No 5.1 ch surround sound audio out? (1 Viewer)

[Jim Williams]

Help me understand this please. I was reading the specs for the Panasonic RV-32K DVD player. It has Dolby Digital and optical out but the specs say that it has no 5.1 ch surround sound audio out. Does this mean that a 5.1 HT receiver will not work with this DVD player? I am confused, I thought that the optical out was for 5.1.

 

[Michael Reuben]

I thought that the optical out was for 5.1.

It is. I think the specs mean that the player doesn't have a built-in DD or DTS decoder with separate outputs for each individual channel (six in all).

M.

 

[GregLee]

The DVD player's optical output will carry the info for all six 5.1 channels to your receiver. Your receiver may also have 6 RCA jack inputs for 6 channel outputs from a DVD player, but those are needed only for DVD-A or SACD.

 

[John Garcia]

but those are needed only for DVD-A or SACD

This is not entirely correct. Many DVD players have their own built in decoding, even though they do not have DVD or SACD capability. These are to accomodate older generation Dolby Digital "ready" receivers which did not have the ability to decode internally. Multi-channel inputs are required for multi-channel DVD-A and SACD playback.

I have one in my bedroom, and while the RV32 covers most everything, it does not have a built in decoder, nor multi-channel analog outputs as Michael discussed. It only has optical (for DD/DTS) and stereo analog outputs.