Official Ceton Echo Extender Info Thread - Page 104  

Unless you have a different HDMI switch than the ones commonly sold by Monoprice, this will not work in most cases. As I stated above, HDMI audio is heavily dependent on handshake, or EDID to be precise. When you connect such switch to a TV, the TV's EDID will be send back and hence limit to PCM 2.0 as most ppl who bought this kind of HDMI switch to TOS output found out. Monoprice have to put a disclaimer on its site. The only time it will successfully pass through DD 5.1 or DTS 5.1 is from a playback device that can force HDMI audio output regardless of EDID, e.g. PS3.

That's why you need a new HDMI AVR.

I'm not sure how much to read into that. In practice I don't think there's necessarily a big distinction between "in progress" and "accepted." Certainly Ceton wants to get passthrough working. There are some signs that they're actively working on it, but it isn't clear how far they are from getting it to work.

I wouldn't necessarily say HBR playback has a lower priority, in part because I suspect the fix is coming from a different source. I bet some of the playback issues are waiting on fixes from Freescale.

Totally agree with you on my needing a new AVR at this point. But the monoprice switch I am using passes PCM to the tv and outputs DTS on the TOS side. Unless my tv is converting to PCM. Not sure on that one. But regular steroe will play on the tv, while TreuHD is passed to the AVR. Most recently my test with the Avengers BD rip to MKV is my best test case. And that plays fine through my Sage HD300 via HDMI to the switch to the TV and TOS from switch to my AVR. So that's what I am baseing this test against. My AVR supports DTS TreuHD and my TV does not.

According to ceton, "Accepted" is acknowleged that the issue exists and "In Progress" is currently working on it. That said, it is very possible that it needs to be updated and some items are, in fact, waiting on some fixes from Freescale and maybe some other issues are being worked on that don't indicate that they are. That is all internal stuff to ceton though and I don't blame them for not releasing everything.

Sure, although there's been signs that they're working on some of the issues marked "accepted" too. That's why I'm not reading too much into it. I think the responses from the Ceton employees in the bug tracker are probably a better indication of what they're working on. At least for the bigger bugs.

I don't (and wouldn't) expect Ceton to tell us what are bugs in the Echo firmware that they're responsible for and what are bugs in the Freescale chip/dev kit. Basically, I was just speculating that that might be one of the reasons Ceton is struggling to get things like 1080i/p output and high(er) bitrate video playback working. It's probably not entirely Ceton's "fault," although it does seem a little weird that they through out the hardware in what appeared to be a mostly working prototype for a chip that has barely been released yet. I get the impression that Ceton is essentially acting as a beta tester for Freescale.

Most likely the main reason for not enableing 1080p and TOS at the moment. Definetly a best guess.

I just got my Echo setup. I'm running it with a clean install of Win7 x64 on the server. I've never set up a WMC server before, but I got my HDHR Prime working on the server. But, when I try to play back something on the Echo I just get a black screen. I suspect there's a decent chance this is a problem with my WMC box and not the Echo. Any ideas?

By something you mean live TV/recorded TV or random video file?

Live TV and recordings.

Did you follow the quick setup guide and pair your echo with your WMC? The echo should have provided a key that would need to be entered on your WMC and then the pairing should be automatic.

Yes. I think I did that correctly. I can pull up the WMC interface on the extender. I can even play back a 10 second sample file that apparently came in WMC. I just can't play back any live TV or recorded TV on the Echo. It works on the server itself, but not the Echo.

We should be able to figure it out on the ceton forums.

TOS can't pass any True HD stuff. And the switch usually does not convert into two types of signal either. There is a newer switch from Monoprice where it has a DIP switch on it that can fake EDID to tell devices to send DD5.1 or DTS 5.1. This new switch costs about > $70. The older cheaper one does not have this feature. I think you are just being fooled by the post processing of ProLogic

So you guys that have the beta units, are you seeing the dreaded "Network Issues: pop up?

I used to use an XBOX 360 as an extender and I had those issues all the time. FInally gave up and went with SageTV on the linux platform with three HD300's and live TV and play back was perfect.

I am using the same PC for WIN7 MC now and I really hope this will not be an issue.

What are you seeing?

Ray

hmm. Possably, but then why does my AVR say TrueHD when I play certian files, and Dolby Digital for others. And yes that is the switch I got ~4 months ago.

So what you are saying, is the switch doesn't actually do what it says it's doing, and basically lies to my AVR? Ok. I guess it's pretty moot,at this point because as soon as my HT renovations are complete this month I am getting an updated networked one anyway.

What do you mean by "WMC Server" ?

this may be a real dumb question but, you added and ran Cable Advisor? and then setup PlayReady?
If these were not completed you won't be able to watch any thing from the Prime.

EDIT: never mind I see your post in the CETON forums.
Edited by skybolt - 11/16/12 at 6:39am

Yes they exist, but thats not an Echo problem. But that issue can be resolved with a little work. Much bigger topic than can be addressed here though. You might want to check aournd or start you own thread for that one.

I've seen none of this since the initial f/w.

Toslink has insufficient bandwidth to pass HD Audio so your AVR is lying.

I don't know what fantasy AVR you have but in order to receive Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD, you must use HDMI connection to AVR. It is not possible to get those two through other ways.

Ok, The DTS logo lights up, not the TrueHD next to it. My bad. I never really looked at either one, the printed logos are not lined up under the LCD which lights up. Got a little confussed there. It's an older Onkyo, and in a rack which has a door. Sorry for the bad post ...

Cool - thanks. I will just have to be patient and wait for my unit to arrive. I have high hopes that this will work well for me.


Ray

lol, no it doesn't.

Toslink has the bandwidth, but the specs prevent it from using it. Any chipset designed to spec limits the amount of bandwidth used by the optical link. If you have a chipset on both sides which does not limit the bandwidth, you can easily get full HD uncompressed audio across the Toslink...but you would have to do your research first to make sure they both can do it. Dollars to Donuts says the average person is limited.

TOS has plenty of bandwidth, it's the spdif interface that doesn't support the TrueHD. That doesn't mean a switch or AVR can't use the TOS for that. It just isn't widely accepted, I agree.

Here's a link on htis forum: http://www.avforums.com/forums/av-amplifiers-receivers/1072480-why-cant-toslink-do-hd-audio.html

There is no device out there that can send HD audio through TOS link. It is not bandwidth. It is the lack of DRM that prevents it.

It would require a format change? What device would accept that as an input? It would take an entire spec change for an interface that is past it's prime and into legacy territory.

You don't have to convert a DTS-HD track if your device supports DTS. All DTS-HD tracks have a 'core' DTS track that any DTS decoder can read and use. So it would be very beneficial if the echo supported DTS.

I knew DTS core is included but from my experience on my PC, the software on the PC side is rather dumb. It treats DTS-HD and DTS differently.