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LG 32LH20 - No DTS pass through using HDMI? (1 Viewer)

Scott_ATL

Grip
Joined
Apr 9, 2002
Messages
19
Greetings, all.

It's been quite some time since I've posted or even read anything on here because I had not made any upgrades to my home theater. But now I have upgraded some, and after hooking everything up yesterday, I've run into a snag.

Here's what I have:

Sony DVP-NS710H dvd player
Motorola DCT3412 I HD DVR cable box
LG 32LH20 television
Sony STR-DE875 receiver

I am running the dvd player and cable box via HDMI to the television, then I am running the optical out on the television to the TV/SAT optical input on the receiver.

When watching HD cable, the receiver shows that it's receiving a multi-channel Dolby signal, and the surround sound seems to come through fine.

When I tested the DVD player, I put in LOTR and selected the DTS soundtrack. When the movie started...no sound. I switched the audio to Dolby surround, and the receiver showed it was receiving a multi-channel Dolby signal, and the surround sound seemed to be working. When I switched it back to DTS on the DVD player, no sound. Just to be sure, I already had a digital coaxial cable running from the DVD player to the DVD/LD coaxial input on the receiver, and when I switched the receiver input to DVD/LD, the DTS sound came through just fine.

I spent 40-something minutes on the phone with an LG customer service rep trying to figure out whether the TV doesn't like DTS signals or something, and we just went round and round. He said it was the DVD player, then he faulted the cable box (which wasn't even part of my issue), etc.

After finally ending my call with LG, I did what I should have done in the first place and looked on the interwebs. I have seen various threads on different forums (primarily concerning WDTV) about having trouble with DTS passing through HDMI. But I also saw things about DTS not being able to pass through TV sets.

So...which is the issue? Does the DTS signal just not pass through the LG32LH20 television (and why not)? Does DTS not go through HDMI (although I have read that if the HDMI runs from the DVD player to a receiver with HDMI inputs, DTS comes through fine)? Or is there some issue with the DVD player?

My initial thought was that any signal could just pass through the TV to be decoded by the receiver, but perhaps that is not the case.

I'm just trying to figure out whether everything is operating properly so I can determine whether I need to return or exchange any of the new equipment.

Sorry for the long post, but hey...it's been a while! :)
 

Jeff Gatie

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Aug 19, 2002
Messages
6,531
I'm almost positive that the TV will only pass-trhu Dolby. Which means you are lucky, because 99% of the TV's out there won't even pass-thru Dolby, just 2.0 PCM. The optical out is generally for the TV's internal tuner only. Connect the DVD via optical or coax to the A/V receiver and you are good to go.
 

Scott_ATL

Grip
Joined
Apr 9, 2002
Messages
19
Thanks for the response, Jeff. I feel a bit better now.

As I mentioned, I just figured that any digital audio signal would just pass through the TV and out to the receiver with no problems. Sorta seemed logical to me. But apparently that is not the case, and that kind of defeats part of the purpose of HDMI, at least in this instance.

I'm glad it lets Dolby through at least. But it sort of raises another question. When the Dolby signal is passing through (from either the DVD player or the Motorola HD DVR cable box, both connected to the TV via HDMI), is it being altered or processed in any way? Should I just run the audio out from the DVD player and the HD cable box directly to the receiver and bypass the TV altogether? Again, I would think that the signal is just passing through the TV with no alteration, but after reading your post, maybe that is incorrect.

Thanks again for the input.
 

Ed Moxley

Senior HTF Member
Joined
May 25, 2003
Messages
2,701
Location
Eastern NC
Real Name
Ed
Yes, run the audio connections from everything (except tv, unless using an outside antenna sometimes), straight to the receiver, and all should be fine. As Jeff said, if DD is passing straight through the tv, to the receiver, you are extremely lucky. Connected that way, surround is usually down mixed to 2.0, and sent to receiver. Then you only get Pro Logic (simulated surround). I've heard there are a couple of models that will pass through surround, but I, personally, have never seen one that did.
 

Scott_ATL

Grip
Joined
Apr 9, 2002
Messages
19
Thanks once again for the replies. I did happen to stumble upon some information that does explain things a bit. Although there's nothing printed on the box or in the set-up manual included with the LG 32LH20 television, apparently that television has built-in Dolby 5.1 decoding. Product information on some website mentioned it, so I went to LG's website to confirm it. It's not mentioned on the product's page, but in the product information .pdf file from their website, it certainly says Dolby 5.1 decoding. Strange that the customer service rep with whom I was on the phone for nearly an hour couldn't just tell me that. Would have saved me a bit of frustration.

I will still switch the optical cable from coming out of the TV to coming out of the HD cable box because in watching several programs yesterday, I noticed a bit of lag in the audio. Maybe from the signal running through two (2) separate decoders (the one in the TV and the one in the receiver)?

Anyway, I think I have it all sorted out now. Thanks again!
 

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