Does HDMI do 5.1 audio, specifically under Win 11?

MajorLanGod <lonelydad58@gmail.com> wrote:

> Does HDMI do 5.1 audio, specifically under Win 11?

https://www.samsung.com/in/support/tv-audio-video/why-to-use-hdmi-cables-hdmi-v-s-component-cables/
"HDMI supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD for 7.1-channel sound"

Since it supports 7.1, it should also support 5.1.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_comparison
Look at the table to see how many channels are supported by each HDMI
version.

As to what, if any, audio is supported by the backpanel connectors for
your motherboard depends on what that motherboard chose to support.
You'll have to lookup the specs on your motherboard.

https://boomspeaker.com/5-1-sound-from-pc-hdmi/

Also, just because the mobo had HDMI audio support at its connector
doesn't mean audio is supported at the other end of the HDMI cable, like
at your monitor. You need to investigate what the hardware supports at
each end of the HDMI cable.

On 2/4/2023 12:55 AM, VanguardLH wrote:
> MajorLanGod <lonelydad58@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Does HDMI do 5.1 audio, specifically under Win 11?
>
> https://www.samsung.com/in/support/tv-audio-video/why-to-use-hdmi-cables-hdmi-v-s-component-cables/
> "HDMI supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD for 7.1-channel sound"
>
> Since it supports 7.1, it should also support 5.1.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_comparison
> Look at the table to see how many channels are supported by each HDMI
> version.
>
> As to what, if any, audio is supported by the backpanel connectors for
> your motherboard depends on what that motherboard chose to support.
> You'll have to lookup the specs on your motherboard.
>
> https://boomspeaker.com/5-1-sound-from-pc-hdmi/
>
> Also, just because the mobo had HDMI audio support at its connector
> doesn't mean audio is supported at the other end of the HDMI cable, like
> at your monitor. You need to investigate what the hardware supports at
> each end of the HDMI cable.
>

The least-encumbered standard is 8 channel LPCM ("free").
This should work with the two speakers in your LCD display.
LPCM stands for Linear Pulse Code Modulation which are
uncompressed DAC voltage samples.

The Dolby items are licensed technology. Hollywood content
licenses some of this, and more than one audio track could
be on the BluRay disc.

My video card would have an HDAUDIO driver which
handles computer sound to the 8 channel LPCM
on the HDMI cable.

The audio can be set up, as long as the gear is
all cabled up. Then any CEC or ARC or eARC or
whatever, can work.

[Picture]

https://i.postimg.cc/MZ0cNx89/HDMI-Audio-Maybe.gif

I don't have any gear like this, no fancy Sound Bar, so
cannot test TV Room Configurations. That's why I had to
cheat a little in that picture, to show the dynamic
possibilities in the system settings.

The onboard RealTek analog audio chip, and its driver, would
only be involved with ancient HDMI video cards that had a passthru
digital connector on the top edge. Modern video cards have the HDAUDIO
right on the video card, and it works as soon as a driver
from the video card company is loaded.

With Windows 10, all the drivers load automatically. In Device Manager
I have:

Sound, video and game controllers
AMD High Definition Audio Device (Turned off - this is the GPU inside the CPU)
NVidia High Definition Audio 8ch LPCM over HDMI
Realtek Audio Analog audio choice

The Windows controls allow you to configure the device used
and the details of that port and its speaker configuration.
Clicking the Test button, causes sound to come out of each
speaker.

Paul

VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote in news:qorunrsxblp3$.dlg@v.nguard.lh:

> MajorLanGod <lonelydad58@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Does HDMI do 5.1 audio, specifically under Win 11?
>
> https://www.samsung.com/in/support/tv-audio-video/why-to-use-hdmi-cable
> s-hdmi-v-s-component-cables/ "HDMI supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD
> for 7.1-channel sound"
>
> Since it supports 7.1, it should also support 5.1.
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_comparison
> Look at the table to see how many channels are supported by each HDMI
> version.
>
> As to what, if any, audio is supported by the backpanel connectors for
> your motherboard depends on what that motherboard chose to support.
> You'll have to lookup the specs on your motherboard.
>
> https://boomspeaker.com/5-1-sound-from-pc-hdmi/
>
> Also, just because the mobo had HDMI audio support at its connector
> doesn't mean audio is supported at the other end of the HDMI cable,
> like at your monitor. You need to investigate what the hardware
> supports at each end of the HDMI cable.
>

My reason for asking: Running on a basic laptop - Acer Aspire 5 - and
recently upgraded froma pair of cheap external speakers to a Klipst
stereo plus subwoofer. Makes a great difference just adding better bass
to stereo. That got me thinking about the great 5.1 setup I had with my
tower I no longer have. That mobo had all the plugs, etc. for true 5.1. I
would have to at a minimum add some software to deliver 5.1 sound, and
just wanted to make sure HDMI can handle it.

On 2/4/2023 4:46 PM, MajorLanGod wrote:
> VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote in news:qorunrsxblp3$.dlg@v.nguard.lh:
>
>> MajorLanGod <lonelydad58@gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Does HDMI do 5.1 audio, specifically under Win 11?
>>
>> https://www.samsung.com/in/support/tv-audio-video/why-to-use-hdmi-cable
>> s-hdmi-v-s-component-cables/ "HDMI supports Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD
>> for 7.1-channel sound"
>>
>> Since it supports 7.1, it should also support 5.1.
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI#Version_comparison
>> Look at the table to see how many channels are supported by each HDMI
>> version.
>>
>> As to what, if any, audio is supported by the backpanel connectors for
>> your motherboard depends on what that motherboard chose to support.
>> You'll have to lookup the specs on your motherboard.
>>
>> https://boomspeaker.com/5-1-sound-from-pc-hdmi/
>>
>> Also, just because the mobo had HDMI audio support at its connector
>> doesn't mean audio is supported at the other end of the HDMI cable,
>> like at your monitor. You need to investigate what the hardware
>> supports at each end of the HDMI cable.
>>
>
> My reason for asking: Running on a basic laptop - Acer Aspire 5 - and
> recently upgraded froma pair of cheap external speakers to a Klipst
> stereo plus subwoofer. Makes a great difference just adding better bass
> to stereo. That got me thinking about the great 5.1 setup I had with my
> tower I no longer have. That mobo had all the plugs, etc. for true 5.1. I
> would have to at a minimum add some software to deliver 5.1 sound, and
> just wanted to make sure HDMI can handle it.
>

There are a couple situations with sound.

Some of them, the source media already has content with
the correct number of channels.

Passing this content to the equipment, it just comes out
of the speakers, and only a volume control (on the peripheral)
is offered for interaction. The computer does little to influence
the audio.

In analog sound systems, different brands use HRTF. There was
a key patent for this, various small chip companies were using it,
then Creative managed to buy the patent and it then stripped
the other small companies (which were licensing it) of using it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Head-related_transfer_function

In this rant, you can see that some aspects of sound transformation,
were degraded.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/40qhph/how_creative_nearly_brought_back_great_pc_audio/

All I remember, is at least some sound cards, would allow transforming
from a 2 channel setup to 5.1 (which isn't guaranteed to sound great),
and perhaps from 7.1 to 5.1 (where there is sufficient information
content to do a good job). But you might not see this offered in
GUI interfaces, they way it used to be offered in older OSes.

If you have a six channel FLAC recording, it might not come out
of the speakers properly.

So while it is fun to pretend your brand new 5.1 or 7.1 amp and
speakers will be "functional all the time", for a lot of the time
it'll be in 2.0 mode or 2.1 mode ("yay, my sub works").

Early in Windows 10, the custom graphical equalizer might have worked
on your PC, but for all I know, it might have been stomped out
for good now. My Soundmax had an equalizer.

Sound on Windows, has almost as sad a history as sound on Linux (PulseAudio).
There was at least one competing sound standard, that might have concentrated
on the sound aspect and not the ego of the developer.

So if you can't figure out, at a given instant, why the sound
seems "goofy" and not a correct projection, sound has a long
history, and lots of twists and turns.

Paul

On 2023-02-04 23:20, Paul wrote:
> On 2/4/2023 4:46 PM, MajorLanGod wrote:
>> VanguardLH <V@nguard.LH> wrote in news:qorunrsxblp3$.dlg@v.nguard.lh:
>>> MajorLanGod <lonelydad58@gmail.com> wrote:

> Sound on Windows, has almost as sad a history as sound on Linux (PulseAudio).
> There was at least one competing sound standard, that might have concentrated
> on the sound aspect and not the ego of the developer.
>
> So if you can't figure out, at a given instant, why the sound
> seems "goofy" and not a correct projection, sound has a long
> history, and lots of twists and turns.

New twist on Linux: Pipewire.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PipeWire

--
Cheers, Carlos.