Hulu Is Hulu Still Only Stereo? (1 Viewer)

[Johnny Angell]

I thought they were supposed to have 5.1 by now. I’m only getting stereo on my ATV4K.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

It depends on the programming. Not everything is 5.1.

 

[Johnny Angell]

It depends on the programming. Not everything is 5.1.

I was sampling sever movies like Judy, Arrival and Signs. Even though signs is a bit older I should be more than stereo.

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

It depends on what the studios deliver. I think the James Bond movies are 5.1.

 

[Johnny Angell]

Ok, Judy was Dolby Surround but the other two are only stereo. Another thing I noticed was that every time it took a half minute for HD to kick in. It looks like bad SD when first starting. I’m not noticing that with other streamers. It looks like Hulu is behind in technology.

It depends on what the studios deliver. I think the James Bond movies are 5.1.

I’m having trouble buying that. The studio couldn’t do better than stereo for Arrival?

 

[Neil S. Bulk]

Ok, Judy was Dolby Surround but the other two are only stereo. Another thing I noticed was that every time it took a half minute for HD to kick in. It looks like bad SD when first starting. I’m not noticing that with other streamers. It looks like Hulu is behind in technology.


I’m having trouble buying that. The studio couldn’t do better than stereo for Arrival?

I'm no longer surprised by what studios deliver to streamers.

 

[Todd Erwin]

Look for the 5.1 logo on the title screen. Many movies from Paramount, Lionsgate, and independents are stereo on Hulu, unfortunately. Movies that are currently available as part of FX are also cropped to 16:9 full screen (Bohemian Rhapsody is a good example).

Worse, many Hulu Originals like Only Murders in the Building indicate in the end credits that they had been mixed in Dolby Atmos, but Hulu has yet to make that available, instead only offering DD+ 5.1. Sadly, those shows ARE in Dolby Atmos in other territories where Hulu does not exist and instead are available on Star+ (the mature add-on or separate service to Disney+).

 

[Todd Erwin]

I've seen a lot of movies on Netflix that are stereo, despite the fact that my digital copy on Vudu or Movies Anywhere is 5.1 or greater.

 

[Malcolm R]

It looks like Hulu is behind in technology.

That was my assessment. I signed up for a year at $1/month a while back, and I still felt like that was too much for the service I received. I didn't notice much about available audio, but I had constant buffering issues with Hulu that I don't have with any other streaming services.

 

[Todd Erwin]

It looks like Hulu is behind in technology.

Of the major streaming services, they are almost always behind the times. Even Paramount+ now offers Dolby Atmos for one or two titles, as long as you have an Apple TV 4K.

 

[JohnRice]

I’m having trouble buying that. The studio couldn’t do better than stereo for Arrival?

I decided to double check some stuff. Yeah, Arrival is two channel. You can tell just by looking at the summary page. If it says nothing, it's two channel. So I looked further, and it seems to make no sense. This is Us (NBC) is 5.1, but Ordinary Joe (also NBC) is two channel. The Conners (ABC) is 5.1, but The View (also ABC) is two channel. Then, current, original stuff, like The Handmaids Tale is 4K HDR 5.1. That last one makes sense, but the rest doesn't.

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

I haven't noticed. The few shows I've watched on Hulu have all been 5.1, and I don't bother w/ movies on there -- I can sorta stomach the ads for the few shows so far (just about a month), but not for feature-length movies... though I guess I'll probably switch to ad-free (for my periodic reactivations) in the future...

_Man_

 

[Briton]

This is interesting...I just checked mine and can't find anything that isn't in ye olde 2 channel stereo, including shows mentioned in this thread as being 5.1 Assuming there isn't a hidden setting somewhere? I remember when Paramount+ was still CBS you had to manually turn on DD+ every time you launched the app.

 

[TonyD]

Many of the more recent original shows and movies look like they are 5.1.

I have found a handful of cable channels still only offer stereo and not any surround sound.
The MLB channel for one.
Wrong in that one. They do now air 5.1

 

[ManW_TheUncool]

This is interesting...I just checked mine and can't find anything that isn't in ye olde 2 channel stereo, including shows mentioned in this thread as being 5.1 Assuming there isn't a hidden setting somewhere? I remember when Paramount+ was still CBS you had to manually turn on DD+ every time you launched the app.

You mean the main info pages don't show 5.1 for whichever shows? OR they say 5.1, but actually playback in stereo only?

I don't recall changing any settings for audio. And yeah, CBS/Paramount+ was very annoying w/ that, especially for binging shows since their default stereo track was usually some 10-15db louder than their DD+ *and* it'd switch back to default stereo at the start of every single episode of a show -- I gave up on using DD+ w/ them for most shows, except the Star Trek ones. Have they fixed that by now?

_Man_

 

[DaveF]

I thought they were supposed to have 5.1 by now. I’m only getting stereo on my ATV4K.

Hulu says they support DD 5.1

Hulu Help

Find solutions, set-up instructions, troubleshooting steps, and helpful tips specific to you.

help.hulu.com

 

[Johnny Angell]

Hulu says they support DD 5.1

Hulu Help

Find solutions, set-up instructions, troubleshooting steps, and helpful tips specific to you.

help.hulu.com

I turns out they do have it, but a lot of the programming is still only stereo. I’m so old I remember when stereo was the latest thing.

 

[Briton]

Both actually. This is on my Chromecast with Google TV. There is no mention of sound formats in the show descriptions, and everything is in 2 channel stereo. Have no problem getting 5.1 on Netflix, HBO, etc.