42HDT51 Optical Audio Out

[JTEdmonton]

Hi, I'm trying to use the optical audio out on my 42HDT51 plasma, but it's only sending out 2 channel sound while the input is 5.1 sound via HDMI. I cannot access the Audio settings for the Optical out, the menu does not appear as described in the manual. Anyone have this problem?

BTW, anyone able to use the firewire port on their Hitachi TV to watch HD programs from a STB (Motorola 6200)?

[57]

Most TVs do not "passthrough" DD5.1 audio. You'll need to connect the digital audio cable directly from the STB to the receiver to get DD5.1 sound.

I believe I recently read that someone was able to make firewire/TV work, however, firewire doesn't give you the IPG information, so you'll need another connection for that.

What are you "inputing" via HDMI?

Please put your location in your profile (hmm, from your "handle" I think I can guess) - it'll help us help you and also include the other equipment "in the chain", but I think I answered your question in the first paragraph anyway.

[JTEdmonton]

I have a Hitachi 42HDT51 Plasma TV and a Panasonic DVD player. The TV has digital inputs for both audio and video as HDMI inputs and Firewire inputs that's it and it's the best input quality. According to the Hitachi manual and Hitachi support the Optical Audio out on the TV is supposed to output 5.1 sound but it is not. When I connect the DVD to the AMP using the optical out I get the full 5.1 sound. There is supposed to be a menu setting in the TV to allow the 5.1 pass-through when the optical cable is plugged into the TV but my menu does not show that selection.

[57]

...Perhaps from the built in Tuner, or via Cablecard, but not "passthough"...

This issue comes up for discussion a lot in the US because a lot of people have purchased TVs with HDMI in and optical out (not so common up here because people mostly buy HDTV monitors, not ones with built in tuners.).

Hope it's not a big deal for you to connect audio from the player (instead of TV) to the receiver...

[JTEdmonton]

Funny thing is it is passing through 2.1 sound from the HDMI input when I have my DVD player connected. According to the manual there is a menu where I'm supposed to be able to change that to 5.1 sound but the menu is not available for me, according to Hitachi, the menu becomes active when the optical cable is plugged in, well, I have one plugged in but no menu. I have a service tech coming out to have a look, hopefully he can do something about it. Otherwise I'll have to bug Hitachi to send me a new AV box.

[JTEdmonton]

After many phone calls with Hitachi, they told me that the HDMI input on the television set does not support 5.1 sound and will therefore not output the 5.1 sound. For over the air and antenna broadcasts that are in 5.1 sound however, the digital audio out will output 5.1 sound. Hitachi has not been very clear about this and their technical people do not know this information as well. This is not detailed in their manual or advertising brochures, although they indicate that it handles Dolby Digital Sound.

Hitachi is looking into upgrading my television or refunding my money.

[57]

Originally Posted by JTEdmonton

Hitachi is looking into upgrading my television or refunding my money.

If you need an excuse to get rid of the TV, fine, but if you like the TV otherwise, just connect a digital audio cable from the component(s) to the A/V receiver.

[Extreme Justice]

Hello,
This is my problem. I have a 50VS810 and I want to setup the digital output from the TV to be heard on my Denon Reciever. The problem is that according to the manual (pg 50) I enter the Audio menu and scroll down past Loadness and I should see 3 more menues. ie: Language/Dolby/DCP, But I DON"T have the choices. Can someone help me out. I'm going from Expressvu 9200 reciever using the HDMI and HDMI into the TV.


JTEdmonton, sounds like your explaining the same situation I'm encountering except with a different TV. Have you found out anymore from Hitachi?
I Contacted Hitachi, but will have to wait until they get back to me as the person on the phone wasn't sure how to fix it.

[57]

Please read posts 2 & 4. Most TVs do not "passthrough" the signal. The digital audio out is intended to send the TV tuner signal to an A/V receiver, not "pass" a signal from another device, if that's what you're trying to do. Please advise.

[Extreme Justice]

57,
Ah I see now. So yes I guess was trying to "PassThrough" the signal from the Expressvu 9200 into the TV and then Out the Reciever. So all I did was connect directly the Digital out from the 9200 into my reciever and all works as usual. Does this also explain why I don't see the "DOLBY" function in the Audio menu, because I'm using input 1 and not ANT 1?

[57]

It's probably greyed out until you tune the TV tuner to an appropriate digital channel. If you set the input to ANT (even without a signal), does the menu come up?

[Extreme Justice]

Originally Posted by 57

If you set the input to ANT (even without a signal), does the menu come up?

No, still no MENU selection for Language,Dolby etc.

[57]

Perhaps there needs to be a signal. You could try hooking up an antenna (a paper clip will sometimes work) Or you could just let the issue go away, since you now know about the passthrough issue.

[JTEdmonton]

Guys,

Here's is what I know now:

The digital optical out does not support 5.1 sound through any of the digital audio inputs. It only outputs 5.1 sound from over-the-air broadcasts. The secondary menu only appears when the signal is an over-the-air broadcast.

Hitachi (sales and support) had initially told me the set does support 5.1 output pass-through from the inputs before I bought the set.

The only solution is the run a cable from the 5.1 source to the amp directly. My gripe with the whole situation is I was told that it worked before I bought the set, which I asked specifically so that I could manage my inputs better. Now I may have to buy a new receiver.

[57]

Originally Posted by JTEdmonton

Hitachi (sales and support) had initially told me the set does support 5.1 output pass-through from the inputs before I bought the set.

They often simply do not know and therefore "guess" the answer, like a lot of sales/support people do. You're often best to come to a forum like this one. I gave you the "correct" answer an hour after you asked.

Why do you need a new receiver? If you're running out of inputs, perhaps a switch or splitter can do the job.