Question Anyone have a 2017 LG OLED tv and receiver with Netflix subscription- Dolby Atmos ARC woe ?

tausifs

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Hi,

with a relatively recent fw update , 2017 LG OLED TVs have been able to send their Netflix app's Dolby Atmos soundtracks to an external receiver via ARC audio return channel.

Their movie Okja is such a movie with Dolby Atmos and I have been successful in sending the Dolby Atmos soundtrack to my Onkyo TX-NR646 receiver.

However , I have not been successful in getting ARC channel Dolby Atmos from any other sources (e.g. UHD blu ray ) connected to another TV input. When I try to select bitstream Dolby Atmos in my X box One S audio settings, I think it perceives the TV as a receiver and keeps saying that the "receiver" does not support it.

I was wondering if anyone else has had any success in getting Dolby Atmos via ARC for other sources connected directly to the tv ? Thanks.
 
Currently Netflix are combining Atmos within Dolby Digital Plus audio streams, which is a lossy compressed audio format with quite a low bandwidth.

Has the recent LG software update actually added support for TrueHD "Dolby Atmos stream from a Blu-ray player...", which is a lossless audio format with a very high bandwidth?


Cheers
 
Has the recent LG software update actually added support for TrueHD "Dolby Atmos stream from a Blu-ray player...", which is a lossless audio format with a very high bandwidth?

Thank you for your question SeeMoreDigital, which may have got to the the crux of the matter, with the answer being no? I have not read this matter being addressed anywhere yet.

I was not fully aware that there are both lossy and lossless forms of Dolby Atmos.

There have been web review postings celebrating that the LG TV fw update enables Dolby Atmos via ARC for the TV's Netflix app, but no reference at all as to whether this applies to other HDMI inputs.

E.g.
LG OLED B7 (OLED55B7V) review | TechRadar
"Update: LG's latest firmware finally allows Dolby Atmos to be passed through the sets HDMI ARC port, meaning B7 owners will now be able to enjoy Dolby's newest audio technology using an external sound system. We've updated our review to reflect the changes."

The LG update release history mentions that 03.60.09 had "improvements in Dolby Atmos" which I take to mean enabling Dolby Atmos ARC transmission from the TV but gives no further detail at all...

"[03.60.09]
1. Improvements in HDR (HDR 10/ HLG)
2. Bugs fix in Dolby vision
3. Improvements in shortcut key for apps on remote controller.
4. Improvements in Dolby Atmos"


I think the Netflix experience on the LG TV's app is a progressive one as you potentially get both Dolby Vision as well as Dolby Atmos, albeit lossy Atmos.

The Apple TV 4K supports Dolby Vision and hopefully soon will have Dolby Atmos (lossy, I imagine) support. Once Atmos arrives on the Apple TV , I wonder if the LG tv will be able to forward the lossy Dolby Atmos track via ARC to a receiver ?

Time shall tell, but given that the TV can already send lossy Dolby Atmos I am cautiously optimistic it will be able to do the same for Apple TV 4K , but may never be able to do it for sources with TrueHD/lossless Dolby Atmos , e.g. UHD Blu Ray player.
 
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Hi again @tausifs,

A self interest question for you... Does your TV come with the 'long thin' posh silver remote control, with the Netflix button? If so, can you tell me its model number please? It should be written in very small writing just above the batteries.

Cheers
 
I think the Netflix experience on the LG TV's app is a progressive one as you potentially get both Dolby Vision as well as Dolby Atmos, albeit lossy Atmos.

The Apple TV 4K supports Dolby Vision and hopefully soon will have Dolby Atmos (lossy, I imagine) support. Once Atmos arrives on the Apple TV , I wonder if the LG tv will be able to forward the lossy Dolby Atmos track via ARC to a receiver ?

Time shall tell, but given that the TV can already send lossy Dolby Atmos I am cautiously optimistic it will be able to do the same for Apple TV 4K , but may never be able to do it for sources with TrueHD/lossless Dolby Atmos , e.g. UHD Blu Ray player.

Sorry to disappoint but a mate of mine has a 2017 LG OLED set and we tried the Sept 2016 Atmos demo disk on his BR player and it didn't pass the DD+ with Atmos audio via ARC, we only got the DD+ core audio out. So at the moment it's only Netflix and files on USB flash drives if you want Atmos.

The other kicker is the way Dolby license their audio formats. Each format is licensed separately and the licenses have to be applied for before the product goes to market because the said product has to be certified by Dolby, so for example unless the TV has a license for TrueHD and has been certified, it won't ever support TrueHD. It's why the 2016 LG models won't get an Atmos update because they aren't licensed and certified to use DD+ or Atmos.
 
Sorry to disappoint but a mate of mine has a 2017 LG OLED set and we tried the Sept 2016 Atmos demo disk on his BR player and it didn't pass the DD+ with Atmos audio via ARC, we only got the DD+ core audio out. So at the moment it's only Netflix and files on USB flash drives if you want Atmos.

The other kicker is the way Dolby license their audio formats. Each format is licensed separately and the licenses have to be applied for before the product goes to market because the said product has to be certified by Dolby, so for example unless the TV has a license for TrueHD and has been certified, it won't ever support TrueHD. It's why the 2016 LG models won't get an Atmos update because they aren't licensed and certified to use DD+ or Atmos.

If it's a case of pick your poison , I'll keep the lossless audio and forgo Dolby Vision.
Thanks for posting , a gem of information.
 
However , I have not been successful in getting ARC channel Dolby Atmos from any other sources (e.g. UHD blu ray ) connected to another TV input. When I try to select bitstream Dolby Atmos in my X box One S audio settings, I think it perceives the TV as a receiver and keeps saying that the "receiver" does not support it.

Atmos is a metadata based subchannel that adds the height channels upon detection of height speakers.
It works with both lossy and lossless dolby digital codecs.

As it stands, ARC can only do lossy formats. DD + is lossy

ARC cannot do lossless like Dolby tru HD or DTS MA.
On a blu ray disc, Atmos only comes with the lossless tracks, so no current device can pass this flavour of Atmos over ARC.

HDMI 2.1 specifies a new version of ARC called eARC.
eARC will be able to pass the lossless codecs with Atmos.
Chances are though that this feature is going to require all new gear.
 
I feel like I've been horsing around after reading all that haha.

I would have settled for lossy Dolby Atmos via ARC (as lossy DA is coming to iTunes and that's all I was really concerned with, x box doesn't support Dolby vision anyway so no point feeding that source direct to the TV, I was only trying to elicit Dolby atmos from another source via ARC) but given what @simon194 said , it's as good as dead in the water, at least as far as my TV is concerned , with no hope of a firmware fix.

Oh well c'est la vie. I'll enjoy my set up even for its limitations anyway. Thanks for the postings fellas, I think I have the answer now and that is something.
 
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As an afterthought, if Amazon Instant video make lossy Dolby Atmos available and if it was supported on the LG TV Amazon app , then in theory it could output this via ARC to the receiver.

So that would be a way to watch rented movies with lossy Dolby Atmos.

Does anyone know if lossy Dolby Atmos is already available on Amazon movies ?
 
Does anyone know if lossy Dolby Atmos is already available on Amazon movies ?
According to Dolby's web site, currently Netflix, Vudu and maxdome offer content with Dolby Atmos...

Cheers
 
Not quite sure if this is the right place to ask. I got my LG 55C7V on Monday on the old firmware. Netflix was showing Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos to my AVR via ARC (horrible lip sync on Okja though).
I last night updated to the latest firmware by USB and was prompted to update Netflix too. Now when I try Okja it's in Dolby Vision but no Atmos (and the lip sync is almost gone).

Any clues or is this meant to be a backward step?
 
If you turn the LG c7 tv to "internal speaker" and start the Netflix program in atmos and then change to ARC it will send atmos to the receiver.... a pain but it works
Presumably this is something they'll fix with an update? Sure it worked before the latest firmware.
 
Signed up to post on this thread. Here’s my situation and question:

Purchased Sony A1E to pair with my 7.1.2 surround speakers and Marantz 6012 avr, knowing that Dolby vision would be rolled out to these sets in jan 2018. However, didn’t realize the lack of Dolby Atmos support with Sony Netflix app. Have Xbox one s but rather not have to use that to watch Netflix.

Thinking about exchanging for lg c7.

Will I be able to obtain Dolby vision and Dolby Atmos through the Netflix app on the lg?

Also, to those asking about bd players not being able to pass through via arc, why not just hook up bd player to your avr and obtain Dolby vision and Atmos that way?
 
I too have this issue and the internal speaker work around does work. I have an Oled 65B7P along with an Onkyo atmos receiver. I called LG support to see if they were aware of this issue and would there be a firmware update. They told me that they did not know about this issue.
If the sound is set to HDMI then Netflix will not even show you that a program has Atmos sound but when you set it to internal speaker then it does. Makes it a pain to see if the program you want to watch has Atmos sound.
 
Just wanted to add that using the Dolby app that comes with the TV also has the same issues, not just Netflix. Same work around applies.
 
When I initially setup my Denon 6400 AVR I wasn't getting DD+/Atmos from the LG B7 (latest firmware) apps via ARC. For some reason I had SIMPLINK turned off, turning it back on triggered the apps like Netflix to show Atmos.

So I wonder if its the SIMPLINK handshake that LG need to look into.
 
Just tried Andy's suggestion regarding SIMPLINK and it still made no difference.
I even reset the TV and it is still not working. To get Atmos to work (via apps) I still need to use internal speaker, start the Netflix movie that has Atmos sound, then switch from internal speaker to HDMI ARC and then Atmos appears on my AVR.
 
I got my LG OLED55B7 to send Dolby Atmos via ARC to my Sony HT-ST5000 by going in to Settings, Sound. Clicking Sound Out. Under Audio Out (Optical/HDMI ARC) I changed Digital Sound Out from PCM to Auto.
 
I found this thread because I'm trying to decide whether to buy the LG model B,C, or E, and I want Atmos on a 5.1.2 system (Via ARC). I'll be getting a new AVR that supports ATMOS and will use ARC (not sure which receiver to buy yet either) but I AM looking to get Atmos from my Apple TV and/or smart Apps in Netflix and Plex or MrMc. Any advice would be helpful.
 
Atmos is working fine for me from a B7 to a Yamaha RX-V781 (5.1.2) via ARC from the TV's Netflix app.
 
Also working for me on B7 with Denon x2300, though the effects are subtle at best vs. my previous 5.1 setup
 

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