How to hook up Tata sky HD STB to home theater system for 5.1 Surround sound for the HD channels?

[Rajeevraj]

I was looking at the pictures of the HD STB in the other thread. I could not figure out how the STB Can be connected to a 5.1 home theater. The HDMI will take it to the TV only. One option is to take the Audio out from the HDTV and give as input to the home theater. But I dont think that will be 5.1 sound. Any info on this? Also, can any of the members who have got the HD STB confirm if the HD channels come with 5.1 audio and how exactly this needs to be hooked up to the home theater.Needed to know before going ahead to buy if this will need any additional investmentThanks,Rajeev

 

[venkat_9099]

Most of the home theaters do not accept 5.1 input. You need an AV receiver for this. A decent one costs you around 18k

 

[fulcrum]

I can confirm that Tata Sky HD channels: NG, Disc and ESPN are not broadcasting audio in 5.1. Its stereo only! The TataSky webpage says it provides "5.1 surround" and I assume they mean 5.1 Dolby Digital. However, my Sony receiver in Auto Function Detect (AFD) mode shows the input as 2.1 (front L, front R and SW are activated). My initial guess is the channels themselves are not broadcasting in 5.1 but the hardware has the capability. I have heard Dish HD folks complaining of the same issue. Btw, I had similar setup and equipment in the US and the receiver would show 5.1 Dolby Digital for HD channels.



---------- Post added at 01:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:31 PM ----------

I could not figure out how the STB Can be connected to a 5.1 home theater.

If your home theater has SPDIF or Optical Audio input then you can connect. Otherwise, you are out of luck. Before you invest though, wait for confirmation on 5.1 Dolby Digital output. See my other post.

 

[droidsuree]

One very easy way would be to connect via Coaxial! It would surely give you 5.1!

 

[fulcrum]

Folks, I confirmed just now that Tata Sky HD does output Dolby Digital 5.1 both through SPDIF coaxial as well as HDMI! Sorry for the confusion earlier. The culprit was the Atlona AV switcher that I am using between by HD STB and the receiver. I now have video to my TV going through Atlona and audio going straight to my Sony receiver (via SPDIF, using regular RCA cable). If I directly connect the hd box to the receiver using HDMI, I get 5.1 too, so it is indeed independent of the connectivity.

 

[Rajeevraj]

Folks, I confirmed just now that Tata Sky HD does output Dolby Digital 5.1 both through SPDIF coaxial as well as HDMI! Sorry for the confusion earlier. The culprit was the Atlona AV switcher that I am using between by HD STB and the receiver. I now have video to my TV going through Atlona and audio going straight to my Sony receiver (via SPDIF, using regular RCA cable). If I directly connect the hd box to the receiver using HDMI, I get 5.1 too, so it is indeed independent of the connectivity.

Thats great. Thank you. I confirmed that my home theater system has a coaxial digital input. So should work for me too... Now just need to wait for it to be available in Bangalore

Hope that is very soon.....

 

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[venkat_9099]

If I connect HDMI o/p to my LCD, will it receive audio in 5.1 or stereo?

 

[fulcrum]

If I connect HDMI o/p to my LCD, will it receive audio in 5.1 or stereo?

For HD channels, the output will be 5.1 to your LCD. However, you can change the settings to output audio in PCM instead of Dolby and then it would be stereo.

 

[venkat_9099]

So, If LCD TV can take 5.1 as i/p, i can do away without A/V receiver?

 

[The-Lord]

its simple actually,All you do is connect the HDMI to the TV from the console and connect the coaxial from the console to the 5.1 receiver ..End of discussion.If you turn off the sound from ur tv that is being transmitted via the HDMI, Audio will come out through the co-ax (i.e 5.1 receiver)Im gonna order TS HD soon ... .. fingers crossed