HDMI question

RBFC

WBF Founding Member
Apr 20, 2010
5,158
46
1,225
Albuquerque, NM
www.fightingconcepts.com
When hooking up the new "Genie" DirecTV HD-DVR system to my processor, I have noticed a difference in performance between the use of HDMI-A (auto-signal detection) and HDMI-S (S/PDIF) when these are chosen as the audio setup options in the processor for the incoming signal. Since I know virtually nothing about how these two protocols operate, it's time to do some learning.

1. With DirecTV, the HDMI-S captures the audio signal much faster and more reliably. With HDMI-A, I often lose the signal when changing channels, etc., resulting in no sound.

2. I had noticed that some stations were broadcasting in Dolby DDPlus, but no longer see this. Can HDMI-S carry DDPlus, or is it bandwidth-limited to the standard Dolby signals? It does pass Dolby EX.

So, in getting this hooked up optimally, I want to know if using HDMI-S loses any audio potential. As HDMI-S is the signal that doesn't have drop-outs, that's an advantage.

Lee
 

DonH50

Member Sponsor & WBF Technical Expert
Jun 22, 2010
3,947
306
1,670
Monument, CO
S/PDIF does not have the bandwidth for advanced multi-channel encoding formats. Unfortunately, HDMI negotiation is a thorn in many a system's paw; many, many threads on various fora discuss this problem and there do not seem to be qa lot of good solutions ("buy another AVR", "use another cable company", etc.)
 

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