5.1 over AMD HDMI not working for games but does for movies HELP

[djdynamite123]

Hi, I have a LG BH7420P 3D blueray home theatre system, and I am getting really disappointed as I can't get 5.1 from my PC when playing games. I have a PC with a ATI HD5770 and I have a HDMI 1.4 cable running to the receivers input 1 on the BH7420P and then obviously a HDMI 1.4 cable to my LG LM640T-3d-tv. I have AMD HDMI Audio output selected in my device list, my only options for speaker setup is Stereo, there is no quadraphonic or 5.1 Surround, when I look on properties it only shows max numbers of channels - 2, the bit rate are 32 / 44.1 / 48 Khz, the encoded formats supported are only dolby digital.

Movies already encoded as AC3/DTS are played fine in 5.1 when using VLC. Although AAC 5.1 content plays as 2.0PCM unless I use the TVs SMART function then it goes to 5.1.

But my point is I can only seem to get 2.0PCM for all PC games that I own. Iv'e tried battlefield series, COD, MOH, Need for speeds, Dirt series, GRID, Fifa etc and all with the same result. Is this something to do with my receiver not supporting dolby digital live? Iv'e obviously changed audio settings in each game to 5.1 etc.

Why you may ask am I bothering? well sometimes it's good to just sit in the living room playing a console type game like your fifas, racing games etc than sat bored and uncomfortable in a lonely area where your PC is haha.

The blueray system can decode:
LPCM
Dolby Digital
Dolby Digital Plus
Dolby TrueHD
DTS
DTS-HD High Resolution Audio
DTS-HD Master Audio
MPEG 1/2 L2
MP3
MP3 ID3 Tag
WMA
AAC
FLAC

[Dent1]

Originally Posted by djdynamite123

But my point is I can only seem to get 2.0PCM for all PC games that I own. Iv'e tried battlefield series, COD, MOH, Need for speeds, Dirt series, GRID, Fifa etc and all with the same result. Is this something to do with my receiver not supporting dolby digital live? Iv'e obviously changed audio settings in each game to 5.1 etc.

No it's to do with not having a soundcard that supports Dolby Digital Live or DTS Connect. Games are not encoded in Dolby Digital, they are typically PCM 2.0/5.0 so you need so a soundcard to encode it to DD or DTS.

Failing that you can use the Dolby Digital Prologic feature on your receiver.

[newtekie1]

AFAIK, the sound card built into the HD5770 can only handle 2.0PCM. So since games are using 5.1PCM, it won't work over the HDMI connector on the HD5770. To use 5.1 it has to be a AC3/DTS/DD encoded stream, which games don't output.

[djdynamite123]

Ahh I see, why don't console games have this problem? is it because the likes of Sony, Microsoft pay patents?

[Dent1]

Originally Posted by djdynamite123

Ahh I see, why don't console games have this problem? is it because the likes of Sony, Microsoft pay patents?

They do have the same problem, console games are PCM 5.0 too.

The audio card on the Xbox has a realtime encoding hardware similar to Dolby Digital Live. It essentially converts the 5 PCM audio channels into Dolby Digital as you play. If you want this luxury on your PC there are soundcards available.

[djdynamite123]

Originally Posted by Dent1

They do have the same problem, console games are PCM 5.0 too.

The audio card on the Xbox has a realtime encoding hardware similar to Dolby Digital Live. It essentially converts the 5 PCM audio channels into Dolby Digital Live as you play. If you want this luxury on your PC there are soundcards available.

Ahh I see, I thought they must have the equivalent. I'd imagine to get multichannel from games via a digital source would require either a soundcard like the Xonar HDAV1.3 or a motherboard with this kind of features built in?

If I had that soundcard with my current system would I put the HDMI from the soundcard to my blueray system or keep it from the GPU?

[Dent1]

Originally Posted by djdynamite123

Ahh I see, I thought they must have the equivalent. I'd imagine to get multichannel from games via a digital source would require either a soundcard like the Xonar HDAV1.3 or a motherboard with this kind of features built in?

Yes that is correct.

Originally Posted by djdynamite123

If I had that soundcard with my current system would I put the HDMI from the soundcard to my blueray system or keep it from the GPU?

You'd connect the soundcard to your receiver.

The Xonar HDAV1.3 is expensive. There are cheaper soundcards that support Dolby Digital Live and will output it through fibre optical or coaxial. You can configure windows to use it as your default soundcard for games and use the GPU's integrated audio for movie player as you're movies are already in Dolby Digital. This would save you money.

[AsRock]

But if the system is setup though audio devices for 5.1 you will get a multichannel ( what ONKYO call it ) and that will be better than just 2.1 or 2 speakers as long as they game support 5.1 like Total War games and D3.

[djdynamite123]

I would need HDMI output only. Iv'e already got a 15metre optical cable running through to the living room but id prefer it to just run via HDMI. What is a good cheap option for this then?

[Dent1]

Originally Posted by djdynamite123

I would need HDMI output only. Iv'e already got a 15metre optical cable running through to the living room but id prefer it to just run via HDMI. What is a good cheap option for this then?

There is a full range of cheap soundcard that will support fibre and coaxial and can be found easily and cheaply. The practical benefits HDMI has is video and audio through the same cable which you're not even utilising, and a few DVD tiles that supports DD True HD and DTS Masters and these two tasks can be done with your GPU anyways.

If you insist on a soundcard that supports Dolby Digital Live and has HDMI. There isnt a cheap option and only a few soundcards avalable. Auzen X-Fi HomeTheater HD and Xonar HDAV1.3. Both are expensive and hard to find.