TV into 5.1 DD?

MrNightly

So the Super Bowl is Sunday... the party is happening at my place, and I want to hook up my HT into the TV. How do I do this?

Currently, I'm just running the TV on stereo and the little built in speakers. I know it must be possible to hook my 5.1 Dolby Digital up right? I tried searching for this, but didn't really turn much up.

Show me the magic, so I can FEEL the big game...

Lsi9

If your TV doesn't have an optical or coax out then look for it in back of the cablebox, if not call the cable company for a digital box!

Willow

MrNightly..do you have HD ? if not I'm sorry to tell you that you most probably will not be able to get it in DD. The only DD stuff I watch is in HD.

danger boy

does your TV have a optical output? if so run that to your receiver.. OR if your cable box has a digital output, run that to your receiver... and as long as you are watching a HDTV signal.. it should be in dolby digital.

danger boy

OR if your TV doesn't have a optical output, then you can run a left and right RCA cables from the audio out to your receiver. it will only be in dolby pro logic (II)(X), but it still may sound pretty good. this is a lesser sound quality.. but on my old Marantz i did that.. and on the TV I was able to select surround sound matrix sound.. and once it ran into the receiver.. it sounded pretty good.. make sure your subwoofer is turned on..

have fun.. games in surround sound sound fantasic.

MrNightly

Hmm, first off, don't have cable.

Second off, no Coax or Optical cable anywhere in site on the back of the TV. It's not a HDTV either. So is it not even worth trying to hook up thru the AVR? Interesting.

So you are saying I need a new TV? Let me tell the wife real quick..

PolkWannabie

It could be any way w/o HD ...

MrNightly

I could try the L/R audio out to TV in on the AVR. It's gotta sound better than just the little speaks on the TV.

Hang on, I've got some testing to do... Thanks!

danger boy

MrNightly wrote:

I could try the L/R audio out to TV in on the AVR. It's gotta sound better than just the little speaks on the TV.

Hang on, I've got some testing to do... Thanks!

Once you hook thing up this way.. turn off the internal TV speakers.. there should be a setting in the TV menu for this..

good luck.. i have a feeling.. this should work for you..

Lsi9

Hmm... without the HDTV or DD, IMHO its not worth connecting & watching through speakers

MrNightly

It worked!

Just ran the old red/white cables from audio out to TV in on the Denon. I have about 8 different settings to play with, (Cinema, Game, Direct) 5.1/7.1 sounds the best/loudest. I wouldn't say any of them are super clear, but they do sound slightly better than the tv speakers.

Thanks Danger! It'll do, but I fear there won't be much bass during the game. I was hoping to FEEL the hits, but probably not huh? Ohtwell.

danger boy

MrNightly wrote:

It worked!

Just ran the old red/white cables from audio out to TV in on the Denon. I have about 8 different settings to play with, (Cinema, Game, Direct) 5.1/7.1 sounds the best/loudest. I wouldn't say any of them are super clear, but they do sound slightly better than the tv speakers.

Thanks Danger! It'll do, but I fear there won't be much bass during the game. I was hoping to FEEL the hits, but probably not huh? Ohtwell.

Cool, glad it worked for ya.. it's the closest you'll be able to get to DD without having the needed equipment. I used to listen to TV that way for a couple years. It was fine. although.. to me.. dolby prologic sounded the best.. does your TV have matrix surround sound? if so.. enable that.. i prefer that over any of the AVR dsp's. but whichever sounds best to your ears.. and maybe you can crank the sub up a few notches.. just for the game of course.

phileth

Hey Guys. I asked this question a while back and just wanted to confirm it based on some new information that I received.

Just for some background: I currently have one of the old Samsumg Directv DVR's with Tivo. The optical digital audio is run out to my AVR. I do not have HD service, just standard definition.

Here is my question: Why can I not receive TV shows in Dolby digital 5.1? For example, C.S.I. (among many others) on CBS is broadcast in dolby digital 5.1 as shown by the little symbol on the screen at the beginning of the show. However, my receiver does not pick up the signal, It is just in stereo.

Someone on here replied that you have to have HD service to get the Dolby Digital 5.1. However, Directv is now advertising the new Directv Plus DVR (Not HD) with Dolby Digital. Why would this be different than the older Directv DVR with Tivo?

I called Directv and they said that whatever signal they receive from the "broadcast center", that is what they pass on to the customers. That didn't really make sense to me. If that is the case, who is getting shows in dolby digital?

Thanks for reading. Any help would be appreciated.

Serendipity

phileth wrote:

If that is the case, who is getting shows in dolby digital?

Thanks for reading. Any help would be appreciated.

I am, through an off-air HDTV antenna. When I tried connecting my AVR to my HD Cable, most shows were being broadcast in DD2.0.

However, since my TV has a built-in HDTV tuner I just connect the optical out from my TV to the receiver. This provides DD5.1 on all HDTV channels.

danger boy

you need a HD receiver to get 5.1 surround sound from programs.. even if they say.. 5.1 surround.. your box unless it's high def, will only give you DPLII not 5.1

trust me. I've checked into it many many times. the only other thing you can do is mount your own over the air antenna outside on your house/garage and receive high def programming that way. i to do and I can watch anything over the air in HD and DD 5.1 surround. problem solved. BUT, i can't record HD doing it this way. as i'm bypassing the cable box to get HD and DD 5.1

danger boy

appadv wrote:

I am, through an off-air HDTV antenna. When I tried connecting my AVR to my HD Cable, most shows were being broadcast in DD2.0.

However, since my TV has a built-in HDTV tuner I just connect the optical out from my TV to the receiver. This provides DD5.1 on all HDTV channels.

Bingo. that is exactly what I do too.

Willow

it sucks thinking you have a "digital box" well that's we we moved up to the HD box as well as for the fact we bought an HDTV.
The base Digital box can be hooked up via digcoax or toslink but there is no way you'll see DD5.1 on the display of your receiver. You need and HD box or an HD over air antenna.

phileth

Thanks for the info. I've been very happy with directv, but this seems like false advertising to me, especially since they are now advertising the directv plus dvr as being dolby digital 5.1 ready. All you need, they say, is surround sound equipment.

nebborjk

Phileth,

The newer Mpeg4 STB's that DirecTV offers may very well offer DD5.1 with SDTV (I don't know), however it appears that you have an older Mpeg2 STB. This could be where your problem lies.