Solving playback issues

Find troubleshooting tips and resources for Roku playback speed issues, HDCP messages, power issues, and more. Join the community discussion for assistance.
cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
dddddsssssss
Channel Surfer

Re: Update 9.2 broke dolby digital

Jump to solution

Sorry, the settings as you describe do not work. I have the 4200 and it will not transcode DD+ to DD for my receiver. The firestick does this very well.

When I set the Roku for auto detect, it will set as Dolby Digital for my receiver but it will not output Dolby Digital. That is the issue. Your analogy is weak. Firestick does the heavy lifting; Roku punted.

I have no dog in this fight but it seems to me that you are carrying a torch for Roku. I say this because I have pointed out the limitation of the Roku device and you then adopt an air of superiority in trying to defend your preferred device.
Face it, Roku cannot win here. They did not have a device that will do what the firestick and I suppose apple TV can do with no issue.

0 Kudos
Heyitsrick
Roku Guru

Re: Update 9.2 broke dolby digital

Jump to solution



@dddddsssssss wrote:

Sorry, the settings as you describe do not work. I have the 4200 and it will not transcode DD+ to DD for my receiver. The firestick does this very well.

When I set the Roku for auto detect, it will set as Dolby Digital for my receiver but it will not output Dolby Digital. That is the issue. Your analogy is weak. Firestick does the heavy lifting; Roku punted.

I have no dog in this fight but it seems to me that you are carrying a torch for Roku. I say this because I have pointed out the limitation of the Roku device and you then adopt an air of superiority in trying to defend your preferred device.
Face it, Roku cannot win here. They did not have a device that will do what the firestick and I suppose apple TV can do with no issue.


I don't know who you're referring to about settings. And who mentioned the 4200 Roku? The new 4800 Roku Ultra (2020) model is the one being spoken of. As StreamerUser said, he's tested the transcoding on this new Ultra, and it will transcode nearly everything. It decodes Dolby Atmos in the box, itself, so lesser formats like DD+ can/will transcode, as well.  

Here's his quote:  "The 4800 does transcode to DD if thats the highest detected or otherwise manually configured for DD (I tested it with multiple DD-only devices, and it worked in all scenarios)."

I guess that puts the kibosh on your "limitation of the Roku device" commentary. 

You talk about "superiority" and "carrying a torch for Roku". Yet you don't even see that you're dissing them consistently. One might say you're doing the superiority thing, no?  Your comments that say "Face it, Roku cannot win here. They did not have a device that will do what the firestick and I suppose apple TV can do with no issue" just wreak of your own superiority over some amazing choice you made. Too bad it's no longer pertinent, as Roku does have a device - the 4800 - that does what you want. So much for "Roku punted".  

I'm not carrying a torch for Roku. I'm carrying a torch for the truth. No one's forcing you to like Roku; you're free to use any device you want. But you have to be honest about your criticisms. There's things I don't like about Roku boxes, but I can say the same for other streamers, too. I have the latest gen Amazon Firestick (4K).  I have the Apple TV 4K. I have a first-gen Chromecast, as well. So, I'm not only spending money on Roku boxes.  I can appreciate the strengths of all of them. I can note their weaknesses, too. But I'm not going to slam any of them for the choices they've made in design or follow through.  I do my research before I buy so I know what I'm getting.

R2H72
Channel Surfer

Re: Update 9.2 broke dolby digital

Jump to solution

Appreciate your comment! I've been wracking my brain for several days trying to figure out how to stream 5.1 from my Roku Streaming Stick+ to my AV receiver via my Samsung TV SPDIF optical port, but it only seemed to output PCM. Dolby Digital was displayed as an option but not selectable. Tried the Roku connected to an HDMI splitter connected to AV via SPDIF and no luck with that either. Saw your comment and tried a movie on Roku TV instead. Great success! My TV SPDIF has selected itself to Dolby Digital and the AV unit indicates that is what it's getting. Works on Roku TV, but not Netflix or Prime. I have an older Onkyo AV unit that doesn't decode DD+, so maybe that's the problem with Netflix and Prime?

0 Kudos
lesmikesell
Roku Guru

Re: Update 9.2 broke dolby digital

Jump to solution

@R2H72 wrote:

Appreciate your comment! I've been wracking my brain for several days trying to figure out how to stream 5.1 from my Roku Streaming Stick+ to my AV receiver via my Samsung TV SPDIF optical port, but it only seemed to output PCM. Dolby Digital was displayed as an option but not selectable.


 

In this scenario, if the TV is new enough to accept DD+ it is supposed to convert it to DD 5.1 out the optical port.   Older models won't.

0 Kudos
StreamerUser
Roku Guru

Re: Update 9.2 broke dolby digital

Jump to solution

@R2H72 wrote:

Appreciate your comment! I've been wracking my brain for several days trying to figure out how to stream 5.1 from my Roku Streaming Stick+ to my AV receiver via my Samsung TV SPDIF optical port, but it only seemed to output PCM. Dolby Digital was displayed as an option but not selectable. Tried the Roku connected to an HDMI splitter connected to AV via SPDIF and no luck with that either. Saw your comment and tried a movie on Roku TV instead. Great success! My TV SPDIF has selected itself to Dolby Digital and the AV unit indicates that is what it's getting. Works on Roku TV, but not Netflix or Prime. I have an older Onkyo AV unit that doesn't decode DD+, so maybe that's the problem with Netflix and Prime?


Newer model year TVs will convert DD+ (e.g. NetFlix/Prime/Hulu/Disney+) from HDMI/internal apps to DD for output via ARC/Optical (which is what your AVR needs, since it doesn't support DD+).

From your description either your TV cannot do that, or isn't configured correctly to do that.

The Roku Channel works (gives you 5.1) because it uses DD, not DD+ (it passes through from the Roku>TV>optical without needed conversion/transcoding).

Bottom line:  Because your AVR doesnt have DD+ support, in order to get 5.1 with modern streaming services (that use DD+), you need a device in the chain that does DD+ decoding (and thus can convert/transcode the DD+ to DD) - either the streamer itself (only the 4640 and 4800 Roku models support this), or the TV (recent model years, yours is unknown).

R2H72
Channel Surfer

Re: Update 9.2 broke dolby digital

Jump to solution

So to recap, with my Roku audio settings HDMI option set to 'Dolby Digital' and the digital audio passed to my AV receiver from the TV's optical port, I get DD when streaming a DD source (Roku channel). When streaming a DD+ source (Netflix, Prime), I get PCM/Pro Logic II surround from my AV unit. So why does the Roku not pass the incoming DD+ audio stream into my TV via HDMI as DD since I selected that HDMI output option? Is this a flaw with the Roku? I think I read elsewhere that Firestick does this.

0 Kudos
lesmikesell
Roku Guru

Re: Update 9.2 broke dolby digital

Jump to solution

@R2H72 wrote:

So to recap, with my Roku audio settings HDMI option set to 'Dolby Digital' and the digital audio passed to my AV receiver from the TV's optical port, I get DD when streaming a DD source (Roku channel). When streaming a DD+ source (Netflix, Prime), I get PCM/Pro Logic II surround from my AV unit. So why does the Roku not pass the incoming DD+ audio stream into my TV via HDMI as DD since I selected that HDMI output option? Is this a flaw with the Roku? I think I read elsewhere that Firestick does this.


HDMI-connected devices exchange capability information, and your TV is not saying that it accepts DD+.  A newer model probably would.

Input devices that have the appropriate licensing to transcode (not needed for passthrough) will downconvert DD+ to DD 5.1 and apparently the Firestick does that for devices that need it.    In the next step, optical audio can only carry DD 5.1, so something has to have transcoded by then - or used PCM stereo instead.

0 Kudos
StreamerUser
Roku Guru

Re: Update 9.2 broke dolby digital

Jump to solution

@R2H72 wrote:

So to recap, with my Roku audio settings HDMI option set to 'Dolby Digital' and the digital audio passed to my AV receiver from the TV's optical port, I get DD when streaming a DD source (Roku channel). When streaming a DD+ source (Netflix, Prime), I get PCM/Pro Logic II surround from my AV unit. So why does the Roku not pass the incoming DD+ audio stream into my TV via HDMI as DD since I selected that HDMI output option? Is this a flaw with the Roku? I think I read elsewhere that Firestick does this.


Roku devices (aside from the 4640 and 4800 which support Dolby decoding) only support Dolby audio passthrough - not transcoding/converting (Dolby decoding required to transcode/convert DD+ to DD)

Fire TV devices support Dolby decoding (thus transcoding) and passthrough, depending on detected equipment and FTV device configuration.

When you manually configure your (non 4640/4800) Roku HDMI audio for a given Dolby level, it only outputs passthrough audio up to that level (e.g. if you manually select DD, it only passes DD.  If you manually select DD+, it passes DD+ and DD - the same is true of autodetection - if DD is detected, only DD is passed, but if DD+ is detected, DD+ and DD is passed).

Also keep in mind that some apps (e.g. NetFlix) change their app configuration based upon the system configuration (e.g. NetFlix wont show 5.1 tags/stream in 5.1 if the system is configured for DD (autodetected/selected), since NF uses DD+).

So, its not a flaw in the Roku - at worst, its a limitation, since Roku streamers (aside from the 4640 and the 4800 which support Dolby decoding) only support passthrough - which works fine assuming everything else in the chain supports DD+.

Again, if you have DD-only (no DD+) capable equipment, if you want 5.1 from all apps/sources/streams, you'll need a device somewhere that does Dolby decoding (transcodes/converts DD+ to DD) - if that device is a Roku player, only the 4640 and 4800 do Dolby decoding.

0 Kudos
JDMo
Newbie

Re: Update 9.2 broke dolby digital

Jump to solution

I same receiver and setup. Using optical cable fixed sound issue but I'd like to use hdmi for single remote.

Wondering if some licensing issue of passing Dolby from Disney/Prime/Netflix streaming apps on TCL/Roku that HDMI "catches" and hinders.

When streaming content from same apps on PS4 connected to TCL, the Dolby audio via HDMI arc to AVR591 works

vodil
Binge Watcher

Re: Update 9.2 broke dolby digital

Jump to solution

If Audio on ROKU is set to "Auto Detect"  it breaks my HDMI-ARC --even if the ROKU is off.  I'd check that.