Setup: Latest Infuse (Pro) on Apple TV 4K --HDMI-> Samsung UE65KS8000 TV --HDMI-ARC-> Onkyo TX-SR608 Amp
Samsung TV
- HDMI Audio Format (input): Bitstream (options are PCM/Bitstream)
- Audio Format (output - ARC/SPDIF): Dolby Digital (options are PCM/Dolby Digital/DTS/DTS Neo 2:5
Harry Potter #4 .mkv on UNC share with audio #1 track DTS-HD Master Audio.
During playback I get (decent?) 5.1 audio and the Amp displays the Dolby red icon.
I understand (correct me if I’m wrong):
- Apple TV 4K can’t bitstream DTS-HD MA
- ARC can’t bitstream DTS-HD MA nor 5.1 PCM (only Dolby Digital and 2.0 stereo PCM?)
- The red icon means the Amp is receiving a Dolby Digital bitstream through the HDMI ARC
My questions are:
- Is this a ‘bad’ setup given the limitations of the hardware products?
- What is the Infuse/Apple TV doing with the DTS-HD MA audio track and outputting to the TV? Decoding to PCM?
- How/why is the TV encoding (?) this to Dolby Digital? Is PCM -> Dolby Digital a thing?
- There’s a ‘DTS’ option in the Audio Output menu that’s greyed-out, surely this would be the ‘right’ output for a DTS-HD MA stream?
- I’m considering upgrading my Amp and putting that in direct (removing ARC - currently not an option as my Amp doesn’t support 4K). Would this give me (significantly) better audio than today?
- What’s “best case” setup for a DTS-HD MA mkv track on ATV unless/until Apple introduce bitstream output? Infuse decode to LPCM 5.1 over HDMI to directly connected Amp for lossless audio?
Thanks in advance.