DD5.1 in regional NSW? Curious!

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Sun Mar 02, 2008 22:13

Anyody here in regional NSW? or would anyone know whether the regional HD channels transmit DD5.1? Shows listed on the DTV forum that are supposed to have a 5.1 audio are not being decoded at my end with 5.1 I'm curious as to whether this is a local phenomenon or an issue with my setup.

DP-P1 with a HDMI cable to Hitachi plasma. Audio set to passthrough, with a coaxial connection to a Marantz SR5200 receiver. Files played over the network (AVI's and VOB's etc) with 5.1 audio are played & decoded OK. The receiver correctly detects & decodes 5.1 audio from our Austar Mystar.

Any help or guidance appreciated!

Mark

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 07:52

What shows were you assuming? I have found not all that many shows are 5.1. Nine puts a handful on, Seven puts quite a few on, and Ten hardly put any on.
(Forget ABC and SBS. SBS isn't really HD, it is bob-deinterlaced SD...ewww.. and only MPEG audio, and ABCHD has maybe 1 show a day that runs for 5mins that is HD... Dorothy the Dinosaur).
Regards

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:10

OK.. well according to these threads on the DTV forum:

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?showtopic=28574

http://www.dtvforum.info/index.php?show ... 2115&st=20

if this info is correct, I should have seen something in DD5.1 from Samantha Who..I watched this for about 20 seconds and had no joy. Another show is Brothers & Sisters. My wife watches this, and at no time did I see (..er..hear) any DD5.1.

So I'm guessing that they either do not have DD5.1 audio or they aren't transmitting it in regional areas, or I have a hiccup with my setup.

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 11:13

I don't watch either of these, are they on Seven?

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 12:25

tonymy01 wrote:I don't watch either of these, are they on Seven?

Sorry, yes they are on Seven. Prime HD where I am.

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 15:59

You used the audio track selection button to switch to the AC3 track, rather than just leaving it at the default MPEG stereo track, right?

It's the button in the bottom right hand corner of the remote.

prl · Post by **prl** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 16:24

tonymy01 wrote:...
(Forget ABC and SBS. SBS isn't really HD, it is bob-deinterlaced SD...ewww.. and only MPEG audio, and ABCHD has maybe 1 show a day that runs for 5mins that is HD... Dorothy the Dinosaur).
Regards

The only prime-time native HD on ABCHD at the moment is Robin Hood. The last before that was the Captain Cook doco. Native HD's a rare treat on the national broadcaster.

The upside of watching SD content on ABCHD is that it doesn't have the hideous new ABC1 logo - there's only ever a logo on the rare occasions when it's actually transmitting HD.

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 18:46

peteru wrote:You used the audio track selection button to switch to the AC3 track, rather than just leaving it at the default MPEG stereo track, right?

It's the button in the bottom right hand corner of the remote.

Pressing this makes not a lick of difference, because the only option I've seen is 'English AC3'. There's an MPEG option? I thought that button was for language selection (as per the manual)?

Anyhoo...as I said, it makes no difference.

Thanks,
Mark

tonymy01 · Post by **tonymy01** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 19:03

It appears we are all city slickers here, surely there is a regional viewer that can confirm Mark's findings?
That audio button is for swapping audio tracks, just like on a DVD. Sometimes they put different languages on there (DVD I mean) and sometimes they put different audio standards (e.g 5.1 vs prologic vs DTS vs director commentary vs whatever). Well the similar is for digital TV in Aus, SD will have both MPEG and AC3 audio for some broadcasters, and HD tends to only have AC3.
The default for SD is meant to be MPEG with AC3 optional, the default for HD is meant to be AC3 with MPEG optional.
Regards

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Mon Mar 03, 2008 19:27

Thanks for the clarification tonymy01.

I'm primarily concerned with HD. If someone could confirm any show (regardless of your location) has (or should have) a DD5.1 audio track, I will endeavour to view same.

Thanks,
Mark

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 06:21

So far only one show appears to have had a DD5.1 soundtrack. That was Ice Station Zebra on WinHD yesterday. Surprising, considering that Win are the worst for HD content. Actually, the AV receiver showed it as 5.1, but I only the front and centre speakers had any sound. Very odd. Absolutely zilch on 7 & 10 so far.

..oh, and I waited expectedly for Underbelly last Wednesday only to have WinHD not show it at all.

Mark

prl · Post by **prl** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:01

beetle wrote:...
..oh, and I waited expectedly for Underbelly last Wednesday only to have WinHD not show it at all.
...

As far as I know, Underbelly isn't being broadcast on HD at all. Change your timer.

sub3R · Post by **sub3R** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 10:23

prl wrote:As far as I know, Underbelly isn't being broadcast on HD at all. Change your timer.

Thanks for the tip. Up to now it?s been broadcast on HD on the NSW Mid Nth Coast (just checked my original timer) ? but just in case they decide to change it up here I?ll set up an SD timer as well.

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 11:58

prl wrote:As far as I know, Underbelly isn't being broadcast on HD at all. Change your timer.

Not in Canberra or Wagga. I believe it is elsewhere.

greypeter · Post by **greypeter** » Tue Mar 11, 2008 13:06

I know Desperate Housewives was in 5.1 last night in Regional Qld and usuall Lost on Thursday Night is as well. Don't expect too much in the surround speakers though it depends on how it is mixed and by whom.
7 is your best bet for 5.1 sound.
Regional stations only seem to broadcast the AC3 sound on HD and not the MPEG.
Our ch7 is different to Prime here in Qld so may not broadcast the same 5.1 shows.
We need a Regional NSW member that has 5.1 setup to reply.

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 17:13

greypeter wrote: We need a Regional NSW member that has 5.1 setup to reply.

Am I the only regional NSW viewer here?

I still haven't seen anything in 5.1 here yet. So, I still don't know it's them or me.

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 18:02

Hi Beetle,

beetle wrote:Am I the only regional NSW viewer here?

I still haven't seen anything in 5.1 here yet. So, I still don't know it's them or me.

I tried chasing this down for you with a friend in Wagga Wagga but she doesn't have 5.1 facilities so she can't tell what she is receiving.

Regards,
Ian.

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Tue Mar 25, 2008 20:17

IanSav wrote: I tried chasing this down for you with a friend in Wagga Wagga but she doesn't have 5.1 facilities so she can't tell what she is receiving.

Thanks! I appreciate your effort.

Mark

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Sun Apr 20, 2008 18:43

Well, it's not me. WinHD were transmitting DD5.1 last night. So I will stop being concerned about that.

The new concern is the audio drop-out

Methinks it's Win. When it was happening, the receiver kept flicking from 5.1 to Stereo on the display. Small steps...

Mark

grampus · Post by **grampus** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 08:08

beetle wrote:Well, it's not me. WinHD were transmitting DD5.1 last night. So I will stop being concerned about that.

The new concern is the audio drop-out

Methinks it's Win. When it was happening, the receiver kept flicking from 5.1 to Stereo on the display. Small steps...

Mark

I assume you were watching Harry Potter.
It also happened to me. Recorded the HD channel, and my dropouts occurred probably an average of every 10 - 15 minutes. I have audio to my amp. Coax delivering 5.1.
I checked the sound delivered to my screen (analogue stereo) it also dropped out.
To me it seemed that it was WIN that was at fault.

prl · Post by **prl** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 09:02

Does anyone know whether Sea Patrol is 5.1? We just watched the last bit of Harry Potter (Azkaban) and had similar sound problem to those I'd reported for Sea Patrol.

I'm not using a 5.1 amp; I'm running passthrough (Edit: Not passthrough; 2 ch) on HDMI (if that setting has an effect for HDMI), to the TV (see sig) and it's doing the decoding.

However, I've also had (for the last episode of SP) the same audio breakup when I streamed it from my S1 to my H1 and watched it with composite/analog sound.

The location of the breakup was repeatable when I went back and replayed the recording. Two of the breakup locations were when they were trying to find an interpreter for the Philippina woman, and shortly after the fire alarm was triggered (there were a couple of other breakups, but I didn't note the context).

beetle · Post by **beetle** » Mon Apr 21, 2008 22:23

grampus wrote: I assume you were watching Harry Potter.
It also happened to me. Recorded the HD channel, and my dropouts occurred probably an average of every 10 - 15 minutes. I have audio to my amp. Coax delivering 5.1.
I checked the sound delivered to my screen (analogue stereo) it also dropped out.
To me it seemed that it was WIN that was at fault.

Thanks. Yes, it was Harry Potter. This matches my experience. Agree that Win was the culprit.

Mark

DD5.1 in regional NSW? Curious!

DD5.1 in regional NSW? Curious!

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