Panasonic SCHT-540 Help!

twist

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Nothing will play in 5.1 besides the DVDs in the player.

In other words, I cant play sky, freeview, wii etc. in 5.1 as I can only plug the normal composite (R+W) into the inputs of the player.

Is there any way to get these to work in 5.1 short of buying a new DVD receiver? A trick or hardware that you guys know of?

Please help!! Thanks.
 
Unless you can plug a digital cable from the Freeview etc into the amp then the best you can possibly get is Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital/true 5.1 needs a digital input.

The Wii only does Pro Logic II anyhow so you can't get anything different, and unless you have Sky+ or SkyHD then the same goes for these, as you have no digital outputs from the normal Sky Digital box. Freeview is probably the same as I don't think many/any have digital outputs.
 
Unless you can plug a digital cable from the Freeview etc into the amp then the best you can possibly get is Pro Logic II, Dolby Digital/true 5.1 needs a digital input.

The Wii only does Pro Logic II anyhow so you can't get anything different, and unless you have Sky+ or SkyHD then the same goes for these, as you have no digital outputs from the normal Sky Digital box. Freeview is probably the same as I don't think many/any have digital outputs.

Exactly! The 855 is a superb piece of kit with the right equipment. You need to make use of the optical input to maximise its potential. Without using this you are restricted to 5.1 on DVD only. But if you have sky+ or HD you can use the optical link and get some sky movies in 5.1 and also use the Prologic 11 option through this input when watching normal tv broadcasts.:thumbsup:
 
For some reason Panasonic only include Dolby Pro-logic II processing on the internal DVD/CD player and sound from the digital input (if present). This means that on the SC-HT545 (which has no optical input) you will only ever get Dolby Pro-logic II processing on CDs and DVDs that do not have Dolby Digital or DTS soundtracks.

The best you can get on inputs like TV or AUX is the sound played through just the left and right speakers (stereo), the same sound played through all speakers at once (using Surround Enhancer) or a surround sound effect produced by interpolating the sound for the rear speakers and playing it out of phase (using Sound Field Control (SFC)).

The surround sound effect created using Panasonic's Sound Field Control (SFC) is really not very good and not a patch on Dolby Pro-logic II. This was one of the reasons I opted for the SC-HT855 as it has a digital optical input allowing me to get Dolby Digital soundtracks from external sources where available and process stereo signals using Dolby Pro-logic II where not.

I would try to get a refund on the basis that you cannot get surround sound from external sources and go for the SC-HT855.
 
:suicide:

Bought it a while ago, so dont think I could take it back. sigh.

Thanks very much for the replies guys.
 
:suicide:

Bought it a while ago, so dont think I could take it back. sigh.

Thanks very much for the replies guys.

If you want to try to return it, you could try on the basis that it is faulty i.e. it does not do what it is supposed to do. Under UK law, you can return goods up to a year from when purchased without requiring the original receipt or packaging if they are faulty.

Alternatively, you can use the Sound Field Control feature (SFC) to create a surround sound effect from the stereo source.
 
If you want to try to return it, you could try on the basis that it is faulty i.e. it does not do what it is supposed to do. Under UK law, you can return goods up to a year from when purchased without requiring the original receipt or packaging if they are faulty.

Alternatively, you can use the Sound Field Control feature (SFC) to create a surround sound effect from the stereo source.

Wow, didnt know that. Yeah, but its not really faulty is it. The managers gonna tell me im crazzzzzy.

Dont think mine has SFC, I cant find it anyhow. Think its only the model up. Know where it is by any chance?
 
Wow, didnt know that. Yeah, but its not really faulty is it. The managers gonna tell me im crazzzzzy.

Dont think mine has SFC, I cant find it anyhow. Think its only the model up. Know where it is by any chance?

On the SC-HT855 there is a button that has something like this on the remote:

-SFC
--SRD ENH

This means you hold down the button for SRD ENH (Surround Enhancer) and press the button briefly for SFC (Sound Field Control). Each time you press the button it should cycle through the various modes (Flat, Movie, Sport, Music, Heavy, Clear, Soft). Flat is the default and means that the SFC processing is off/disabled. Movie gives quite a good surround effect and makes more use of the sub more for low frequency effects. Clear mode is designed to make dialogue easier to hear.

On the SC-HT855 the button is on the second row of buttons from the bottom of the remote. It is the second button from the left.
 

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