What connections for surround sound

[Richoooooh]

I have a Sony all in one system (old model but still works great DAV-LF1). Just bought a new telly (LG 47LA740V) and will be getting it wall mounted soon.

I currently connect my freesat HD box to my Sony all in one but only get surround through watching hd on freesat.

If I plug my freesat box to the telly via hdmi and then from the optical out from the telly to the Sony all in one will I get surround sound from freesat and anything else (blu ray etc) plugged into the telly?

Thanks in advance

 

[iaint]

Hi.
Possibly; some LG TVs can pass Dolby Digital from HDMI to the optical out (in the audio menu, turn TV Speakers off and set Digital Audio Out to Auto).

If this works, it should get you surround from the internal tuner(s), the internal media player and apps (if that model has these) and freesat (make sure dolby digital is enabled on your freesat box).

It's unlikely to work for DTS soundtracks as commonly found on bluray, so you could be stuck with stereo...
It's a licensing thing; the hardware is normally capable of handling DTS, but since DTS isn't normally used for broadcast TV, LG haven't the licence to enable it...
Believe some bluray players can transcode to Dolby Digital/AC3, some can but only downmixing Dolby TrueHD, others only output Dolby Digital if the disc in question was mastered with a Dolby Digital soundtrack.
Seems every bluray player handles this differently!

Simplest option is probably just a toslink switchbox HQ Optical TOSlink 3 Port Switch: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics for example, from a quick search.

If you haven't already a bluray player, would suggest testing first with your freesat box; it may be that your TV won't even pass Dolby Digital...
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Regards, Iain.