Hi,

I have a Samsung 5.1 system and need help connecting it.

I have a PS3. Sky+HD & Wii, do I need to connect each item to the home cinema system or can I connect the optical cable from the home cinema to the TV amd then everything connected to the TV will have surround sound, please help.
Thanks.

It depends on your TV. Some will pass surround sound input on on hdmi to the optical s/pdif, others will convert to lpcm, stereo.

I stand to be corrected on this but I think the Sky box only does 5.1 surround via the optical digital out. It doesn't feed anything other than stereo via HDMI. So if that is the case you won't get full 5.1 from Sky going via the telly even if the TV did pass it on.

It would help give a more definitive answer if you provided the model number for the surround system and make and model for the TV.

Hi,

My TV is a Samsung PS50B550 and the Home Cinema is a Samsung HT-D350.

Well that was informative....

Not!

Just read the manual for the surround system. About as much use as a chocolate fire guard. It does not mention at all what the capabilities of the digital optical input are. But there is a possible clue in the trouble shooting guide.

One section mentions sound from only some of the speakers and mentions certain sources, including TV (which I assume means the optical input) are stereo only. It then goes on to say if you want all speakers working then select Dolby ProLogic.

Now without having a sample of the beast to hand that says to me that it can't do Dolby Digital or similar formats on the optical input only PCM stereo. So if true then it seems it won't matter whether or not the telly can pass Dolby Digital surround or whatever from HDMI in to optical out. The surround system won't be able to handle it anyway. Best it seems you will get is ProLogic. Which is pretty decent at creating a surround sound effect but not as good as "proper" Dolby Digital or DTS 5.1 surround as you would get off DVD for example.

True for Sky+ HD (which is what the OP has).

Not true for Sky HD (non-PVR version). This can output DD5.1 via HDMI as well as optical/digital coaxial.

The specifications for the Samsung unit say it has an optical input, so an optical lead from Sky box to that should give you 5.1 when available on the programme.

If you connect it from the TV to the surround amp, you will most likely only get stereo - except from the sets internal HD tuner (if it has one).

As chrisjr has mentioned, the HDMI output from the Sky box is stereo only.

As I said I'm not entirely convinced the Samsung does 5.1 on the optical in. Impossible to be certain though simply by reading the manual. But the complete lack of any mention of surround via the optical in and a vague hint of stereo only in the troubleshooting guide doesn't give me any confidence.

Thanks fot that, So I'm guessing my only option is to use Optical cable from PS3 & Sky+HD to the Cinema System and to use an Optical Splitter so both can connect at once, is that correct, also can I ask, Does ProLogic still create a 5.1 experience with the above devices and blu-ray?

You should use a switch not a splitter.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/3-way-Opti...37763876454974

If as chrisjr suspects the optical input on the kit is lpcm stereo only you won't even hear audio input in Dolby Digital or DTS Audio whether stereo or 5.1.

What I would do first of all is connect just something like the PS3 to the surround system. Make sure it is configured to output Dolby Digital or DTS over the optical out.

Play a disk with either format sound track on it and see (or rather hear ) what happens. If the surround system is able to decode DD or DTS from the optical input then you should her the full surround effect.

If it cannot then you will hear the glorious sound of nothingness. Either that or a horrid noise as it tries to decode DD/DTS as stereo PCM!

If all it can handle is stereo then you would probably be better off just using the TV as the "switch" and feed it's output into the surround system. Avoids any issues like having pictures from the PS3 and noise from the Sky box

If the surround system does do DD or DTS via the optical in then you need a switch as mentioned above. Splitters take one output and send it to two inputs. They should not really be used to take two outputs and combine them into one input.

If you did try that then only one output can be live at a time. Which is OK if the device you don't want to watch turns off it's optical out in standby. But useless if it doesn't. A proper switch avoids that problem by only connecting one source device at a time to the input.

Dolby ProLogic is pretty good at creating a surround like effect. It helps if the source material is encoded in a ProLogic compatible format as that makes a considerable difference to the result.

It's extremely unlikely that they would provide an optical input on a DD5.1 amp that doesn't accept DD5.1 - I suspect the manual wasn't very clear (as they often aren't) and it probably refered to the single input for video and analogue audio.

It's one of those all in one jobbies with a very basic surround sound amp built into a DVD player.

The manual is useless and does not mention anything at all about what the optical input can do. In fact as I recall the only mention of it is in the diagram of the back panel! It is this lack of solid information and a few vague hints that is making me think it does stereo only.

So as I suggested above the only way to know for certain is to suck it and see.

I have spoken to Samsung & they sent me an email back saying that this system does indeed support DTS & Dolby Digital.

But did you specifically ask them if that applies to sources connected to the Optical input or not? And did they specifically reply that the optical input supports these formats?

The DVD player does support those formats but the uncertainty is whether the optical input does as the manual is completely useless on this.

They did say it will with Optical and everything I want to connect have to connect to the system, HDMI connection to the TV will result in 2.1 sound, the email was very short.

no such thing as 2.1 it will be 2.0 ie 2 channels.

dolby surround is encoded on 2.0 and always available on a pro logic decoder.

5.1 is a higher fi version of 2.0 but not essentially very different.

I've come across quite a few threads recently regarding surround sound from the mentioned all in one samsung unit on this forum and others that I use.
All owners have mentioned the lack of DD5.1 from an external source through the optical in. While the sound is DD5.1 from the built in DVD player.

At best OP you'll get dolby pro logic surround sound.

I find the user manuals from Samsung products to be next to useless. Not informative at all and quite often no mention of connection to external sources. I understand that most people have internet access to the E manual BUT not everyone has and the manufacturers should return to the user manuals of old instead of a piece of paper with the basics on it.