Hi, most of the movies I play are in MKV format, some with DTS sound and others with Dolby Digital ( as the OSD reports when pressing the "info" bottom), the problem is that the Dolby Digital movies are way better than the DTS regarding the surround, the rear speakers still give low sound, but when at Dolby Digital the sound is astonishing, could you please let me know how to fix this?

Think this is not an issue at all. You can play with other video files and try to see if you can have consistent result for both DD and DTS. Im guessing that it might have something to do with matrix/discrete thing and amplifier support. Aside from that, there are a lot of formats under these two major format, you can check the audio information of the video files and please let us know again.

Thanks For the reply Roger, here are two mediainfos for two movies, the first is with DTS, which sounds almost Stereo with a little Dolby Prologic in rear speakers, while the other is AC3 and the sound is perfect, I'm willing to convert my DTS movies to AC3 if someone confirms that there is an unsolvable problem, since AC3 sounds great despite the unnoticeable bitrate difference.

First: ( The audio is not full surround at all )

General
Complete name : D:\movies\Avatar.2009.EXTENDED.1080p.BluRay.x264.BestHD\Avatar (2009).mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 15.3 GiB
Duration : 2h 58mn
Overall bit rate : 12.3 Mbps
Writing application : x264.exe
Writing library : mkv2rls v1.3 (date: 2010 aug 28)

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 4 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 2h 58mn
Bit rate : 10.8 Mbps
Width : 1 920 pixels
Height : 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 16:9
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.217
Stream size : 13.1 GiB (86%)
Writing library : x264 core 107 r1745 4785e8e
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=4 / deblock=1:0:0 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=umh / subme=7 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.00:0.15 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=16 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=1 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=0 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=3 / b_pyramid=2 / b_adapt=1 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=250 / keyint_min=23 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=10782 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=10 / qpmax=51 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / ip_ratio=1.40 / aq=1:1.00
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : DTS
Format/Info : Digital Theater Systems
Codec ID : A_DTS
Duration : 2h 58mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 1 510 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 24 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 1.88 GiB (12%)
Title : English DTS
Language : English

Text #1
ID : 3
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title : English Forced
Language : English

Text #2
ID : 4
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Title : English
Language : English



Second: ( Audio is full surround )

General
Unique ID : 183921705247422992034472361281469756182 (0x8A5E082E42A8C146B7ABC4AF98EF3316)
Complete name : D:\movies\Mission.Impossible.Ghost.Protocol.2011.720p.BluRay.x264.HDxT\Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol (2011).mkv
Format : Matroska
Format version : Version 2
File size : 6.07 GiB
Duration : 2h 12mn
Overall bit rate : 6 539 Kbps
Movie name : Mission.Impossible.Ghost.Protocol.2011.720p.BluRay.x264-HDxT
Encoded date : UTC 2012-04-06 17:19:27
Writing application : mkvmerge v5.4.0 ('Piper') built on Mar 10 2012 13:34:39
Writing library : libebml v1.2.3 + libmatroska v1.3.0

Video
ID : 1
Format : AVC
Format/Info : Advanced Video Codec
Format profile : High@L4.1
Format settings, CABAC : Yes
Format settings, ReFrames : 11 frames
Codec ID : V_MPEG4/ISO/AVC
Duration : 2h 12mn
Bit rate : 5 900 Kbps
Width : 1 280 pixels
Height : 534 pixels
Display aspect ratio : 2.40:1
Frame rate : 23.976 fps
Color space : YUV
Chroma subsampling : 4:2:0
Bit depth : 8 bits
Scan type : Progressive
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) : 0.360
Stream size : 5.36 GiB (88%)
Title : Mission.Impossible.Ghost.Protocol.2011.720p.BluRay.x264-HDxT
Writing library : x264 core 120 r2120 0c7dab9
Encoding settings : cabac=1 / ref=12 / deblock=1:-3:-3 / analyse=0x3:0x113 / me=esa / subme=11 / psy=1 / psy_rd=1.05:0.05 / mixed_ref=1 / me_range=32 / chroma_me=1 / trellis=2 / 8x8dct=1 / cqm=0 / deadzone=21,11 / fast_pskip=1 / chroma_qp_offset=-3 / threads=12 / sliced_threads=0 / nr=0 / decimate=1 / interlaced=0 / bluray_compat=0 / constrained_intra=0 / bframes=7 / b_pyramid=1 / b_adapt=2 / b_bias=0 / direct=1 / weightb=1 / open_gop=0 / weightp=2 / keyint=240 / keyint_min=24 / scenecut=40 / intra_refresh=0 / rc_lookahead=40 / rc=2pass / mbtree=1 / bitrate=5900 / ratetol=1.0 / qcomp=0.60 / qpmin=0 / qpmax=69 / qpstep=4 / cplxblur=20.0 / qblur=0.5 / vbv_maxrate=50000 / vbv_bufsize=62500 / nal_hrd=none / ip_ratio=1.30 / aq=2:0.80
Language : English

Audio
ID : 2
Format : AC-3
Format/Info : Audio Coding 3
Mode extension : CM (complete main)
Codec ID : A_AC3
Duration : 2h 12mn
Bit rate mode : Constant
Bit rate : 640 Kbps
Channel(s) : 6 channels
Channel positions : Front: L C R, Side: L R, LFE
Sampling rate : 48.0 KHz
Bit depth : 16 bits
Compression mode : Lossy
Stream size : 609 MiB (10%)
Language : English

Text #1
ID : 3
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : English

Text #2
ID : 4
Format : UTF-8
Codec ID : S_TEXT/UTF8
Codec ID/Info : UTF-8 Plain Text
Language : Greek

Hello,

Roger is out of office at this point.
I see nothing wrong in the first file that would make this file not output as DTS 5.1 for you. Could you give me your AVR product name / code or have you confirmed that your AVR supports DTS 5.1 passthrough?

In my personal speaker system, I can set the speaker system to 'force' a AC3 5.1 (Dolby Digital) even if the source (file) is not. Have you checked so your AVR is actually set to 'passthrough' mode, so it only play the source of the signal? Please check this as well.

Lastly, also make sure you have turned the volume up to 100% with the Playon! remote as the default audio output it set to 50%.

Also for your general information, audio codecs and different settings in various files and containers will give different volume and experiences. This also goes with different hardware and speaker systems as well.


Best regards,

Hi,
I'm not sure what you mean by AVR, but if you mean my AC Ryan Device, then it's a ACR-PV73700 Playon!HD2 with latest firmware ( v9.5.3.r7317 )
TV: Philips 46PFL5605/98
Home Theater: Philips HTS3569
HD2 connect with supplied HDMI to TV, and TV connected with the coaxial cable to HomeTheater, and hometheater set to ( MULTI-CHANNEL = DTS, Dolby Digital, and Dolby Pro Logic II. ) tried passthrough and PCM on HD2 and various sound volumes ...same results, rear speakers on DTS aren't giving the expected sounds, and worth mentioning that I tried connecting a PC with HDMI to TV and played same files and the DTS was working great.

Try connecting the player direct to the amp, not throughh tht TV, via optical and test that.

Tried that too GregiBoy, but with coaxial since my Hometheater doesn't have fiber-in, the result was the same, thanks for your suggestion GregiBoy

As these are downloaded file, we are working from an unknown baseline.

I actually have a test for thisthat I use in setting up equipment and that may help you:-

I use 'War of the Worlds" DVD as my test title because I personally feel that the DTS soundtrack is far better than the DD and can really hear the difference.

If you have that title or another title on DVD that you know contains DTS & DD, encode it using Handbrake to MKV with both audio tracks passed through and give it a test.

Hope we can track this down as it works perfectly here for me.

Hi,

AVR = Audio Video Receiver = Home Theater System etc.

I checked your AVR's manual and you should support DTS 5.1. The file you play also seems correct from my personal experience with .mkv files and DTS audio. Also we have basically no reports with normal DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1. This works just work in general.

If you play a DTS file, does it indicate DTS 5.1 on your AVR's LED?

You can try to safe-flash the firmware on your Playon! to the latest official again, and also check so you have the latest firmware for your AVR. You seem to have the latest version here: http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/cpin ... AA&slg=AEN

Best regards,

GregiBoy I will try that, I believe I have some non HD DVDs with DTS somewhere, will ISO them to my HD2 and let you know.
Mikael I'm already using the latest official firmware on all my devices including my AVR and unfortunately my AVR doesn't show the characteristic of sound source anywhere, I only have three choices to chose from ( Party/Multichannel/Stereo )
PARTY: "enhance the stereo channel output by duplicating the sound output to the centre and rear speakers."
Multi-channel surround output: " DTS (Digital Theatre Systems), Dolby Digital, and Dolby Pro Logic II. "
of course when choosing PARTY for DTS in MKVs the rear speakers will be loud and clear, but they are probably identical as the front speakers then, and thats not what I'm looking for.
All the problem is in the Multichannel where the rear speakers ain't right when playing DTS, while they are perfect on DD.
Thank you folks for your support, I really appreciate it.