadequate for what you want it to do. You need a better receiver.

AFAIK, the PS3 can bitstream DD5.1 and DTS5.1 via optical.

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/audiooutput.html

Looking at your receiver specs, it only decodes lossy Dolby Digital and DTS. Also, it does NOT accept multichannel PCM. To my knowledge, the PS3 does NOT bitstream any flavor of DD or DTS, it only decodes them to multichannel PCM. However, since your receiver does not have an HDMI INPUT, it cannot accept a multichannel PCM input. The best that you can do is use the optical output from the PS3 which is downmixed to two-channel PCM to your receiver and then apply Dolby Prologic to it to get 5.1 channels. But it will NOT be 5.1 discrete channels. Quite frankly, your receiver is inadequate for what you want it to do. You need a better receiver.

Forgive me as I am complete novice when it comes to home audio, but what exactly do I need to get true 5.1 (5 discrete channels) from the PS3 on both games and Blu Ray movies. Obviously, this Panasonic is pointless. Do any HTIB systems do this for $400 or under? Thanks.

AFAIK, the PS3 can bitstream DD5.1 and DTS5.1 via optical.

http://manuals.playstation.net/document/en/ps3/current/settings/audiooutput.html

Forgive me as I am complete novice when it comes to home audio, but what exactly do I need to get true 5.1 (5 discrete channels) from the PS3 on both games and Blu Ray movies. Obviously, this Panasonic is pointless. Do any HTIB systems do this for $400 or under? Thanks.

Ok, well if the PS3 can bitstream lossy codecs, than the OP has a setting wrong somewhere, either in the PS3 or the receiver. You need to go through your manuals and make sure everything is set properly.

Yes, the PS3 can bitstream lossy DD 5.1 and DTS.

However, many Panasonic HTIBs do not have DTS decoders that work with the optical input, just with their own built-in DVD players. That's a significant limitation considering that half of all BDs only have DTS tracks. In order to get sound from DTS discs, I believe the OP will need to set his PS3 to decode DTS sources and output PCM, which would be downmixed to stereo over optical. It's not genuine 5.1, but it beats silence. Leaving the PS3 on the bitstream setting should be fine for discrete 5.1 from discs that have Dolby Digital tracks. (I assume it's possible to configure a PS3 to decode DTS and bitstream DD. But, I don't own that player and am not absolutely sure.)

The Panasonic systems are unusual in their inability to decode DTS from external sources. Most HTIBs have DTS decoders that work with their optical and coax inputs.

Okay, would this work?

http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/tv-video/home-theater/home-theater-systems/HT-BD1250T/XAA/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail

I see that this Samsung does Dolby Digital True HD and DTS HD Master Audio. Does that only apply to the built in Blu Ray player? If I use the optical out of the PS3 to the optical in of the Samsung will I get the lossless audio for both Blu Rays (from the PS3 not the Samsung) and games.

I see that this Samsung does Dolby Digital True HD and DTS HD Master Audio. Does that only apply to the built in Blu Ray player?

It applies only to the built in player. That thing doesn't have multi-channel audio inputs or HDMI inputs, which would be needed for TrueHD/DTS-MA.



If I use the optical out of the PS3 to the optical in of the Samsung will I get the lossless audio for both Blu Rays (from the PS3 not the Samsung) and games.

Nope. Optical cables can't handle the bandwidth of the lossless codecs. You need an HDMI audio enabled receiver. The receiver doesn't have to decode if the player decodes. The PS3 is one that should decode, although if it bitstreams (I think the new slim PS3s do, not sure), then the receiver can also decode. It'll be the same lossless audio either way.

I wouldn't buy anything just yet. Not until you are certain the SC-PT670 can't decode for you. It has an optical input so, at the least, it should decode DD5.1. Can it? What happens when you put a regular DD5.1 DVD in the PS3?

I think BIslander is correct.

HERE (http://service.us.panasonic.com/OPERMANPDF/SCPT670.PDF) is your manual.

On pg 9 the manual says that only DD and PCM can be played with an optical connection. So, as BIslander said, Blu-Ray discs that only have DTS5.1 legacy soundtracks are not going to be decoded properly. Those with DD5.1 legacy tracks should be OK provided you are passing bitstream.

As pointed out, you can apply PLII to the 2-channel info that is passed with DTS tracks and still get a decent experience.

Thanks for all the help everyone :)

I guess this Panasonic is not going to do what I want to do without some "jacklegging." Thankfully, I got it from Costco so I can return it. I'll wait until I have a some more money and go the individual component route. Thanks again.