How do I know PC games are outputting 5.1/7.1?

[dcxs]

Hey! I've recently been playing a lot of PC games on my TV. But Im very unsure whether its actually outputting 5.1/7.1.

My setup is as follows; PC (HDMI) -> LG B1 -> Samsung hw-q950t. PC sound output is set to Dolby Atmos. Atmos content works, and 5.1 dolby digital also it seems, (been using this test file sucessfully: http://media.developer.dolby.com/DDP/MP4_HPL40_30fps_channel_id_51.mp4)

PC games like CoD and Horizon have zero audio options in game it seems, so it really is a guess work if it is working properly or not. (My soundbar only shows when Atmos is playing).

Anyone else had to deal with this? I just want 5.1 on my TV / Soundbar set up when playing PC games.

 

[richardb70]

Quite a few posts on PC gaming surround sound but I believe that most games are not in Dolby Digital (or other) format, rather you get PCM audio. This is still surround sound though. Not sure how you can tell what's happening when this gets passed to your TV and onto your soundbar though unfortunately, it's possible that it's getting converted.

 

[next010]

For LG TV's you need most up to date firmware to fix eARC bugs.
eARC = enabled
Digital Sound Output = pass-through
HDMI Audio Input Format = bitstream

For Samsung hw-q950t soundbar you need most up to date firmware to enable PCM 5.1 support.

On Windows to confirm that it scanned TV EDID correctly and sees multi-channel PCM download CRU and run it. Go to extension blocks->edit->audio formats->edit and see how many PCM channels are listed.

If everything is detected it should work, the Dolby Access app to the best of my knowledge passes Dolby MAT which is PCM + Atmos and that only works over eARC.

If the Samsung has a smart phone companion app sometimes these give information about the audio playing that the bar itself wont give out.

 

[dcxs]

Thanks for your very thorough reply! TV & Soundbar are updated.

CRU shows this info. LPCM shows 8 channels. However when using passthrough Dolby Atmos dosent play, it only plays usinging Auto. However I can live with this if this means games are working.
Also, I thought most newer games supported Dolby Digital, since that is what consoles use?

 

[next010]

PCM is the only standard on the PC for audio anything else is optional and because sound controls on windows are so poorly designed game developers often just leave it as PCM and omit any DD/DTS support.

Everything looks correct in CRU so as long as the soundbar works with TV's eARC you should be getting PCM 5.1 or 7.1, unfortunately ARC/eARC are not strict standards so sometimes the TV/soundbar wont co-operate perfectly.

TV Auto limits you to ARC formats PCM 2.0, Dolby 5.1 and Dolby 5.1.2 Atmos.

TV Pass-through is the eARC setting for PCM 7.1, Dolby TrueHD Atmos, Dolby MAT.

So whats going on there with no Atmos on pass-through is hard to say. It is sending DD+ 5.1.2 Atmos in that mode but you will only get PCM 2.0 as a result in everything else.

Get MPC-HC from here, select view->options->internal filters->audio decoder.

• tick the box for bitstreaming Dolby Digital Plus (E-AC3) and Dolby TrueHD
• back on main options go to playback->output and select under audio renderer the Nvidia or AMD GPU you use thats connected to the TV.
• download the Shattered Atmos track, and on here right click and select save as to download the DD+ Atmos track.

Now try playing in MPC-HC both of those which are THD Atmos and DD+ Atmos with TV in pass-through mode and see what works.

FYI you can just bypass the TV eARC and run a second video output from GPU direct into the sound system, then set that output as default in windows while keeping video 1 direct to the TV and manually change input on soundbar to HDMI.