Streaming and Dolby Digital

[DallasXanadu]

Surely this has been addressed somewhere, but I'm curious if there's a list of TVs that pass DD through from external sources such as Amazon Fire Sticks and Blu-Ray players. I have a Samsung PN60E7000 and the only time I get streaming content in surround is while using the native apps built into the Smart Hub. These baked-in apps are awful (the Amazon app won't make it halfway through any program without crashing completely). Needless to say, I don't use them, but the best I can do with any external device seems to be simulated surround modes or 5-channel stereo. The TV is only 3 years old, but I would upgrade (and get 4k in the process) if I could find a good television that can pass through Dolby Digital.

[Mr Peabody]

Welcome to AR (Audio Review). I'm not aware of any list of TV's with that feature.

Are you able to go from Blu-ray to your receiver, then out of receiver's video output to TV? With this set up it wouldn't matter if the TV could pass DD. Also, some of the current receivers have 2-way communication via HDMI so it will feed DD back to the receiver from the TV using the HDMI from receiver to TV connection.

You might also want to check the Samsung owner manual to see if you have to set the digital output to multichannel.

[DallasXanadu]

Denon 3805. Pre-HDMI. Will check the Samsung audio settings.

[DallasXanadu]

A Bing search, rather than Google (amazing how different they can be), has led me to this thread, which seems to indicate I'm not alone in my frustration. Oh well.
Dolby 5.1 pass through from HDMI input to Optical Output - Forums - CNET

[harley .guy07]

I was not aware that they do not on TV's I have never hooked up my system in this way so I would not know. This sounds like a problem that could be quite the pain in the a:$ for users of these setups and it really doesn't make sense since it should not be hard to output DD through the digital output from the HDMI.

[Mr Peabody]

Well, for Blu-ray you should still be alright with running an optical or coaxial digital audio connection to the Denon, if available on your Blu-ray player. The video would be better direct to TV in the latter hook up. The optical or coaxial digital won't do Dolby Tru-HD or DTS-MA, but it would still give you a slightly superior multichannel signal from that which comes from DVD. I'm not that familiar with streaming sticks so I don't know if they have any other outputs.

[recoveryone]

I think Peabody got it, but to put it in laymans terms I think it would sound a bit clearer.

If the source has some sort of DD/DTS signal and is inputed via HDMI you should get PCM output (which can carry 5.1 signal) via the optical output of the TV back into an AVR. As Peabody said you will only get DD, not the newer sound formats (Dolby Tru-HD or DTS-MA)