adventures in surround sound from streaming media

[ssully]

I spent some hours yesterday preparing and testing a one-time viewing/listening setup for a "Game of Thrones' finale party. As my cable TV package includes HBO, my initial idea was to use HBO GO (included with my HBO subscription), on a Windows 10 laptop (meaning, via a web browser -- Chrome in this case, pointed at https://play.hbogo.com ) , connected to the internet by in-house WiFi, physically connected to av system by laptop HDMI out --->AVR HDMI in ---> AVR HDMI out--> PROJECTOR. I routinely use my laptop to output 5.1 audio of various formats to this AVR, via HDMI + foobar, so the system is certainly capable of it.

On the laptop , once the HDMI cable is connected, the laptop audio 'playback' device is seen as the AVR (versus the built in laptop speakers). So that seemed all good and normal.

Result:
The video part worked quite well (thanks to a strong WiFI connection from my router)

But I could not, for, love or money, get 5.1 sound from HBO GO (the show is broadcast in Dolby 5.1). Only two-channel.

Digging into this, and after much trial and error, I learned a few things --

--that Google Chrome does not seem to allow true surround audio output, no matter what one's PC audio settings are. There are various 'fixes' for this touted on the internet -- none work, afaict, though some might allow 'fake'/'all speakers active/5ch stereo' surround output.
--that Microsoft Edge (MS's replacement for Internet Explorer) *could* allow surround unders special circumstances (there is a custom-provided Dolby demo online that *only* works with the MS Edge browser), but would not for HBO GO
--that Youtube.com 'surround' demos, aren't (Youtube via web browser is 2-channel only).
--that even if a browser could output 5.1 (either as bitstream or PCM), HBO GO via web browser won't. It is downmixed to 2.0 ( interestingly and maddeningly the 'input' indicator on my AVR says there are 4 'silent' PCM channels of input!).

It turns out that by design HBO GO only makes 5.1 output available when you use certain 'devices' , and a PC running a plain old web browser ain't one of them:

https://help.hbogo.com/hc/en-us/articles/218332967-Does-HBO-GO-support-Dolby-Digital-surround-sound-

Does HBO GO support Dolby Digital surround sound?
You can watch HBO GO with Dolby Digital Plus audio on the following devices:

Amazon Fire TV
Android TV
Apple TV
Google Chromecast Ultra
Roku (with Roku software version 7.0 or later)
Samsung TV (models that support Dolby Digital Plus)
TiVo
Xbox One

I also experimented with Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video -- in both cases, again using them via a web browser -- same deal . No surround.
Tried wired connection instead of wfi -- no surround.
BUT, using the Netflix *app* (for PC) -- success.
( There is no corresponding Amazon PIV app for PCs. I could have sworn I previously got 5.1 with just a browser on the Amazon PIV website...but maybe I was dreaming.)

Has anyone else wrestled with this and have experiences to report?


(As for Game of Thrones next Sunday, I decided to just run a long HDMI cable from my cable set-top box to the AVR. Done!)

 

[DuncanS]

I believe Sky Go is the same in the UK as HBO Go, no surround, but I rarely watch anything via Go on my laptop. I do the same and have my Sky Box connected via HDMI to the amp, but I still haven't started watching the latest Game Of Thrones series stored on the boxes HDD! Not sure what I can find to replace GoT but we will get Terry Pratchett's "Good Omens" at the end of the year on the BBC - earlier via Netflix, however I already have Sky satellite subscription so I'm not adding anymore

 

[ssully]

If you watch the HBO teasers that show before GoT lately, there is a glimpse of a a new HBO series for 'His Dark Materials'. That has possibilities......

 

[skherbeck]

Thanks for the research... I was wondering why I could only get stereo when watching HBONow from my laptop to my AVR via HDMI! (Also GOT, lol)

 

[steelydave]

Netflix similarly restricts Dolby Digital 5.1+ to a bunch of predetermined devices. I installed the Netflix 1080p Chrome plugin and now I can stream DD5.1 from Chrome browser on my Linux Mint Cinnamon Intel NUC box to my Denon AVR flawlessly.

 

[The56Kid]

Netflix similarly restricts Dolby Digital 5.1+ to a bunch of predetermined devices. I installed the Netflix 1080p Chrome plugin and now I can stream DD5.1 from Chrome browser on my Linux Mint Cinnamon Intel NUC box to my Denon AVR flawlessly.

My Netflix -> Yamaha AVR connection yields about 25% 5.1 playback.

 

[ssully]

I didn't realize there was a Netflix hi-rez plugin for Chrome! Very cool.

As I mentioned, I couldn't get Netflix streaming purely from a Chrome browser (i.e , logged in to https://www.netflix.com/browse) to yield 5.1 in my test. But downloading the Netflix *app* for Windows from the Microsoft Store (https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/p/netflix/) and streaming from that, instead of from a web browser, allowed the same movie (Avengers: Infinity War) to play in Dolby 5.1. I didn't test it with any other film/show.

Also, I noted that the movie information screen (including the 'Details' tab) on the browser didn't say anything about available audio formats (or video format, for that matter). On the Netflix app, the analogous movie overview/info screen shows '5.1' and 'HD' .

 

[privateuniverse]

There were some nice surround moments in last night's episode of Game of Thrones. Of course there was the usual dragon flying overhead stuff (which is always awesome.) But there was also a real sweet moment in the music where the violin section was in the front speakers and a solo cello was in the rear.

I've really enjoyed the music on this show. I will probably go see the symphonic tour when it comes to town this summer.

 

[steelydave]

The Netflix 5.1 plugin is unofficial of course, but it does the job using a really simple hack. Basically netflix restricts DD+5.1 to certain approved clients (ie not getting the 5.1 option isn't a technological limitation, it's a whitelisting issue) including the Android/iOS app, and a few browsers including (I think) some of the Windows 10 ones. So when you enable the Netflix 5.1 plugin, it just tells Netflix that you have one of those "approved" clients, and voila, you get 5.1. Ever since I've started using it, 100% of my Netflix content has had a 5.1 option.

 

[HomerJAU]

My two Sony TVs from 2018 play Netflix in 5.1 but I doubt it’s lossless even for Atmos Audio. I saw a rip of a Netflix movie with Atmos Audio at only 760kbps. Atmos Audio on BD is usually over 5000kbps and sometimes over 7000kbps.

 

[DuncanS]

My two Sony TVs from 2018 play Netflix in 5.1 but I doubt it’s lossless even for Atmos Audio. I saw a rip of a Netflix movie with Atmos Audio at only 760kbps. Atmos Audio on BD is usually over 5000kbps and sometimes over 7000kbps.

I can't get my Sony OLED's HDMI ARC link to work with my Pioneer AVR

 

[ssully]

I can't get my Sony OLED's HDMI ARC link to work with my Pioneer AVR

FWIW. in my Denon AVR, the ARC HDMI port had to be activated for ARC use specifically, in user settings for that port (the ARC setting was 'off' by default). Then it worked with my Vizio smart TV. Otherwise it behaved like just a 'plain' HDMI port.

(this was unrelated to my 5.1 streaming issues ;> )

 

[HomerJAU]

can't get my Sony OLED's HDMI ARC link to work with my Pioneer AVR

One of my Denon AVRs needed a firmware update to add HDMI ARC. This was the X7200WA about 4 or so years old I think. The new one (X3400H - last year's model) was ok.

 

[HomerJAU]

The Sony TVs need to have ARC activated too (in case you didn't know)