I was looking forward to having my HD PVR record such shows as PBS HD Soundstage & playing them back in 5.1 channel surround sound. This works fine playing back movies off MC-HD. The PBS Soundstage web site says their shows are recorded in 5.1.
Is BEV limiting them to stereo?

I've noticed the same underwhelming effect for other PBS HD symphony shows and Austin City Limits.

Spokane is DD5.1 capable now and has been DD5.1 for some of the recent Soundstage programmes. Perhaps the affiliate you get is not capable of DD5.1? Detroit was capable of DD5.1 for a long time, but on Rogers we now only get Spokane.

I'm not sure, but this may have been discussed before. Please put your location in your profile, it'll help us help you.

I thought this thread was for ExpressVu-ites.

I've recorded HD-Soundstage off PBS-HW (824, KCTS Seattle) & PBS-HE (819, WGBH Boston) & neither were 5.1

I've recorded Soundstage (not HD) off 291 PBS-W & it was 5.1

I've recorded Live From Lincoln Center (again not HD) off 284 PBS-E & it too was 5.1

I thought 5.1 was part of the HD spec?

1. I thought this thread was for ExpressVu-ites.

2. I thought 5.1 was part of the HD spec?1. I was providing feedback indicating that some PBS affiliates are capable of DD5.1. I'm sorry you didn't find it useful. ;)

2. No, DD is part of the Digital TV spec. There is no DD5.1 or HD requirement at all, although DD5.1 is available on most HD. See the Digital Home FAQ "What's available in DD5.1".

http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=30

I was looking forward to having my HD PVR record such shows as PBS HD Soundstage & playing them back in 5.1 channel surround sound.

This is news to me. I didn't think any recording device at present will "record" in 5.1. I think you'll find that it will only record in 2 channel and Pro Logic to surround.

HD DVRs record bit for bit. You get DD5.1 sound.

You may be thinking of HDD DVD Recorders, which have that limitation.

...I've recorded HD-Soundstage off PBS-HW (824, KCTS Seattle) & PBS-HE (819, WGBH Boston) & neither were 5.1

I've recorded Soundstage (not HD) off 291 PBS-W & it was 5.1

I've recorded Live From Lincoln Center (again not HD) off 284 PBS-E & it too was 5.1 ...

This BEV expert told me that "whether a show is 5.1 or just stereo is up to the provider, not BEV". He swore they never chop a show with 5.1 audio down to stereo. He said any show with 5.1 will say 5.1 on its guide entry. I can't recall seeing this before. Five minutes after hanging up the phone, the HD Nature show came on, kicked into 5.1 sound, & there was no bloody 5.1 designation on its guide entry.
Man, am I confused!

This BEV expert told me that "whether a show is 5.1 or just stereo is up to the provider, not BEV". He swore they never chop a show with 5.1 audio down to stereo. He said any show with 5.1 will say 5.1 on its guide entry. I can't recall seeing this before. Five minutes after hanging up the phone, the HD Nature show came on, kicked into 5.1 sound, & there was no bloody 5.1 designation on its guide entry.
Man, am I confused!

Yeah, but you're not as confised as the average BEV "expert".

This is the reply I got from my email:

Regarding your question about our HD broadcasts, we pass through what PBS sends. Specifically, we take the Dolby AC-3 bitstream out of the PBS HD satellite receiver and send it to our HD encoder. The encoder is set to accept a pre-encoded bit stream unaltered. If PBS sends 5.1 audio, that is what will be passed to our viewers. If PBS sends a 2.0 audio stream, that is what will be passed to our viewers. It may be that the program got encoded into the video server at PBS as stereo and not 5.1.

we pass through what PBS sends
Not necessarily true. It depends on how the affiliate handles the signals. AFAIK FOX is the only network that truly just passes HD signals. Many other networks and stations must flip switches when the program format changes. Sometimes they get it wrong. I have sometimes seen 5.1 programs broadcast as 2.0 on KCTS Seattle.

that is what will be passed to our viewers.

I have begun watching Soundstage on *C which uses WNED Buffalo in stereo, only to switch over to the OTA signal of the same station and find it in Dolby. So many what if's in the chain.

I thought 5.1 was part of the HD spec?

No DD5.1 is NOT part of the HD spec.

PBS Seattle (KTCS) does not have DD5.1 capability.

I have watched Soundstage in HDTV from Boston and Detroit ... both have DD5.1.

The PBSHD East and West channels used to have different programming about 25% of the time but recently they have both been the same. Both are now on the same transponder and it looks like BEV is carrying Boston on both channels. I don't know why they bother except it makes it look like they have one more HD channel when in fact they do not.

PBS Seattle (KTCS) does not have DD5.1 capability.
I have seen Soundstage in DD 5.1 on KCTS. They sometimes forget to flip the switch and leave the programming in DD 2.0 though. KCTS sometimes reruns older Soundstage programs that were recorded in 2.0.