I have a new LG 55LE5400; many of the features of this HD LED tv are great, but a audio output to feed a hearing aid loop is critical to me. I was prepared for not having an analog audio output by having a optical to analog converter box; now i find this box only works with some programming. it is ok if the TV input is analog but if i am receiving a DT input OTA there is no audio from the converter. The LG customer service tells me I must have an LG audio system to guarantee that the digital optical output will work. anyone know what might be going or have a recomendation for getting analog audio from this set? I would use the headphone jacks but when you plug in a headphone the speakers are disabled.
LG optical digital audio only works on some
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See if there is an option in the TV's user setup menu for changing the optical audio output to PCM instead of Dolby Digital. Obviously the optical port is not putting out analogue, so I suspect this is a PCM/Dolby Digital or Dolby Digital 5.1 issue on some channels. I'm assuming that you're using the internal tuner and not other devices that are connected to inputs on the TV, which can also be problematical as discussed in the following FAQ on DD5.1:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17870 (Bolding)
(In your case the situation is "reversed" in that you probably do not want DD5.1 since the "converter" device you have cannot handle it.) Perhaps you could get a converter that handles DD signals.
Can you explain what you mean by "hearing aid loop" and what's the make/model of the "converter"? You may need to get a TV that has analogue outs, but even then the internal speakers of the TV are usually turned off if you activate those outs. You may wish to consider an external AVR or HTiB which can give you audio via the speakers and perhaps an active set of analogue outs.
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=17870 (Bolding)
(In your case the situation is "reversed" in that you probably do not want DD5.1 since the "converter" device you have cannot handle it.) Perhaps you could get a converter that handles DD signals.
Can you explain what you mean by "hearing aid loop" and what's the make/model of the "converter"? You may need to get a TV that has analogue outs, but even then the internal speakers of the TV are usually turned off if you activate those outs. You may wish to consider an external AVR or HTiB which can give you audio via the speakers and perhaps an active set of analogue outs.
LG digital optical not working always working
thanks for the help.
no documented pcm support except on the HDMI input. so no help on output.
I am using the term hearing aid loop to describe what is sometimes called an induction loop. this is a loop of wire (in my basement) that is powered by a somewhat beefy mono audio amplifier. This is the amplifier i need the analog audio feed for. this loop creates a magnetic field that couples to the "T coil" in my wife's hearing aids. Many hearing aids have T settings, these were originally used when using the telephone, but now magnetic induction loops have become somewhat standard, if not common, in theaters and auditoriums to aid the hearing impared. I have installed a loop for our living room so that my wife can get a wired like quality connection to the TV. it had worked great.
I am using the LG TVs ATSC/NTSC built in tuner. actually the external feeds, like DVD, dish and VCR come thru the tv set and work fine, as do the analog off the air (from canada), only the DT off the air is dead, i suspect it is as you indicated related to the encoding they enable. My converter is a no model # branded "Monoprice" box I bought on ebay. I hadn't seen any with detailed specs about what encoding they converted; this one lists several sampling frequencies, but no details of its encoding capability. So i am guessing it is just PCM? Are there converters with better decoding capability?
A home theater system might work, but I still wouldn't have(monoral) analog audio to feed the loop amp. I can sum L-R signals, i suppose something similar could be done with DD5.1.
i am not real interested in having another big box and remote stuffed below the TV if i can avoid it. i have considered taping into the internal speakers, but this could have problems if they aren't referenced to ground and I don't want to void the warrenty just yet.
The audio output from TVs often is not controlled by the volume control and this is best, but few new large HD tvs have analog out.
thanks for the help.
no documented pcm support except on the HDMI input. so no help on output.
I am using the term hearing aid loop to describe what is sometimes called an induction loop. this is a loop of wire (in my basement) that is powered by a somewhat beefy mono audio amplifier. This is the amplifier i need the analog audio feed for. this loop creates a magnetic field that couples to the "T coil" in my wife's hearing aids. Many hearing aids have T settings, these were originally used when using the telephone, but now magnetic induction loops have become somewhat standard, if not common, in theaters and auditoriums to aid the hearing impared. I have installed a loop for our living room so that my wife can get a wired like quality connection to the TV. it had worked great.
I am using the LG TVs ATSC/NTSC built in tuner. actually the external feeds, like DVD, dish and VCR come thru the tv set and work fine, as do the analog off the air (from canada), only the DT off the air is dead, i suspect it is as you indicated related to the encoding they enable. My converter is a no model # branded "Monoprice" box I bought on ebay. I hadn't seen any with detailed specs about what encoding they converted; this one lists several sampling frequencies, but no details of its encoding capability. So i am guessing it is just PCM? Are there converters with better decoding capability?
A home theater system might work, but I still wouldn't have(monoral) analog audio to feed the loop amp. I can sum L-R signals, i suppose something similar could be done with DD5.1.
i am not real interested in having another big box and remote stuffed below the TV if i can avoid it. i have considered taping into the internal speakers, but this could have problems if they aren't referenced to ground and I don't want to void the warrenty just yet.
The audio output from TVs often is not controlled by the volume control and this is best, but few new large HD tvs have analog out.
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Download the operating manual for the TV and do a search for PCM in that pdf. Have a browse through the various audio menus in the TV to see if there is a PCM option. You could purchase an external ATSC tuner which may provide a PCM (or stereo) option, and/or analogue audio outs?
Edit: I downloaded the manual and found 3 references to PCM, none of them useful. I then perused the audio section of the operating manual (around page 147) and again found nothing useful. Sorry.
It's possible that the item is undocumented and is available in one of the menus, but it's hard to tell from here.
On page 151 there is an option for DTV called Multi-Audio. Is there an appropriate option there?
Edit: I downloaded the manual and found 3 references to PCM, none of them useful. I then perused the audio section of the operating manual (around page 147) and again found nothing useful. Sorry.
It's possible that the item is undocumented and is available in one of the menus, but it's hard to tell from here.
On page 151 there is an option for DTV called Multi-Audio. Is there an appropriate option there?
lg digital optical
yep, that is what i did to the manual also. the pcm delt mostly with inputs. I have searched the UI controls nothing. I will ask LG customer support to suggest something. but generally it has been hard to get thru to someone who knows something more than the script they have in front of them. i suppose i could put microphones right in front of the speakers, will take some amplifier construction and is un-elegant.
yep, that is what i did to the manual also. the pcm delt mostly with inputs. I have searched the UI controls nothing. I will ask LG customer support to suggest something. but generally it has been hard to get thru to someone who knows something more than the script they have in front of them. i suppose i could put microphones right in front of the speakers, will take some amplifier construction and is un-elegant.
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My LG LED LCD was only outputting PCM on the optical out and I searched through the PDF manual which didn't really address the issue.
But a little bit of Google'ing brought me to a simple to use EZ-setup menu that did allow me to enable it. The "EZ" menu is essentially one of the service menus so the regular remote can't access it (and you need to be careful in there). But downloading a WAV file and playing it through an IR blaster got me into it in 2 seconds flat. Easy peasy actually.
So from this special menu I was able to enable the DD5.1 pass-through on the optical out.
But a little bit of Google'ing brought me to a simple to use EZ-setup menu that did allow me to enable it. The "EZ" menu is essentially one of the service menus so the regular remote can't access it (and you need to be careful in there). But downloading a WAV file and playing it through an IR blaster got me into it in 2 seconds flat. Easy peasy actually.
So from this special menu I was able to enable the DD5.1 pass-through on the optical out.
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Hey this is what I've been trying to do for weeks. What menu/option did you change? I programmed my harmony remote and got in, but not sure what to change. Thanks.
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