PIONEER VSX-81TXV + Toshiba HD-1A

My Pioneer VSX-81TXV will NOT output surround sound from HD DVD's using my Toshiba HD-1A's HDMI's output. I only get two channel stereo; even though the front panel display indicates direct-streaming surround sound mode is functioning, the surround and center channels are silent.


If I play standard DVD's I DO get surround sound from the VSX-81.


Is the problem with my Pioneer receiver's HDCP firmware ? Or with the Toshiba HD DVD player ?


Or is it a software issue ?


I was told by Motorola that the new HD-DVD titles use HDMI v1.3 protocol so proper decoding ( using available v1.2 hardware ) is impossible.


Any suggestions ( besides using multi-channel analog or SPDIF inputs ) ?


FWIW, the Pioneer receiver blocks the video portion of the HDMI signal outputted by my COMCAST 3412 HD STB but passes the streaming audio portion in full surround sound. Apparently there is a firmware update to fix the problem, but COMCAST have not implemented it yet in my area.


Thanks,


Ichabod Carumba