Freeview IDTV with AC3 Passthru

Forums › Freeview (DVB-T/DVB-S) › Freeview IDTV with AC3 Passthru - Part 2

wlgspotter

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#30716 18-Feb-2009 19:03

Hi everyone:

Firstly, apoligies for bring up this rather "old" topic as discussed here - http://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?ForumId=83&TopicId=29360&page_no=2. The thread has been locked as there has been no activities/responses for more than 30 days, but I'm just curios about some of the comments and remarks.

Sbiddle mentioned that he's tested a Samsung Series 7, but apparently there was no way to select AC3 audio while viewing Freeview|HD (i.e. some of the TV3 broadcasts). Someone mentioned they had a Series 6 and it is the same as well.

Well, I have a Samsung 52" Series 6 (model no LA52A650A1MXRD), bought sometime in November 2008. When I tune into TV3, it defaults to Dolby Digital (AC3), and that seemed to be picked up by my Denon Receiver as well. If I go into the Menu --> Audio Options, I can select "Advanced", which I believe it's AAC, and my receiver again detects that as well (it shows the source as "Stereo"). For the record the set came "as is", i.e. I didn't apply any firmware update, although I'm tempted to try the new v1.12 firmware update just posted on Samsung NZ's website (just for the same of seeing what it does).

So, can anyone tell me am I seeing things or doing anything wrong, cos, as far as I can tell, my Samsung Series 6 do seem to support both AC3 and AAC audio on Freeview broadcasts.

Cheers!

sbiddle

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Biddle Corp

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#196605 18-Feb-2009 21:39

This is apparently exactly how the series 5 sets worked - by default they use AC3 for TV3's broadcasts.

On the series 7 it defaults to AAC and there is no way to swich to AC3. davidcole purchased a 6 series a few days after I got the 7 series for review and was also unable to get it to select AC3. He even sent an email off to Samsung who replied saying there was no way to select between the 2 streams and that they had passed his comments on to their tech support.

So it seems somewhere along the line Samsung have made changes to their software. It's a shame that it seems to be impossible to actually get hold of anybody at Samsung to give some definitive answers on this issue because at present it's something that ruins a fantastic TV.

wlgspotter

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#196609 18-Feb-2009 22:07

Hi Steve:

Well, as far as I know there are 2 models of the Series 6 - the 650D & 680D. Maybe davidcole got the 680D while mine is the 650D.

AFAIK the only difference between the 2 is contract ratio (60,000:1 in the 680, 50,000:1 in the 650), besides the slightly different look.

So, perhaps there is a change in the firmware between the 2 that result in the 680D not being able to select/switch audo on selected Freeview (TV3) broadbast?

And yes I agree that if you are not able to select audio (especially to DD/AC3) on select broadcast then it defintely ruins an otherwise fantastic TV - certainly doesn't do the TV any justice. I wonder if this is the case in the Series 8 & Series 9 as well?

Thanks.

davidcole

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#196634 19-Feb-2009 08:10

nope, mines def. a 650. I just checked. I think JB sell the 680s that's the only place I've seen them.

No further updates from my question to samsung. I asked in Jan.

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wlgspotter

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#196643 19-Feb-2009 08:46

davidcole: nope, mines def. a 650. I just checked. I think JB sell the 680s that's the only place I've seen them.

No further updates from my question to samsung. I asked in Jan.

Hmm.. that's strange then. Mine is a 650 too (from Harvey Norman). The only "diff" now could be mine is 52" whereas yours is 46" right?.. But I can't see how that would make a difference tho.. although maybe size does matter then..!

davidcole

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#196653 19-Feb-2009 09:19

what firmware is yours? Mine was bought just before xmas and seems to have firmware 2008/09/23_001008. Found in the Menu, Setup, Software Upgrade section - listed at the top.

wlgspotter

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#196656 19-Feb-2009 09:30

I'll check tonight when I get home, but I have a feeling it's the same as yours.

Cheers!

wlgspotter

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#196756 19-Feb-2009 19:02

David:

I've just check my TV and yes there is a difference in my firmware! My firmware is 2008/09/11_001007, slightly older than yours. It seems that the newer firmware might have removed this capability! As mentioned I bought my set in Nov 2008.

So, I guess I won't be upgrading to the latest firmware anytime soon!

Cheers!

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davidcole

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#196759 19-Feb-2009 19:07

hmmm, interesting it used to default to ac3, and yet now it doesn't.

Do you have an optical or some such cable out of the tv into an amp to get the 5.1 decoded?

wlgspotter

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#196760 19-Feb-2009 19:21

davidcole:Do you have an optical or some such cable out of the tv into an amp to get the 5.1 decoded?

Yep I have an optiical cable connected directly from my TV to my AMP.

As mentioned in my post, the default (for selected TV3 broabcast) is AC3, which is also detected as AC3 in my amp. I also have the option to switch it to AAC, which my amp will detect as stereo.

So, in all seemed to look good to me.

old3eyes

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#196850 20-Feb-2009 08:28

sbiddle:
So it seems somewhere along the line Samsung have made changes to their software. It's a shame that it seems to be impossible to actually get hold of anybody at Samsung to give some definitive answers on this issue because at present it's something that ruins a fantastic TV.

That was the exact reason I ended up buying a Sony as I couldn't get any one from Samsung to return a call or answer a technical question.. Panasonic and Sony did..

Regards,

Old3eyes