Dolby Vision Passthrough Woes - Nvidia Shield->HW-N950->LG B8

WiteWulf

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Equipment:
  • LG OLED55B8
  • Samsung HW-N950
  • Nvidia Shield 2019 (tube model)
All devices on latest available firmware

Setup:
B8 [HDMI2 (ARC)] -> N950 [HDMI Out (TV-ARC)]
Shield -> N950 [HDMI 1]

Problem:
When connected in the above configuration the N950 does not appear to be passing through Dolby Vision from the Shield to the B8. Turning DV on in the Shield settings results in a black screen, followed by the display returning 15 seconds later to tell me the display is not Dolby Vision compatible.

Directly connecting the Shield to the TV with either of the HDMI cables used in the soundbar setup results in correct Dolby Vision operation. The cables are not of notably high quality, so I'm expecting the first response to be "buy better cables", but was hoping there may be something I'm missing :)

I read online previously that the N950 was not initially compatible with DV, but that a subsequent firmware update fixed this. As I mentioned above: the soundbar firmware is up to date, running "HW-N950WWB-1007.5", which also appears to be the latest available version on the Samsung website.

Any bright ideas, folks?
 
Last edited:
As suspected, better cables solved this. I ordered a pair of midrange Anker 48Gb/s cables from Amazon (Amazon product ASIN B08MZYQ43S) and Dolby Vision passthrough is now working as expected.

Strange side effect: Disney+ now works properly on the Shield, too. Previously I could login to D+ and navigate through the menus, but trying to play anything resulted in an indefinitely spinning wheel. I guess this was down to HDCP not handshaking properly.
 
Well, something's still not quite right with this setup, and I seem to have run into a very common problem with the Shield and Dolby Vision.

I'm getting brief audio drop outs when watching content with Dolby Atmos audio streamed from the Shield (notably in Plex and Amazon Prime Video). The only solution that works for me is to disable Dolby Vision on the Shield (turning on Refresh Rate Switching in Plex didn't help, nor did moving from ethernet to wifi which many claimed fixed it for them).

The dropouts are random and non-reproducible and are not limited to content using Dolby Vision, strangely.
 
Further experimentation last night produced audio dropouts from Netflix when viewing 1080p/AC3 content. Again, disabling Dolby Vision in the Shield preferences stopped it from occurring.
 
What year of production is your OLED55B8?
I have an QE75F7 not compatible DV e and no way to update through firmware. Samsung support replies to buy a new one :blush::blush:
 

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