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Will I get 5.1 surround sound if I plug speakers through the optical out of my HDTV?

post #1 of 15
12/16/09 at 2:55am
Thread Starter 
Also I have a Xbox 360 and a PS3 so when I play both will their sound come out through the speakers connected through the HDTV? Because I have this feeling only the TV programs and shows' sound will come out. Total audio noob here.


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post #2 of 15
12/16/09 at 3:14am
Thread Starter 
Bump.
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post #3 of 15
12/16/09 at 3:22am
The optical out on most TVs provides Dolby Digital for any digital TV channels detected by the internal tuner, but only stereo PCM for all other inputs, including HDMI.
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post #4 of 15
12/16/09 at 3:32am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Selden Ball View Post

The optical out on most TVs provides Dolby Digital for any digital TV channels detected by the internal tuner, but only stereo PCM for all other inputs, including HDMI.

Thanks for the reply.

I see. So my Xbox 360 and PS3 are both connected via HDMI. So that probably means the sound won't be digital surround. Ok so bare in mind I'm a super audio noob, but will the sound atleast go through all 5 speakers? Try not to lol
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post #5 of 15
12/16/09 at 4:32am
Depends on what mode you have your receiver set to.
My receiver has a mode called EXT Stereo which uses all 5 speakers.
Why not connect your game machines to your receiver, so you can have true surround sound ?
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post #6 of 15
12/16/09 at 5:15am
If the material your watching is encoded with 5.1... then yes your optical cable will send 5.1 to your receiver.. what setting you use on your Receiver is up to you.
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post #7 of 15
12/16/09 at 5:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkulloNinja View Post

Will I get 5.1 surround sound if I plug speakers through the optical out of my HDTV?
Also I have a Xbox 360 and a PS3 so when I play both will their sound come out through the speakers connected through the HDTV? Because I have this feeling only the TV programs and shows' sound will come out. Total audio noob here.

Thanks

I'm not sure I understand your question. Do you have an AV receiver? Are you running the outputs of your Xbox and PS3, (and possibly a CATV box) into the TV first?

How are the speakers connected? You can't connect them to the optical output of the TV.

Craig
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post #8 of 15
12/16/09 at 9:21am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by craig john View Post

I'm not sure I understand your question. Do you have an AV receiver? Are you running the outputs of your Xbox and PS3, (and possibly a CATV box) into the TV first?

How are the speakers connected? You can't connect them to the optical output of the TV.

Craig

I don't actually have the speakers yet but I'm thinking of getting a Logitech Z5500. And I read that it only has one optical input so I was thinking maybe if I connected it to the back of my 32 inch LG HDTV through the optical out that I noticed the other day, I'd be able to have digital surround sound for both consoles. Which btw are connected both by HDMI.
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post #9 of 15
12/16/09 at 9:28am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkulloNinja View Post

I don't actually have the speakers yet but I'm thinking of getting a Logitech Z5500. And I read that it only has one optical input so I was thinking maybe if I connected it to the back of my 32 inch LG HDTV through the optical out that I noticed the other day, I'd be able to have digital surround sound for both consoles. Which btw are connected both by HDMI.

Okay, here is the deal. If you are running your audio from you PS3 or Xbox to your TV via HDMI, it is only transmitting 2.0 audio to your TV. It is part of the HDCP negotiation that figures this out. So if you were to use the Optical out from your TV you will only get 2.0 out.
If you were to do audio through the Optical cable into your TV and set the PS3 or Xbox to output 5.1 audio and then use the optical out to whatever source you use, it will be 5.1.
I have tested this on my home system before I got an HDMI capable receiver.
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post #10 of 15
12/16/09 at 6:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by raistline View Post

Okay, here is the deal. If you are running your audio from you PS3 or Xbox to your TV via HDMI, it is only transmitting 2.0 audio to your TV. It is part of the HDCP negotiation that figures this out. So if you were to use the Optical out from your TV you will only get 2.0 out.
If you were to do audio through the Optical cable into your TV and set the PS3 or Xbox to output 5.1 audio and then use the optical out to whatever source you use, it will be 5.1.
I have tested this on my home system before I got an HDMI capable receiver.

I checked the PS3 audio output settings and for optical digital they are boxes you can tick like this:

[ ] Dolby Digital 5.1 ch
[ ] DTS 5.1 ch
[ ] AAC
[X] Linear PCM 2 ch 44.1 khz
[ ] Linear PCM 2 ch 88.2 khz
[ ] Linear PCM 2 ch 176.4 khz
[X] Linear PCM 2 ch 48 khz

I guess those two are already ticked and cannot be unticked because they must be the default if my guess is right. So then if I decide to run audio output through optical digital which boxes do I tick?

For Xbox 360 audio output settings there are three choices:

Digital Stereo
Dolby Digital 5.1
Dolby Digital with WMA Pro

Hope those details help.
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post #11 of 15
12/16/09 at 6:10pm
Check the Dolby, DTS and AAC boxes.

For xbox chose dolby 5.1
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post #12 of 15
12/16/09 at 8:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by raistline View Post

Okay, here is the deal. If you are running your audio from you PS3 or Xbox to your TV via HDMI, it is only transmitting 2.0 audio to your TV. It is part of the HDCP negotiation that figures this out. So if you were to use the Optical out from your TV you will only get 2.0 out.
If you were to do audio through the Optical cable into your TV and set the PS3 or Xbox to output 5.1 audio and then use the optical out to whatever source you use, it will be 5.1. I have tested this on my home system before I got an HDMI capable receiver.

I think this depends on the TV. Not all TV's do that. Also, I don't know of many, (any?) TV's with more than one optical input.

Craig
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post #13 of 15
12/16/09 at 10:20pm
Thread Starter 
This is my TV:

http://www.lge.com/au/tv-audio-video...tv-32LH20D.jsp
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post #14 of 15
12/17/09 at 12:07am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SkulloNinja View Post

This is my TV:

http://www.lge.com/au/tv-audio-video...tv-32LH20D.jsp

LG, in their infinite wisdom, makes one manual that includes about 30 models of their TV's and no real detail about any of them.
http://www.lge.com/us/tv-audio-video...-tv-32LH20.jsp Go to "Support" > "Televisions Manual"

From a search of the manual, they don't tell you what signals are available on the optical output. However, since that TV has no optical digital inputs, I suspect all you're going to get out of the optical digital output is downmixed 2.0 from the HDMI inputs.

Craig
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post #15 of 15
12/17/09 at 5:28am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by craig john View Post

LG, in their infinite wisdom, makes one manual that includes about 30 models of their TV's and no real detail about any of them.
http://www.lge.com/us/tv-audio-video...-tv-32LH20.jsp Go to "Support" > "Televisions Manual"

From a search of the manual, they don't tell you what signals are available on the optical output. However, since that TV has no optical digital inputs, I suspect all you're going to get out of the optical digital output is downmixed 2.0 from the HDMI inputs.

Craig

Yup it has no optical input. Just output. So I guess it won't really be 5.1 surround then so I'll just scrap that idea. Thanks for the help guys. I'm gonna save up for the Logitech Z5500.
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