Ati dolby truehd

[xxm4ch1nexx]

Hello ive recently upgraded my gpu to a 5770 and have had the dreaded gsod scenario. Ive since returned the card and decided to get a 4850 instead as they seem to be far more reliable.
My issue is that on the ati website it says that the 4850 is capable of dolby truehd and after many hours of researching it seems that it isnt.
Can anybody tell me for certain if the HD4850 can do it or not?

 

[borisof007]

I found this on Anandtech:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/2553/2

Blu-ray (and HD-DVD) both support Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD audio encoding, which offer discrete 8-channel audio output. The problem is that there's currently no way to send a TrueHD or DTS-HD encoded stream from a PC over HDMI to a receiver, the stream must be decoded on the PC. Cyberlink's PowerDVD will decode these high definition audio formats just as well as any receiver into 8-channel LPCM audio, but you need support for sending 8-channel LPCM over HDMI.

Most graphics cards that implement HDMI simply pass SPDIF from the motherboard's audio codec over HDMI, which is unfortunately only enough for 2-channel LPCM or 6-channel encoded Dolby Digital/DTS audio. Chipsets with integrated graphics such as NVIDIA's GeForce 8200 and Intel's G35 will output 8-channel LPCM over HDMI, but AMD's 780G will not.

All of AMD's Radeon HD graphics cards have shipped with their own audio codec, but the Radeon HD 4800 series of cards finally adds support for 8-channel LPCM output over HDMI. This is a huge deal for HTPC enthusiasts because now you can output 8-channel audio over HDMI in a motherboard agnostic solution. We still don't have support for bitstreaming TrueHD/DTS-HD MA and most likely won't anytime this year from a GPU alone, but there are some other solutions in the works for 2008.

To use the 8-channel LPCM output simply configure your media player to decode all audio streams and output them as 8-channel audio. HDMI output is possible courtesy of a DVI-to-HDMI adapter bundled with the card; AMD sends audio data over the DVI interface which is then sent over HDMI using the adapter.

Does that help?

 

[xxm4ch1nexx]

Many thanks for the quick reply!
Ive stumbled across that article before I think its from 2008 and was wondering now in 2010 has ati released a driver that allows truehd or dts-hd to be bitstreamed with the 4850?

On the ati website it states that the card can do it and if it cant why do ati claim it can?

The main reason im so concerned is that I really really want to add a Blu-Ray drive to my rig but am not going to unless dolby truehd is possible (it would be like listening to a cd in mono).

 

[borisof007]

Found this:

HDMI output support
All display resolutions up to 1920x10802
Integrated HD audio controller with support for stereo and multi-channel (up to 7.1) audio formats, including AC-3, AAC, DTS, DTS-HD & Dolby True-HD4**, enabling a plug-and-play audio solution over HDMI

**Subject to digital rights management limitations; maximum supported audio stream bandwidth is 6.144 Mbps

Which led me to find this:

Q: Is ATI 4850 the hardware lack of support of bitstreaming? 4850 is capable of transfering LPCM which requests even more bandwidth than uncompressed bitstream. Hardly can explain if it's a hardware issue.

A: The 4x00 cards are not capable of bitstreaming, I believe it's a licensing issue. AnyDVD won't help. The only cards capable of bitstreaming are the 5x00 ATI cards.

and

A: The ATI 4xxx cards are only capable of bitstreaming Dolby Digital/ DTS, not Dolby TrueHD and DTS MA

 

[xxm4ch1nexx]

So it seems that its not possible for a 4xxx series card t, looks like I will have to try a 5xxx series card again and hope that they have fixed the gsod issue.
Its a shame because I love my 4850 guess Ill have to give it to my son.

Is there any problems bitstreaming with a 5xxx series?

 

[gamerk316]

Alternativly, you could just decode the TrueHD signal on the PC and send the uncompressed 7.1 LPCM over HDMI.

 

[borisof007]

@ gamerk, yep, that's definitely feasible.

@ xxm4ch1nexx, No problems bitstreaming with the 5xxx series, many many people have posted online with huge success, including here.

 

[xxm4ch1nexx]

Many thanks borisof007 for helping me out

and I will give the 7.1 lpcm a try cheers gamerk316

 

[festerovic]

FYI, as someone mentioned above, when you play back a DVD or BR, it will convert whatever the sound is into 7.1 LPCM, on the SOFTWARE side of the equation. When it hits your receiver, it will sound the same. There is no difference in sound quality or function when your receiver does the same thingm except the special light won't light up on the receiver.

I've been listening to my PS3 throuh LPCM 7.1 for a year now, it sounds the same whether I bistream it or not.

One bonus of this scenario is that instead of buying a receiver with fancy codecs built in, you could a much cheaper one with 7.1 pcm support.

 

[xxm4ch1nexx]

As far as I understand windvd or powerdvd does not do 7.1 lcpm only 5.1. What playback software would I need?

 

[festerovic]

Powerdvd is a software player, it will convert all audio to LPCM. It is related to your output selected in the Sound control panel.

 

[pcsolutionz]

Thank You so much for the great information you have given. It has been a while since your post and I have some specific questions for you on my setup. I recently built a new pc and just purchased all new Home Theater equipment. Everything is HDMI including receiver, hdtv, 2 htpc (one has a blu-ray burner), and PS3. What I am trying to accomplish is of course the best audio/ video I can achieve with what I have. Definitely confused what to do. My newest pc is an I7 rig on a X58 chipset, 12GB Ram, and HIS's 4870 Ice-Q turbo with HDMI. Also this rig has a Creative X-Fi Extreme Gamer card in it. Right now it is not connected to tv or receiver. Just running the Creative card to some Bose Companions. This rig is much more powerful than the other pc that is connected with Blu-Ray burner. My thoughts are to move the Blu-Ray burner to the more powerful pc that has the 4870 installed. The question is how would I, with my equipment, get the best setup. Should I remove the Creative card to use the onboard audio of the X58 MB therefore passing audio through the 4870 HDMI? I would like to use the Creative card the way it is, (through my Bose), for casual listening and pass HDMI from the chipset through the 4870. Can I use the HDMI output of the 4870 alone or do I need a Toslink also. My confusion comes from the fact that the 4870 is a video card and have little experience at this point with HDMI. Also, it seems from some reading that I have done that I may get better results from my onboard audio than my Creative card. If so, I will move the card to the other pc just for music. One thing I would love to achieve is a way to force fullscreen Blu-Ray playback on my Plasma so I don't get IR or eventual Burn-In. I bought the PS3 for that purpose and cannot do it. Most of what I watch has black bars on top and bottom. The only way I have found to get rid of the bars is to rip a Blu-Ray to MP4 and stream it. Hard to beleive how many movies have those bars. I have a 50" tv and 8" are black bars most of the time. I'm obsessed with getting rid of them. But going broke buying evrything out there to do so. Thanks in advance, for any help you can provide.

bostonbaab@gmail.com

 

[lostindasauce]

I just bought a ATI 4350 video card because my previous HDMI capable video card only did 2ch audio. I don't have a blu-ray player on my computer. I downloaded a clip of a blu-ray movie which plays as a 1080p file on my computer, only there is no sound. I have HDMI 1.4 cable between my computer and my DENON 1610. The file I downloaded should play in DTS-MA. But all I get is silence. I'm thinking that maybe my video card will not pass through the full lossless bitstream? It seems that my receiver is only getting LPCM audio. I know its the same same sound quality, except for one thing. My system is set up for front high speakers. Theoretically the audio my receiver gets from my computer is for side left/right, but actually comes out from the front high left/right. Even more of a problem is the simple fact that for some reason that audio is being remixed back into the rear channels. I'm actually not getting any sound out of what should be side right/left. Any ideas anyone?

 

[gamerk316]

I'm thinking that maybe my video card will not pass through the full lossless bitstream? It seems that my receiver is only getting LPCM audio.

To clarify: You CAN pass through LPCM, but not DTS-MA? Makes sense, as I think the 4000 series can NOT pass through DTS-MA and Dolby TrueHD (the 5000 series can though).

Theoretically the audio my receiver gets from my computer is for side left/right, but actually comes out from the front high left/right. Even more of a problem is the simple fact that for some reason that audio is being remixed back into the rear channels. I'm actually not getting any sound out of what should be side right/left.

I know the PC AC97 standard and Dolby/DTS have different standards in regards to side/rear channels. For AC97, the side channels are the second pair of speakers, in DD/DTS, the Rear channels are hte second pair. This could be part of the problem (IE: When playing a DD/DTS audio stream on a PC, the rear channels would be used instead of the side channels, where other PC audio would use the side channels first).

 

[Velocitydreamer]

Hello all, I know this is an older thread, but I have an HD 4870 and a pretty sweet 7.1 setup via HK receiver with HDMI inputs. I'm running hdmi and want 7.1 via hdmi. I understand that doesn't mean the source will put out 7.1 channels, but all I can ever get with the realtek driver, via configure speakers, is 5.1 I want 7.1! LoL I can't seem to find the realtek control panel's .exe anywhere. I've seen it once, and don't remember seeing the option for 7.1, as the sides (even though it's the rears that aren't part of 5.1) are always greyed out! VERY frustrating lol, please, I really need help getting this to work, ANY suggestions are welcome... I've disabled the onboard audio via BIOS recently, but no change.

 

[festerovic]

Okay so when you disabled the onboard audio, did you select ATI HDMI Output? If not go to Control panel->Sound->Manage audio Devices. Once there, select ATI HDMI output, and then click Configure in the lower left corner. The first option is Speaker config, it will let you choose 2, 4,6, or 8 channel (7.1) audio.