Help with THX-EX on Onkyo 898 (1 Viewer)

[NickSP]

I just rented the Star Wars Episode-I on DVD. I selected Surround 5.1 EX in the DVD menu and my receiver is set on THX-EX Auto. However, when I play this movie, the receiver does not go into the THX-EX mode. It stays in the Dolby-THX mode. Any suggestions as to what may be going wrong?

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Nick,
If you set the receiver to "Surround" does it automaticly
play Dolby-Digital when you use a D-D or DTS encoded DVD?
The reason I ask is that if your DVD Player is not set up
correctly to output D-D/DTS then it may be set to PCM and
that would cause it not to detect a Dolby Digital or DTS
Signal and then it would just play THX-Cinema (This is what
my DS787 was doing) when I set the DVD Player correctly to
output the Dolby Digital and DTS Signals then it worked fine.
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Brett DiMichele
My Home Theater Site!
[email protected]

 

[Rick Radford]

Nick,
Click here for a thread that discusses the same thing for Onkyo 989s. It may be applicable to your 898.
Apparently some DVDs aren't flagged correctly for the auto function to choose processing modes properly... and Star Wars is one of them.
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--RR

 

[NickSP]

Brett,
I do have my DVD player setup correctly and I do see 3/2.1 when I hit the display key. It's just for some reason that the receiver does not go in the THX-EX mode.
Rick, I will check that link out. However, I did force THX-EX and it sounded just awesome. Like you said, it must be a flag issue.

 

[StephenL]

Do any DVDs have the EX flag?

 

[derek]

I don't know for sure of any DVDs out yet with the flag. In May 2001 Dolby released their version 7.0 encoder that has the ability to include the EX flag (see http://www.dolby.com/press/co.pr.010...alEncoder.html ) I'm surprised the Phantom Menace DVD does not have it.
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Derek
Surround EX FAQ: http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/P...urroundex.html

 

[NickSP]

Derek, it must be definitely a flag issue on "TPM" DVD. I have no problems with any DTS-ES DVDs, i.e., Gladiator and Chicken Run. The receiver goes into the DTS-ES Discrete mode just fine. However, I haven't yet come across one dd-EX DVD which has the EX flag.

 

[Bhagi Katbamna]

I noticed that TPM doesn't have the EX flag. What I don't understand is TPM is the movie that EX was developed for and even that doesn't have the flag.

 

[Tim M]

i was told that seven special edition was flaged for ex but only in region 4, i tried region 1 it was not flaged
tim