Freeview Sound format (HE-ACC)

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sangland

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#62123 30-May-2010 17:38

I have a Samgung UA40B6000 with built in freeview supplying all digital channels via UHF. This model lacks analogue outputs. I have a AC1606 optical to RCA converter from the TV to an amp. I get analogue sound playing for the analogue channels and also Blu-ray DVD (HDMI to TV and optical sound out through the converter). The DTV signals from freeview are reported as being HE-ACC format. But I get no sound output. Does anyone now what the issue is here ?

sbiddle

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#336331 30-May-2010 18:00

Samsung TV's are dodgy when it comes to SPDIF output, and there is a chance you won't get audio at all.

My understanding is you will only get SPDIF output with content that's in AC3. Only TV3 broadcasts in AC3 and then problem then is that the vast majority don't let you switch between AAC and AC3 like every other TV on the market. Some models do but others don't.

sangland

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#336334 30-May-2010 18:12

Thanks for the quick reply. On the bluray player (also samgung) and an old dvd player with optical output I had digital output options had to set them to SPDIF/PCM, rather than SPDIF/Raw. The TV doesn't have any output options that I can find. If I give in an go for a my sky hdi decoder , do you think ill I have the same issue, or is sky digital AC3?

dauckland

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#336346 30-May-2010 19:20

Hi there

I have LA40B650 and have no problems.
I have it permanently attached to my AV system with SPDIF and it will switch properly when needed from PCM to AC3.
I have internal speakers disabled permanently.I noticed that if you don't disable internal speakers then sometimes it doesn't switch to AC3 if the transmission isn't full 5.1
Now TV3 is always in AC3.
However this is all direct to AV with no conversion, so can't comment on that.

D

richms

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#336426 31-May-2010 01:51

Can the ac1606 decode AC3? If not then it should mute since otherwise it would be outputting a loud whitenoise from the bitstream.

Richard rich.ms

sangland

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Wannabe Geek

#336645 31-May-2010 15:54

Very good question. The sound is mute. The answer from the manufacture is "The (AC1603) decoder only handles LPCM audio. It does not decode or pass AC3 audio format.". Hopefully this means that the decoder is the problem and that the TV is sending freeview sound out the external speakers. So I'm looking for a convert to decode or passthrough HE-ACC or AC3 signals.

richms

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#336675 31-May-2010 16:31

decode AC3 is a home theater reciver. I doubt it is bitstreaming the AAC audio out spdif - I dont even think there is a standard for it.

Borrow an av reciever with optical in and see what comes out of that.

Failing that, is there a headphone socket on the TV you can use? level will vary with the tv's volume but you can just set it right and then use a univeral remote to control your stereo.

Richard rich.ms

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sangland

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#336687 31-May-2010 16:51

No headphone jack either. Only optical output on this TV (useless isn't it). As a last resort I will by an av receiver but hoping to avoid that expense for now. If I do that it will have HDMI inputs and one HDMI ouput to the TV, so my issues will go away. That said, I understand that freeview sound via the TV is better than via SKY (which I also don't have yet. ), so I may still want to use the optical out on the TV. Still that will be optical to optical. What are the chances I but an av receiver and it still doesn't work ?