TVNZ, Hobson St and HD playout status

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#449049 16-Mar-2011 21:53

grolschie: I don't think they could ditch the AAC audio. Our Samsung LCD has a FV tuner and I was told that it cannot get the AC3 audio from TV3. There possibly could be other certified tuners that cannot get AC3 audio.

If it is freeview|HD certified then is has to support DD 5.1 and AAC.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

richms

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#449060 16-Mar-2011 22:46

I think the samsung not doing AC3 is a user interface issue with not supporting switching to it, not an issue with it not decoding it.

Richard rich.ms

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#449095 17-Mar-2011 07:15

If it is freeview|HD certified then is has to support DD 5.1 and AAC.

In that case, why do TV3 broadcast the HE-AAC stream? Surely AC3 decoders can downmix to 2.0.

cyril7

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#449096 17-Mar-2011 07:25

A certified FreeView|HD TV does not contain a DD decoder, just as most DVD players dont, they simply have the means to extract the DD stream and send it to an external AVR or decoder via spdif.

Some early Sammys had issues with doing this transport task, all other TVs including subsequent Samsung models deal with it correctly.

Cyril

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#449101 17-Mar-2011 07:41

cyril7: A certified FreeView|HD TV does not contain a DD decoder, just as most DVD players dont, they simply have the means to extract the DD stream and send it to an external AVR or decoder via spdif...

Huh? I haven't seen any DVD player than cannot decode DD. Otherwise the 2.0 analog outputs would have no audio on most discs. DVD players must all support PCM and AC3.

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#449104 17-Mar-2011 07:46

Sorry, yes you are quite correct, and some TVs also decode the DD, I think panasonics, but most simply pass it out and only decode the AAC.

Cyril

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#449106 17-Mar-2011 07:50

Gotcha. Thanks. I am pretty (mostly) sure that our Samsung used to play/see the AC3 but now cannot switch from HE-AAC. There is an option to switch between audio, but it only sees HE-AAC.

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openmedia

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#449136 17-Mar-2011 09:29

I've got a Samsung and I've played with several other models. I've set TV3 to default to the DD 5.1 audio and it has no issues playing it.

Most of these TVs also have OZ models and over there a lot of the channels are only Dolby Digital. I'd check the options for what is selected as the default audio stream.

Generally known online as OpenMedia, now working for Red Hat APAC as a Technology Evangelist and Portfolio Architect. Still playing with MythTV and digital media on the side.

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#449140 17-Mar-2011 09:50

Tried that. I remember phoning Samsung and it was no go. It was a while ago now. Maybe there was a slight change at TV3 and the firmware can longer switch between the two? Or maybe a reception issue even? I am not sure.

ilovemusic

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#449216 17-Mar-2011 13:07

What model Samsung do you have ?

I have a 5-series that allows audio format selection.

Menu > Speaker setup > Audio Format > Dolby Digital 2.0 or HE-AAC 2.0

ilovemusic

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#449219 17-Mar-2011 13:15

sbiddle:
ilovemusic:
Oh, and if TVNZ do go Dolby Digital in the far flung future, FFS set the channel flag correctly so that 2 ch material can be decoded properly without the forced 5.1 flag that TV3 uses.

What TV3 have done with fulltime 5.1 broadcasts is considered best practice around the world now, much like fulltime 16:9 broadcasts rather than adaptive aspect ratios for 16:9 and legacy 4;3 content.

I don't see what issue there is with it, it means that users don't end up with a audio problems running that result from running 5.1 decoding with 2 channel audio. All 2 channel audio is encoded correctly using LF + FR speakers, it's just encoded within a 5.1 wrapper.

It means that surround processors are forced into 5.1 mode regardless or whether 5.1 channels are actually employed or not.

If it properly showed stereo material as DD2.0 then the audio could be decoded by Dolby Pro-Logic IIx or similar codecs that simulate 5.1 or 7.1 audio from a 2.0 audio stream.

grolschie

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#449320 17-Mar-2011 18:13

ilovemusic: What model Samsung do you have ?

Thanks. It's a little LA22B450C4M.

grolschie

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#449321 17-Mar-2011 18:14

ilovemusic:
If it properly showed stereo material as DD2.0 then the audio could be decoded by Dolby Pro-Logic IIx or similar codecs that simulate 5.1 or 7.1 audio from a 2.0 audio stream.

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#449377 17-Mar-2011 21:27

grolschie: Tried that. I remember phoning Samsung and it was no go. It was a while ago now. Maybe there was a slight change at TV3 and the firmware can longer switch between the two? Or maybe a reception issue even? I am not sure.

Dealing with Samsung over the issue is a lost cause. Both Samsung and Radiolia simply don't care don't care about the issue.

I had two Samsung TV's that I reviewed here on GZ a couple of years ago. I was curious why some firmware versions allowed switching between AC3 and AAC and some later firmware releases for the identical TV only allowed viewing of AAC. Despite contact through official channels and repeated contact I never heard a single thing back.

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#449378 17-Mar-2011 21:33

ilovemusic:
sbiddle:
ilovemusic:
Oh, and if TVNZ do go Dolby Digital in the far flung future, FFS set the channel flag correctly so that 2 ch material can be decoded properly without the forced 5.1 flag that TV3 uses.

What TV3 have done with fulltime 5.1 broadcasts is considered best practice around the world now, much like fulltime 16:9 broadcasts rather than adaptive aspect ratios for 16:9 and legacy 4;3 content.

I don't see what issue there is with it, it means that users don't end up with a audio problems running that result from running 5.1 decoding with 2 channel audio. All 2 channel audio is encoded correctly using LF + FR speakers, it's just encoded within a 5.1 wrapper.

It means that surround processors are forced into 5.1 mode regardless or whether 5.1 channels are actually employed or not.

If it properly showed stereo material as DD2.0 then the audio could be decoded by Dolby Pro-Logic IIx or similar codecs that simulate 5.1 or 7.1 audio from a 2.0 audio stream.

What you're wanting however goes against best practice around the world however, and for that reason it will never change. If the content is in 5.1 it's broadcast in 5.1, if it's in 2ch stereo it's broadcast as a 2ch stereo feed. I'm personally not one for "simulated" audio.

Switching between 2ch and 5.1 AC3 feeds can be very problematic on many devices, and many people simply end up listening to stuff in the wrong mode. I'm all for making things simple, and this is exactly why the broadcast industry has gone this way.

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