Dolby TrueHD...This Old Audiophile is Lost

It should work, you might not have something set right seems to me...it's probably in these manuals someplace...

https://www.cnet.com/products/onkyo-ht-rc260/review/

http://www.lg.com/us/home-video/lg-UP875-blu-ray-player

http://www.lg.com/us/support-product/lg-UP875#

I might try a few different HDMI cords, I've had problems with these in the past..."Type A, High Speed HDMI™ Cable"

https://www.hdmi.org/learningcenter/kb.aspx?c=6

"If mastered properly,

DTS HD MASTER = DOLBY TRUEHD = UNCOMPRESSED PCM
The reasoning behind this is that both DTS HD and Dolby TrueHD are "lossless" compression. Therefore when executed they should (in theory) playback the same as UNCOMPRESSED PCM. "

Is there any noticeable difference?

http://www.tomsguide.com/forum/54209-6-which-prefer-dolby-truehd-master-audio

More info: the LG player only has 3 audio output settings: auto, PCM, and "DTS re-encode." The manual says: "When [Digital Output] option is set to [Auto], the audio may output as bitstream. If the Bitstream information is not detected from HDMI device with EDID, the audio may output as PCM."

I thought EDID was about video display, but maybe my AVR can't handle it? The AVR says the audio signal is PCM 48khz 2.0 if I select auto or PCM on the player. Is bitstream and PCM not the same thing? I need 2 extra-strength Tylenol...

Even more info from the player manual: "This player automatically selects the HDMI audio according to the decoding capability of the connected HDMI device even though [Digital Output] option is set to [AUTO]".

So the player somehow knows the decoding capability of my AVR, and apparently thinks the AVR can't handle Dolby TrueHD, even though the AVR manual says it can. Don't know how to get around that. I can try other HDMI cables, but it seems a long shot.

I agree the cable is a long shot, but I've had problems before with them....probably just a quality issue...

"Q. Do I need v1.3 HDMI to hear the new Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master HD audio content on HD-DVD or Blu-ray players?

No. The Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus, and DTS-HD Master Audio can be decoded by the playback device into multi-channel Pulse Code Modulation (PCM) digital audio streams, which is an audio format standard that can be sent over any version of HDMI. In fact, all versions of HDMI can support up to 8 channels of PCM audio at 192kHz, 24 bits per sample.

To do this, consumers should ensure that their playback device (such as HD-DVD or Blu-ray player) is capable of decoding these new lossless Dolby & DTS audio formats into the PCM format on the HDMI output, and that the audio device (such as an A/V receiver) is capable of receiving multi-channel PCM audio over the HDMI inputs. Consult your user manual/product specification sheet to determine whether your device supports such PCM capabilities (we believe that nearly all HD-DVD and Blu-ray players will, but users should confirm this). Devices that support HDMI v1.3 and higher may also offer the option to transport the high definition audio formats as a compressed, encoded stream over HDMI so that the decoding function can be performed by the A/V receiver (whereas the above transport method has the playback device performing the decoding)."

If there's rgb and coaxial or optical digital you can try those, but DTS .. was the new badge for the format before. This is the new badge to replace the one before it. I used to have all the best gear for toggling between formats and I wouldn't loose too much sleep on it. DTS is quite sufficient. That said. I'm not sure of the speaker requirements for the true format, but if you are missing a rear center or sides.. it won't sense them and .. no light

Yeah, I've got the 5.1 speakers needed. It's a conspiracy, I say! The damn components talk to each other and decide what we get to see and hear. I liked it better when components were dumb and signals were analog and went one way without "handshaking" and all that nonsense.

I could try optical digital. According to the player manual it would output DD if the soundtrack was Dolby TrueHD. Or I could set the player to do the "DTS re-encode" thing and live with DTS, although the manual says it is 2-channel DTS, whatever that means.

Thanks, SolarEagle. That is a good intro to all the formats.

OK, I did the "DTS re-encode" thing and the AVR says it is DTS 2-channel, but the AVR puts out Dolby PLII 5.0! And it sounds not so good; of course it is a derived 5.0, not the discrete 5.1 we are used to.

I think I need a new AVR. At least that's what I'll tell wifey.