I'm having an odd issue with an HTPC that I can't figure out - a problem with bitstreaming Dolby Digital out of a TV tuner card over HDMI.
Associated equipment:
XFX Radeon 6670 video card (using HDMI output and latest production AMD Catalyst drivers)
Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 with WMC
Denon AVR2112CI
PCTV Systems 800i PCI ATSC tuner card. Latest available drivers for Windows 7 with Media Center (June 2009) installed.
The display is a Mitsubishi widescreen DLP (73737) with 3DA-1 adapter box.
The issue:
If I configure Windows for 2.0 speakers, the receiver is able to switch to Dolby Digital and bitstream the audio from the ATSC broadcast. However, if I configure Windows for 5.1 or 7.1, the receiver locks into a multi-channel PCM mode and won't switch over to Dolby Digital. The HDMI handshake then fails and the video gets cut off with an error message.
I have another HTPC, similar configuration (same HDMI video card and PCI tuner card) connected to an Integra receiver, and it does not have this issue. I was able to configure Windows for 7.1 and get Dolby Digital bitstreaming in Media Center.
The Denon got a firmware update about 18 months ago when I installed it, but I haven't checked for newer firmware since.
I also haven't tried replacing with a newer HDMI cable (could this be an issue?).
Also, any software-related settings I should be checking? I've gone through Windows 7 and Media Center thoroughly. I also have Shark007 codecs installed (both 32- and 64-bit, latest version), but didn't see any settings in there that would disable bitstreaming (AC3Filter is off). I also have this issue whether or not Shark007 is installed.
HDTV DD bitstreaming trouble
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piano_71
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Shark007
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Since you already have my software installed, go to the 64bit SWAP TAB and choose to disable the Microsoft Audio decoder.
This will handoff the audio decoding to LAV and most likely you have already set that to bitstream on the Audio TAB.
I'm not sure if this works with copy protected channels but do know it works with copy freely channels.
This will handoff the audio decoding to LAV and most likely you have already set that to bitstream on the Audio TAB.
I'm not sure if this works with copy protected channels but do know it works with copy freely channels.
Retain your sanity, use Shark007 Codecs
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richard1980
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piano_71
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Thanks for the replies. With the information in richard1980's link, I was able to get bitstreaming working.
The fix in my case wasn't to disable the Microsoft audio decoder in the Shark007 codec configuration, but to configure Media Center to 2.0 and Windows to 7.1. Then TV sound bitstreaming worked perfectly and no more "video error" message.
The only ill effect I see is - what will Media Center do if confronted with a multichannel audio file? Will it downmix to 2.0?
I'm getting over-the-air HDTV, so issues surrounding copy-protected channels shouldn't come into play.
The fix in my case wasn't to disable the Microsoft audio decoder in the Shark007 codec configuration, but to configure Media Center to 2.0 and Windows to 7.1. Then TV sound bitstreaming worked perfectly and no more "video error" message.
The only ill effect I see is - what will Media Center do if confronted with a multichannel audio file? Will it downmix to 2.0?
I'm getting over-the-air HDTV, so issues surrounding copy-protected channels shouldn't come into play.
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richard1980
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No. When you bitstream, WMC passes the audio stream untouched, and when you aren't bitstreaming, you output audio according to the Windows speaker configuration you have selected (in your case, 7.1).piano_71 wrote:what will Media Center do if confronted with a multichannel audio file? Will it downmix to 2.0?