Possible to update a receiver to be 3d compatible? - Denon AVR-987

It is possible that a present or future firmware update may include 3D pass-through. I updated the firmware on my Integra DTS 40.1, but this did not resolve the same problem. For the time being you can use the optical out to the receiver and the hdmi directly to the TV.

Virtually no chance Denon could provide a firmware update to provide adequate support for 3D. This is because the HDMI 1.4a standard transfers the lossless audio used with Blu-ray 3Ds (i.e., requires using the Frame Packing HDMI 1.4a format) in a different way than is used for lossless audio when used with regular Blu-ray discs. As a result ther AVR support for extracting this lossless audio from Blu-ray 3Ds requires new hardware within the AVR. This would be an issue even if the AVR could be modified to pass-thru the 3D video. Bottom line is with your current AVR you will need to just send the standard (i.e., lossy Dolby Digital or DTS) audio from the 3D source to the AVR and connect that source's 3D video output directly to the 3DTV bypassing the AVR. You might also consider using a HDMI matrix switch, especially if you have more than one 3D source device, that would let you either send the video to the AVR or to the 3DTV without having to switch HDMI cables. Monoprice.com has THIS 4-input and 2-output HDMI matrix switch for under $70 that should work for this configuration and they also have low priced, but very good quality, HDMI High Speed cables and optical audio (i.e, Toslink) cables to allow for the extra hookups. With this specific HDMI switch HDMI output A (and perhaps also the optical digital audio output from the switch, but its probably not suitable for your case) would be connected to a HDMI input (and an optical audio input if you do find the output audio out from the HDMI switch useful) on your AVR while the HDMI output B from the switch would be connected to a HDMI input on your 3DTV. You could connect the optical audio output from the 3D source devices that provide the full resolution 3D HD (e.g., Blu-ray 3D player or PS3), which requires the frame packing 3D format, directly to an optical input on your AVR. If you also have a satellite or cable TV box that supports 3D, these are all in the half resolution formats and use standard audio formats, so your existing AVR should be able to extract and decode the audio from the just the HDMI connection from the HDMI matrix switch.