Solving playback issues

[zeke56]

Hi

I have a roku 3 and an older LG TV. My TV passes thru Dolby 5.1 audio from an HDMI input to an AVR over an optical connection. This works fine when I'm playing video from, say, a file on my computer using Kodi. However, if I stream from sources that I believe support Dolby 5.1 with roku apps, all I get is PCM/48 into my AVR. I've tried this w/ the Disney+ app and the Prime Video app.

Is there a way to do this w/ this model of Roku? I've tried every audio setting I can think of, but I'm not 100% sure Dolby 5.1 output is even supported.

thanks

[RokuDanny-R]

@zeke56

Thanks for the post.

Can you please provide us the following information:
-Roku device model, serial number, device ID, and software OS/version (these can all be found in Settings > System > About)
-does this issue occur on a specific channel? if so, what channel and what version/build is the channel (this can be found be selecting the channel on the Home screen and pressing the * button)
-tracker ID when this issue occurs (when you see this issue occur, press the Home button 5 times, followed by the Back button 5 times)
-steps to reproduce the issue you are seeing
Once we have this information, we will be able to investigate further.

Thanks,
Danny

[zeke56]

Hi Thanks for the response.

I see this each time I watch movies or other dolby 5.1 content on Prime VIdeo and Disney+. I see that my AVR tells me when playback starts that the input is PCM/48. As I think I mentioned, the TV is capable of passing thru the digital audio to my AVR.

I have seen this issue on two different devices, I will identify the newer device:

model 3941X - Roku Express 4K+

s/n X016002SFTW3

s/w version 10.5.0 build 4208-CR

device id S07P216SFTW3

Disney+ version 1.17 build 2021120900

tracker id W3-499-824

thanks

zeke56

[zeke56]

Ah. I found out that apparently Disney+ is compatible with Dolby Digital Plus, not Dolby Digital. Not 100% sure. Prime Video may allow setting to stream Dolby Digital (not Plus), but I don't see how as of yet.

[zeke56]

I think I partially understand my problem. I believe my TV will pass thru Dolby Digital but not Dolby Digital Plus to its optical output (which is routed to the AVR optical input). I tried setting the digital output format on the Roku to DD+ and I get nothing thru to my AVR. It's my understanding that AVRs supporting DD will also decode DD+, so it seems like the TV is not passing it thru. I use multiple HDMI inputs that all need the passthru to the AVR, so I'm not sure how I can easily bypass the TV to route the audio to the AVR. 

[zeke56 · Accepted solution]

So all my problems went away when I purchased a new AVR to replace my 10+ year old unit. I thought DD+ was backward compatible with DD, as far as decoding the DD part of DD+, per statements on dolby.com. As far as I now sort of understand, it is backward compatible except when it's not. Anyway, with the new AVR (Denon AVR-S540BT), DD+ is output to my speakers from the Roku apps for Disney+, Netflix, and Prime Video. Presumably other DD+ sources as well.