Netflix stereo audio over optical out not working, KDL-50W829B

[trickydisko2]

My TV (KDL-50W829B) is set up to play through an external audio system, connected to the TV's optical output. Digital TV plays in stereo, PS3 plays in 5.1 surround (Dolby Digital) or stereo, Youtube plays in stereo (edit: no it doesn't, my mistake) - the TV and receiver appear to be set up correctly and compatible.

The problem is in the TV's Netflix app, where sound will play if the title has 5.1 surround audio, but NOT if it only has stereo audio. If I play a film with 5.1 sound (which works), and use the app's "audio and subtitles" menu to choose the stereo audio track, no sound plays. This is a problem for most TV programme streams, since they only have the stereo option.

The problem can be worked around by either setting the TV's digital audio output to "bitstream" instead of "auto", or by setting the sound output to "TV speakers" and letting the optical output act as a headphone output. Unfortunately, either workaround means 5.1 surround output is disabled.

It's rather inconvenient to have to switch audio settings depending on what's being watched. Do I have something set up wrong somewhere? Is my AV receiver somehow incompatible with the digital stereo audio output from Netflix, and if so what format would a replacement need to be compatible with? Or is the TV/app not passing audio to the optical output correctly?

If the app needs a bug fix, this would be appreciated - the TV's remote has a dedicated Netflix button so I don't think it's unreasonable to expect it should work properly.

Thanks for any advice.

[Anonymous]

Hi there

Can you please post back your AV Receivers brand/model and describe how things are connected up.

I have a 2013 Sony TV and a 2011 Sony AV Receiver, and last time I used Netflix (its been awhile though) both DD5.1 and DD2.0 worked fine with no issues.

I dont suppose you have any post audio processing going on, such as different soundfields or effects?  If so, set it all back to default.

Have you also tried Netflix's Support - as it might be a Netflix issue itself?

Cheers

[trickydisko2]

AV receiver is a Yamaha RX-V361 (DD compatible), connected to the TV via optical cable. No sound field processing in place, used in "straight" mode (not that engaging them seems to make a difference to whether audio plays or not).

Audio from PS3 seems to work in both 5.1 and 2.0 (PS3 to TV via HDMI including the audio, then TV to receiver via optical).

I tried Netflix support, but as with Sony's phone support I wasn't able to talk to anyone with enough expertise to get to a diagnosis. Both pointed the finger at my receiver but that could be a convenient "not our problem" excuse, and neither could tell me what I would need to look for in an alternative receiver that I don't have with my current one.

[Anonymous]

Hi there

You have a weird/unique problem - Its normally the 5.1 where issues arise.  But 2chan stereo, well.....  Also, your problem is one that I hate, where multiple companies can blame each other and your left in the middle - However to be honest, Im going on the theory of the AV Receiver too....

Can you try on AV Receiver:

Scene3 - Straight

Soundfield = Stereo 2ch

On the TV, if you set Digital Audio Out to PCM (which I believe you are doing), this indicates that the AV Receiver is not compatible with DD - which I think your AV Receiver IS capable of it.  Most cases, Auto is fine. 

On the front panel, does anything light up to say that DD is working and Left/Right Speakers are operational, or is the display close to 'blank'

I think it works on the PS3 because the PS3 is doing all the audio decoding, then outputting via LPCM to the AV Receiver?  (as a guess)

Cheers

[trickydisko2]

My Scene presets are custom so I just set it to straight and looked at the signal information for each input type. It reports 3 kinds of signal from the TV:

A. PCM, 48kHz, 2/0/-

B. DolbyD, 48kHz, 2/0/-, 640kbps

C. DolbyD, 48kHz, 3/2/0.1, 640kbps

A is what it gets from non-HD Freeview channels, or from every source if I set the TV to "bitstream" (or "TV speakers").

B is what it gets from HD Freeview channels (sound plays OK), and stereo Netflix titles (the problem part - no sound plays).

C is what it gets from 5.1 Netflix titles.

For Freeview HD, as I understand it the TV transcodes the AAC audio from the broadcast stream for output as DD over optical. For Netflix I think the audio is Dolby Digital Plus, which my receiver isn't compatible with but which doesn't fit into the optical (SPDIF) bandwidth anyway. The TV can decode DD+ and is supposed to (as all DD+ equipment should) convert to DD for optical outputs. It seems to be doing this correctly for 5.1 audio, but not for 2.0 audio?

[Anonymous · Accepted solution]

Hi there

This is beyond my level of knowledge im afraid.  I cannot determine where the problem lies in - as it could be any of the three (Netflix, TV, AV Receiver).  What I have done though, is escalate this thread to Sony Support in the hopes that their technical team can figure out where the issue is and advice accordingly.

Please ensure that you have up-to-date contact detail in your profile. 

Please inform us what they say - im curious to know myself.

Cheers

[trickydisko2]

Thanks, contact details updated and I'll post back if I hear more.

One correction (sorry for the mistake! Must have got mixed up switching audio modes back and forth) - the Youtube app also has this issue. Don't know if it affects other apps too - I'll see if I can find something else to test.

[Anonymous]

If you have the same problem with youtube, that rules out an individual issue with netflix - narrows it down to 2 things I guess. 

[Anonymous]

@trickydisko2 

Hi there

The message I have back from Sony is:

"To enable us to assist the customer could you please reply with their email address and telephone number
Alternatively they can contact our technical team for assistance on 02073652810."

I don't understand why they cannot pick this up from your profile, but if your still having problems, can you please PM me the details and I;ll forward them onto Sony.

Cheers