Need help setting up my HT system

[Rolling Dice]

I've been watching movies without my AVR and speakers until now (lack of free time), but I finally have time this weekend to set up my sound system. I'm not sure I'm doing it right, though. I have zero experience when it comes to HT audio systems so I'm sorry for the dumb questions.

Here's my equipment:
-TV: LG OLED 65 C1
-Player: Panasonic DP-UB820
-AVR: Denon AVR-X1700H
-Speakers: 5.1 system (LCR+SL&SR+SW)

My TV has a 2.1 HDMI eARC port, so does my AVR (HDMI out). My player has 2 HDMI ports: AUDIO OUT and VIDEO OUT (VIDEO/AUDIO).

My understanding is that I need 2 HDMI cables: 1 from my player to my AVR (HDMI in), and 1 from my AVR (HDMI out eARC) to my TV (HDMI in eARC). I'm still not sure which HDMI port I need to use for my player, AUDIO OUT or VIDEO OUT (VIDEO/AUDIO)? I don't understand the difference.

Also, since my TV doesn't support any DTS format (no DTS passthrough), which is obviously a problem as many discs only have DTS audio, can I bypass that via eARC with my AVR? If so, do I need to do something in the AVR, TV or player settings?

Thanks in advance for your help!

[oddbox83]

You need to use video out - the audio out port is purely for legacy receivers that cannot handle 4K/hdcp2.2. In those situations you'd use video out to your TV, and a second HDMI from the audio port to the older AVR. Which you do not need to worry about here, just use video out to the AVR.

If you have your player directly connected to the AVR, the AVR will decode any DTS audio without the TV being involved.

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

You need to use video out - the audio out port is purely for legacy receivers that cannot handle 4K/hdcp2.2. In those situations you'd use video out to your TV, and a second HDMI from the audio port to the older AVR. Which you do not need to worry about here, just use video out to the AVR.

If you have your player directly connected to the AVR, the AVR will decode any DTS audio without the TV being involved.

Thanks for the reply, helps a lot!

So I need to plug the HDMI cables this way, then:
Player (VIDEO OUT)>AVR (HDMI in)
AVR (HDMI out eARC)>TV (HDMI in eARC)

Right?

This is the rear panel of my AVR:



Does it make a difference if I plug the HDMI cable from my player in a "4K" or "8K" port?

I forgot to mention that I want to use my AVR and speakers when using my PS4, so I just need to connect my PS4 to my AVR and everything else will be taken care of thanks to eARC, right?

[oddbox83]

That's right.

It doesn't matter if you use a 4k or 8K port for 4K video for the player. There's no benefit either in choosing the 8K one.

For any gaming console that uses higher frame rates and other newer gaming features, use the 8K ports to ensure a full HDMI 2.1 chain.

eARC won't be used for the player and the PS4 when set up the way you are. eARC is purely for passthrough via the TV on anything that you are not plugging directly into the AVR - so the obvious thing will be live TV and streaming apps which will use eARC to your AVR.

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

That's right.

It doesn't matter if you use a 4k or 8K port for 4K video for the player. There's no benefit either in choosing the 8K one.

For any gaming console that uses higher frame rates and other newer gaming features, use the 8K ports to ensure a full HDMI 2.1 chain.

eARC won't be used for the player and the PS4 when set up the way you are. eARC is purely for passthrough via the TV on anything that you are not plugging directly into the AVR - so the obvious thing will be live TV and streaming apps which will use eARC to your AVR.

Thanks again, it's more understandable now.

I had totally forgotten about live TV and streaming apps, does that mean I'll always have to use my AVR when watching live TV or Netflix? Because I don't care about the sound in either of these scenarios, the built-in TV speakers will do just fine.

Everything else (players, gaming consoles...) will be plugged into the AVR, which is plugged into my TV, so my understanding is that I'll always use the same HDMI input (HDMI 2 in my case), no matter the source, right? Does that mean I'll have to change the settings on my TV every time I'm using a different source (game mode when using a gaming console, for example)?

One last thing, I'm not sure about the audio settings for my TV and player now that I'll be using an AVR. My understanding is that I have to use bitstream both on my TV and player, so that my AVR does the audio decoding, is that right?

Player audio settings:

[Show spoiler]

TV audio settings:

[Show spoiler]

[oddbox83]

That should be fine.

If you are using HDMI CEC features, if you turn the AVR off the TV should be told to turn it's own speakers back on. So you have a choice.

HDMI CEC can be a pain, so I tend to turn it on in both the TV and AVR, and off in players and such. Confusingly, different brands call this function different things.

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

That should be fine.

If you are using HDMI CEC features, if you turn the AVR off the TV should be told to turn it's own speakers back on. So you have a choice.

HDMI CEC can be a pain, so I tend to turn it on in both the TV and AVR, and off in players and such. Confusingly, different brands call this function different things.

All right, thanks for the help. Shouldn't the digital sound output option be set to "pass through" instead of "PCM", though (4th picture)? I don't quite understand the difference between the three options...

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Rolling Dice

All right, thanks for the help. Shouldn't the digital sound output option be set to "pass through" instead of "PCM", though (4th picture)? I don't quite understand the difference between the three options...

I'd set it to Auto or Pass Through. In case you do want to output surround from your LG's Apps. I'd also connect your consoles to the TV, that way they can have their independent settings.

Bitstream let's the second device (AVR) decode the sound, Pass Through sends the signal directly.

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by chip75

I'd set it to Auto or Pass Through. In case you do want to output surround from your LG's Apps. I'd also connect your consoles to the TV, that way they can have their independent settings.

Bitstream let's the second device (AVR) decode the sound, Pass Through sends the signal directly.

If I connect 2 consoles to the TV (let's say HDMI 1 and 3, HDMI 2 being the eARC port that my AVR is plugged into), I can still use my AVR even though the consoles are not connected to the AVR thanks to eARC, is that right?

I'm not sure what you mean by "Pass Through sends the signal directly", how is that different from Bitstream? Sorry for the dumb questions but this is all very confusing...

[oddbox83]

Chip75 isn't necessarily correct.

I'm pretty sure the C1 will automatically go into game mode (ALLM) with most modern consoles via a flag in the HDMI signal. The exception is the PS4 which doesn't support this auto switching feature. Manually switching into game mode isn't hard but an extra pain if you forget to turn it both on and off again afterwards.

You can do as he suggests though - I do with my Xbox Series S with it connected directly to the TV and the audio sent back to the AVR via eARC. In my case, it's a workaround so I can get HFR/VRR on the console and Dolby Vision on my player without having to manually switch modes in Sony's awkward internal HDMI settings (which refuse to let you have both DV and HFR/VRR enabled on the same input at the same time). This is not an issue on the C1 as LG's chipsets don't have this limitation.

Usually things apply - make sure your console and TV are passing through bitstream for multi-channel content should you do it this way.

[Rolling Dice]

Originally Posted by oddbox83

Chip75 isn't necessarily correct.

I'm pretty sure the C1 will automatically go into game mode (ALLM) with most modern consoles via a flag in the HDMI signal. The exception is the PS4 which doesn't support this auto switching feature. Manually switching into game mode isn't hard but an extra pain if you forget to turn it both on and off again afterwards.

You can do as he suggests though - I do with my Xbox Series S with it connected directly to the TV and the audio sent back to the AVR via eARC. In my case, it's a workaround so I can get HFR/VRR on the console and Dolby Vision on my player without having to manually switch modes in Sony's awkward internal HDMI settings (which refuse to let you have both DV and HFR/VRR enabled on the same input at the same time). This is not an issue on the C1 as LG's chipsets don't have this limitation.

Usually things apply - make sure your console and TV are passing through bitstream for multi-channel content should you do it this way.

I'll have to check, but I'm pretty sure my TV remembers the settings depending on the sources on the same HDMI input. That said, I think it would be a better idea to have my consoles (PS3 and PS4) connected to the TV using a different HDMI port, and just change the input with my remote depending on whether I'm watching a movie or playing a video game.

If I keep my setup the way it is (Panasonic UB820>AVR>TV HDMI 2 eARC) and connect my consoles to my TV using the other HDMI ports, my consoles would still be connected to my AVR thanks to eARC, correct?

I still don't understand the difference between the 3 options here:



If I select "PCM", the TV will do the audio decoding and I don't want that, or am I completely mistaken?

[oddbox83]

Yes, if you force PCM that means the TV will decode the audio and only pass through decoded PCM, possibly only as stereo. Auto may work well, and if this doesn't then force Pass Through.

While LG win in the HDMI features, I do like that my Sony TV has more options for audio output. It has 2 different auto modes, one that tells it to decode stereo but passthrough multi-channel bitstreams. That's good when you have a lot of downloads/personal rips with mono/stereo AAC audio but don't want forced Dolby Digital transcoding.

Yep, it's all needlessly complicated but you soon remember the basics.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Rolling Dice

I'm not sure what you mean by "Pass Through sends the signal directly", how is that different from Bitstream? Sorry for the dumb questions but this is all very confusing...

Pass Through and Bitstream are pretty interchangeable, especially when they're in two different sections of the options. I even think LG refer to pass through bitstream in some if their literature. Pass through also enables signals to get through when a device isn't on, so if you wanted your player and just wanted TV audio, it enables that.

So I agree it is confusing as you probably wouldn't get a signal from your console to AVR if your TV is off (perhaps it can send a signal if you're using two outputs from your AVR, like a TV and projector), so it can be frustrating.

Selecting PCM can often negate some issues, but depending on some devices you can be relegated to 2.0 and not surround.

My advice is set things to Auto, then run audio through different devices to test the surround is coming through, your 820 won't have any issues as it's direct, but try it, the consoles, and the Apps.