Hello, please forgive me if this has been addressed before.
I just got the Motorola DVR box from Comcast with the 5.1 hookups in the back. I am very pleased with the sound quality on channels that have 5.1 audio (most of the movie channels, for instance), however on "normal" tv broadcast, it seems to me that Comcast is just sending the stereo audio to the left and right digital channels, leaving the rest of the speakers silent.
This is sorta a problem for me since my receiver switches to Digital mode when it detects the digital signal, but for these 2 channel audio programs, I'd like to have it sent through the pro logic decoder. However there's no way for me to do this except to run a rca connection from the cable box to another receiver input, and switch inputs when I'm watching a non-5.1 source.
I guess my question is, is it time to upgrade to a newer receiver that will detect only 2 channels in a 5.1 digital signal and do pro-logic processing on them (do receivers even do this??), or is this a problem on Comcast's end?
Any help would be appreciated.
-Dan
William Thomas
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Dan, I don't think such a device exists.
The difference between dolby pro logic and dolby digital is the signal type.
Dolby Pro Logic is strictly an analog signal. It was most prevalent on VCR tapes. Pro Logic takes the analog signal and then artificially processes it to exist on your five channels
Dolby Digital signals are simply 1's and 0's. Thus the decoder fleshes out the signals and sends them to the speakers after going through the DAC (digital to analog converter)
On my very cheap system, I manually choose which inputs I wish to use via the remote that came with the system.
On my system, I have a digital cable running from my cable box directly into the HT system. I also run standard RCA cables through the VCR, and have hooked the VCR into the RCA analog inputs on the HT.
Thus, I have two possible audio paths for incoming cable broadcasts. If the cable broadcast is true 5.1, I use the digital input and listen to true native 5.1 audio.
If I am simply getting 2 channel stereo, I switch the inputs from the digital to the VCR. This analog signal then is routed through the Dolby Pro Logic portion and provides adequate surround sound on non-5.1 signals.
Check with your receiver, most receivers I know allow you to manually switch the input via the remote. If this is the case, simply run two audio lines from your cable box, one digital, one analog. On digital broadcasts, choose the digital input on your HT system. On non 5.1 broadcasts, simply choose the analog input and then allow the pro logic processor to process the signal.
It's doing it's job. If you want 5 channels of sound on a stereo channel, you'll have to set your receiver to 5 channel stereo or pro logic mode if you want sound out of 5 speakers.
Scotty2Hotty
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Yeah--the regular channels will be in two channels, left and right.
How is the DVR box? What is the lease/subscription fee? Where do you live... I am in Chicago and I can't get it yet.
