windows 10 -> TV -> amplifier, no 5.1, only stereo

[garymeer]

I am running windows 10. When I hook up to my television via HDMI, the computer sees the TV set as stereo (Which it has for on-board speakers). The TG set (an LG 49UH6030) is hookup up to a surround sound amp (A Devon AVR 1640) via an optical cable. The Windows 19 computer only lets me select the output as stereo. Normally I get 5.1 surround from the TV. How do I get windows to output the 5.1 to the TV via the HDMI?

 

[ehmkec]

Check your GPU control panel for digital audio settings on the hdmi output. And remember, if the source is stereo then the output is stereo.

 

[J_E_D_70]

You’ll need to output from the computer with DTS Connect or Dolby Live (compressed formats) as optical from the TV doesn’t have enough bandwidth to carry more than two channels.

Your receiver will need to have the same surround format on its end to do the decode.

The better way is to run cable box/pc/etc to the receiver then to the tv, all over hdmi, if the receiver has enough inputs. If it doesn’t, you can buy hdmi switches.

 

[americanaudiophile]

Check that the TV audio is set to output in Bitstream 5.1
Try different surround modes in the receiver. If you set the receiver to auto it often reverts to stereo when getting a 2 channel input. If you set it to Dolby it will switch from Dolby Digital to Dolby Prologic2 when it detects mono or stereo input.
Optical audio will carry 7.1 in compressed audio codecs but not uncompressed ones like Dolby TrueHD

 

[madmatt30]

Very very unlikely to get 5.1 pass through on optical from external hdmi sources on modern tv's

It's a facility that seems to have been removed over the last 5 years.

Worsened by windows picking up edid data from the tv & restricting output to 2 channel only.

Whats your acfual pc setup ?? That old denon has analog 5.1 inputs , worst case scenario (if this is a desktop) you could run full 5.1 analog out from pc staright to the reciever.

 

[garymeer]

Check that the TV audio is set to output in Bitstream 5.1
Try different surround modes in the receiver. If you set the receiver to auto it often reverts to stereo when getting a 2 channel input. If you set it to Dolby it will switch from Dolby Digital to Dolby Prologic2 when it detects mono or stereo input.
Optical audio will carry 7.1 in compressed audio codecs but not uncompressed ones like Dolby TrueHD

My television normally sends it's 5.1 sound to the amplifier vis an optical cable. I only have an issue in Windows, where it sees the TV set as having only a stereo option, and will not output any other mode to it. I do not know how to get Windows to see that TV is passing it's surround sound to the receiver. (The connection to the TV set is via an HDMI cable).

 

[madmatt30]

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/496878/geforce-basics/forcing-5-1-audio-to-tv-via-hdmi/1/

As I said both a limitation of windows & of the set itself.

You never listed your full system setup??

 

[garymeer]

Very very unlikely to get 5.1 pass through on optical from external hdmi sources on modern tv's

It's a facility that seems to have been removed over the last 5 years.

Worsened by windows picking up edid data from the tv & restricting output to 2 channel only.

Whats your acfual pc setup ?? That old denon has analog 5.1 inputs , worst case scenario (if this is a desktop) you could run full 5.1 analog out from pc staright to the reciever.

I wil try that. I am also playing with the Optical out on the PC. My computer is a custom built machine based on an ASRock Exreme6 motherboard with an Intel I7-4770 CPU. The sound is Via the motherboards onboard capabilities.

 

[garymeer]

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/496878/geforce-basics/forcing-5-1-audio-to-tv-via-hdmi/1/

As I said both a limitation of windows & of the set itself.

You never listed your full system setup??

I just got the system working by getting the PC to use the optical connect to the Realtek Digital output connected directly to the amplifier.

Setup:
PC: Custom with an ASRock Z97Extreme6 Motherboard. Using the RealTek ALC1150 sound.

TV: LG 49UH6030 TV

Amp: Denon AVR-1604 AV Surround Reciever.

Now I have an HDMI cable from the PC to the TV, and optical cables connecting the PC to the TV as well as one from the TV to the receiver.

 

[madmatt30]

Whats the use for the pc ?? Assuming not gaming as you're using the onboard hdmi ??

Optical supports 5.1 but only dts & ac3 on that board.

Going to work fine with the 5.1 audio playback devices test & with dolby formats but just about anything else will default to stereo

With an old reciever like that (no hdmi.imputs) ypu are honestly better removing the headache by buying 3 x 3.5mm to twin rca , connecting to the amp with those & letting the realtek audio comvert to analog in real time.

 

[madmatt30]

So you have it working ??

Good , as I said some formats may output in stereo though still.

 

[Wolfshadw]

I guess I'm wondering why you didn't just go PC --> HDMI ---> Denon AVR-1610 --> HDMI --> LG-49UH6030 ?

-Wolf sends

 

[garymeer]

Very very unlikely to get 5.1 pass through on optical from external hdmi sources on modern tv's

It's a facility that seems to have been removed over the last 5 years.

Worsened by windows picking up edid data from the tv & restricting output to 2 channel only.

Whats your actual pc setup ?? That old denon has analog 5.1 inputs , worst case scenario (if this is a desktop) you could run full 5.1 analog out from pc straight to the receiver.

See below. I ended up connecting the sound directly to the amp with an optical cable and the TV with an HDMI cable. The TV was already connected to the amp with an optical cable.