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HELP - Dolby 5.1 with Charter thru HTIB

post #1 of 7
3/21/08 at 11:32am
Thread Starter 
Hi all

I have Charter Digital cable with HD and DVR. My Charter Box is Motorola DCT 6416 III. My Home theater in a Box is Sony HT-7000DH. TV is a Sony KDS-50A2000. Charter Box is hooked to Sony receiver via optical cable.

I am struggling in getting digital cable channels to play thru in dolby 5.1 surround. I was told this is because of feed from Charter is not Dolby 5.1. Also, when I use the Charter "on demand" service, I also can't get anything thru in dolby 5.1.

What are my options ? Also, if I am at Charter's mercy because of feed, are there any other cable companies out there, whereby I can get all my programming and movies on dolby 5.1 surround.

Help is appreciated - thanks !

Mike
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post #2 of 7
3/21/08 at 4:20pm

Re: HELP - Dolby 5.1 with Charter thru HTIB

You need to go into the cable box setup menus, and make sure the audio output is set to Dolby Digital.

You probably also need to assign the optical input you used, to "TV/DBS" or "TV", depending on wording. Your owner's manual will walk you through it.......
Good luck!
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post #3 of 7
3/21/08 at 4:21pm

Re: HELP - Dolby 5.1 with Charter thru HTIB

Welcome to the forum Mike.

Cable options depend on your location, although most communities have only one cable provider. You may live in a location with more than one cable provider, but you should know if others exist in your market or not.

If you live in either the US or Canada you can switch to satellite (Dish or DirecTV in the States and Star Choice in Canada). However you should be aware that not all digital channels provide 5.1 sound, and of those that do, not all programs are in 5.1. And on the programs that are encoded in 5.1, that offering might only be available on the HD channel.

If 5.1 is important to you, you should look around at these options—but there is no service that provides all programming and movies in 5.1. I’m pretty sure that Casablanca was made before 5.1.
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post #4 of 7
3/21/08 at 5:32pm
Thread Starter 

Re: HELP - Dolby 5.1 with Charter thru HTIB

Thanks guys for responses !

The cable box setup unfortunately doesn't have an area to set up audio output type. As far as setting input on my receiver correctly, I believe it must be OK, because some cable channels I do get in dolby 5.1 - just not as many as I would have figured.

Sounds like I am not going to have much luck - it is just frustrating to know that I have to go to video rental store in order to get my movies to sound good thru my surround system.

Mike
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post #5 of 7
3/23/08 at 4:36pm

Re: HELP - Dolby 5.1 with Charter thru HTIB

The only programming that can play in DD 5.1 is the stuff that originates as digital - which rules out most SD broadcast channels and probably 90% of SD cable channels. You can often get Dolby Pro Logic Surround sound out of the analog stereo channels on non-digital channels, but only if the programs have a Pro Logic track, are transmistted that way and if your cable company delivers them that way. (My cable company didn't used to carry The Sci-Fi Channel or TNT in stereo, even though they were offered that way, so DPL was not an option for me.)

Basically the only channels that are going to consistently deliver DD 5.1 sound are the HD channels - and not even all of the programming on them will originate in 5.1. Older movies won't unless they've had a DD 5.1 remix, ditto older TV shows. And some cheaper offerings such as daytime game and talk shows may not be equipped to transmit in 5.1 surround. (Nor would they be likely to benefit very much from it.)

Most of these limitations would apply as much to any cable or satellite company as they do to your present provider, so even if changing cable companies were possible it is doubtful it would change things.

Regards,

Joe
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post #6 of 7
3/24/08 at 7:16am

Re: HELP - Dolby 5.1 with Charter thru HTIB

Joseph is correct. The only SD cable that comes in DD 5.1 is from premium channels like HBO and Showtime. Other than that, you will see 5.1 on HD channels only, and that's only if the show's soundtrack is DD 5.1 (most primetime HD, but not all, is DD 5.1).
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post #7 of 7
3/24/08 at 3:51pm
Thread Starter 

Re: HELP - Dolby 5.1 with Charter thru HTIB

Thanks Joe and Jeff. You mention HBO, etc come thru in 5.1, but for the most part even my movie channels (HBO/Showtime/Cinemax), etc dont come in 5.1 - a few do but by far most do not.

Just doesn't seem right to me. Pay all that money for movie channels and On Demand capability but can't get in 5.1 like you do when you rent a movie and play it on your DVD player.

Mike
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