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PCM vs Dolby Digital
- Thread starter manujkansal
- Start date
- Replies 25
- Views 65,356
manujkansal
Newbie
but i have noticed that the audio is a bit distorted when i switch to PCM on Star Cricket HD.
sivanbalaji
Newbie
In general PCM gives only stereo and Dolby Digital gives 5.1 surround sound. If the PCM is multi channel i.e. 5.1 PCM then both PCM and Dolby Digital are same. The only difference is where the decoding of Dolby is happening. In case of 5.1 PCM output, the decoding is happening at the STB and in the other case its happening at the home theater.If your home theater can not handle/decode Dolby Digital then you have to go for PCM only. But I don't think so. If your home theater has optical IN then it might support Dolby digital too. This is an assumption only, not a fact.
venkat_9099
Tatasky+ User
Does this setting make any difference when connected to LCD via HDMI cable and no Home theater?
soodgautam
Jolly Blunt Roadrunner
Tata Sky's PCM is a joke it sounds just like their pathetic super compressed muddy stereo audio on SD channels so its of no use stick to dolby for better sound in HD channels
Tata Sky PCM does not works with HDMI. You have to have a coaxial cable to transmit the 5.1 Dolby from STB to Home theater - and it is awesome sound quality 🙂
Tata Sky PCM does not works with HDMI. You have to have a coaxial cable to transmit the 5.1 Dolby from STB to Home theater - and it is awesome sound quality 🙂
manujkansal
Newbie
The only difference is where the decoding of Dolby is happening. In case of 5.1 PCM output, the decoding is happening at the STB and in the other case its happening at the home theater.
This is not true. The place of decoding (digital to analog) depends on how you connect your STB to your receiver. If you connect it via a HDMI cable (some receivers support HDMI input), then digital audio (whether it's PCM or Dolby digital) will be decoded and played by the receiver. If you use a digital coaxial audio cable (connecting the S/PDIF output of your STB to your receiver), then again, your STB sends out digital audio, and the decoding is done at the receiver. However, if you connect the analog out (L/R) outputs of your STB to your receiver or TV, the decoding is done at the STB. Note that in this latter case, you get 2-channel audio, whether or not the original audio was Dolby digital. Since receivers are likely to have superior decoding capability, one should send in digital audio directly from the STB to the receiver (via HDMI or digital coaxial); it will decode and play it back on all your speakers. Perhaps, what you really mean is that, some processing is done at the STB when you select PCM (dolby digital to pcm); yes, but this pcm is 2-channel; so there is a downmix done.
---------- Post added at 08:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:18 PM ----------
Can you please specify 'coaxial cable' and where it is to be connected to the STB? 🙁
Thanks!
The coaxial cable is a digital coaxial cable. It should be connected to the S/PDIF output port of your STB, and the other end to the digital coaxial in on your receiver. S/PDIF is a digital audio interconnect.
---------- Post added at 08:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:21 PM ----------
I saw two options under audio settings : PCM and dolby digital. I was wondering which one is better for HD content like world cup. I have connected my STB to my LCD using an HDMI cable and STB to my Sony home theater system using an optical cable.
At the moment, Tata Sky's PCM ouput is 2-channel. So, if you choose PCM, you'll lose 5.1 dolby digital sound that most of their HD channel content comes with. As for the world cup on HD channels, as far as I remember, it was broadcast with dolby digital and I had got 5.1 channel audio on my receiver. I currently get dolby digital with Natgeo and Discovery (didn't check others), and the quality is very good. If your receiver can decode Dolby Digital (in all certainty it will), you should select "Dolby Digital". You should also mute your TV speakers while you do this, since there is no need to play the audio that's sent to your TV via the HDMI cable as you have another digital audio cable connected to your receiver; also you might get an echo if the processing delays are different.
---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 PM ----------
Does this setting make any difference when connected to LCD via HDMI cable and no Home theater?
If you just are connected to your TV via HDMI cable and no home theater, it shouldn't make a difference; why don't you listen to it and check? 🙂 Since you connected via HDMI, the digital to analog conversion is done at your TV. If you select Dolby digital and when your STB sends in HD content encoded with Dolby Digital, and your TV can't decode dolby digital, you won't get any audio (I'm not sure about this; Dolby digital is a discrete channel encoding, not matrixed unlike Dolby Surround). If it does, you'll just get audio on your 2 tv speakers (I haven't heard of a TV connected to 5.1 speakers). In this latter case, it wouldn't have mostly made a difference if you had just let the STB send out PCM (TataSky sends out 2-channel PCM); however, this latter option is better since your TV is not expected to have any sophisticated decoding capability, and it's better to get the 2-channel PCM straight from the STB. Note that in both cases, you are sending in digital audio to your TV. So, if you are just connected to your TV via a HDMI cable, I would recommend setting the STB audio output to PCM.
---------- Post added at 09:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:44 PM ----------
Tata Sky PCM does not works with HDMI. You have to have a coaxial cable to transmit the 5.1 Dolby from STB to Home theater - and it is awesome sound quality 🙂
The way TataSky HD is doing it at the moment, you are right: the audio sent out via HDMI is 2-channel PCM while the audio sent out via its digital coaxial out (S/PDIF) is dolby digital (whenever there is HD content encoded in DD). However, this was not true about a month ago. I was able to playback Dolby Digital via their HDMI output. I have the STB directly connected to my receiver via HDMI, and it used to decode and playback Dolby Digital (it's shown in its display). However, I only get PCM now via their HDMI. However, if I use its digital audio out (S/PDIF) connected via a coaxial cable to my receiver, I do get 5.1 dolby digital. My theory is that they changed it because some users who were just directly connected to their TV had trouble playing back whenever dolby digital was sent out. I'm not sure though why such users couldn't have just selected PCM and 2-channel PCM could have been sent out. Note that now, if you select "PCM", PCM is sent out via both HDMI and digital out; whereas if you use Dolby, you get Dolby on digital out (whenever you have such content) but 2-channel PCM on the HDMI.
This is not true. The place of decoding (digital to analog) depends on how you connect your STB to your receiver. If you connect it via a HDMI cable (some receivers support HDMI input), then digital audio (whether it's PCM or Dolby digital) will be decoded and played by the receiver. If you use a digital coaxial audio cable (connecting the S/PDIF output of your STB to your receiver), then again, your STB sends out digital audio, and the decoding is done at the receiver. However, if you connect the analog out (L/R) outputs of your STB to your receiver or TV, the decoding is done at the STB. Note that in this latter case, you get 2-channel audio, whether or not the original audio was Dolby digital. Since receivers are likely to have superior decoding capability, one should send in digital audio directly from the STB to the receiver (via HDMI or digital coaxial); it will decode and play it back on all your speakers. Perhaps, what you really mean is that, some processing is done at the STB when you select PCM (dolby digital to pcm); yes, but this pcm is 2-channel; so there is a downmix done.
---------- Post added at 08:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:18 PM ----------
Can you please specify 'coaxial cable' and where it is to be connected to the STB? 🙁
Thanks!
The coaxial cable is a digital coaxial cable. It should be connected to the S/PDIF output port of your STB, and the other end to the digital coaxial in on your receiver. S/PDIF is a digital audio interconnect.
---------- Post added at 08:29 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:21 PM ----------
I saw two options under audio settings : PCM and dolby digital. I was wondering which one is better for HD content like world cup. I have connected my STB to my LCD using an HDMI cable and STB to my Sony home theater system using an optical cable.
At the moment, Tata Sky's PCM ouput is 2-channel. So, if you choose PCM, you'll lose 5.1 dolby digital sound that most of their HD channel content comes with. As for the world cup on HD channels, as far as I remember, it was broadcast with dolby digital and I had got 5.1 channel audio on my receiver. I currently get dolby digital with Natgeo and Discovery (didn't check others), and the quality is very good. If your receiver can decode Dolby Digital (in all certainty it will), you should select "Dolby Digital". You should also mute your TV speakers while you do this, since there is no need to play the audio that's sent to your TV via the HDMI cable as you have another digital audio cable connected to your receiver; also you might get an echo if the processing delays are different.
---------- Post added at 08:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:29 PM ----------
Does this setting make any difference when connected to LCD via HDMI cable and no Home theater?
If you just are connected to your TV via HDMI cable and no home theater, it shouldn't make a difference; why don't you listen to it and check? 🙂 Since you connected via HDMI, the digital to analog conversion is done at your TV. If you select Dolby digital and when your STB sends in HD content encoded with Dolby Digital, and your TV can't decode dolby digital, you won't get any audio (I'm not sure about this; Dolby digital is a discrete channel encoding, not matrixed unlike Dolby Surround). If it does, you'll just get audio on your 2 tv speakers (I haven't heard of a TV connected to 5.1 speakers). In this latter case, it wouldn't have mostly made a difference if you had just let the STB send out PCM (TataSky sends out 2-channel PCM); however, this latter option is better since your TV is not expected to have any sophisticated decoding capability, and it's better to get the 2-channel PCM straight from the STB. Note that in both cases, you are sending in digital audio to your TV. So, if you are just connected to your TV via a HDMI cable, I would recommend setting the STB audio output to PCM.
---------- Post added at 09:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:44 PM ----------
Tata Sky PCM does not works with HDMI. You have to have a coaxial cable to transmit the 5.1 Dolby from STB to Home theater - and it is awesome sound quality 🙂
The way TataSky HD is doing it at the moment, you are right: the audio sent out via HDMI is 2-channel PCM while the audio sent out via its digital coaxial out (S/PDIF) is dolby digital (whenever there is HD content encoded in DD). However, this was not true about a month ago. I was able to playback Dolby Digital via their HDMI output. I have the STB directly connected to my receiver via HDMI, and it used to decode and playback Dolby Digital (it's shown in its display). However, I only get PCM now via their HDMI. However, if I use its digital audio out (S/PDIF) connected via a coaxial cable to my receiver, I do get 5.1 dolby digital. My theory is that they changed it because some users who were just directly connected to their TV had trouble playing back whenever dolby digital was sent out. I'm not sure though why such users couldn't have just selected PCM and 2-channel PCM could have been sent out. Note that now, if you select "PCM", PCM is sent out via both HDMI and digital out; whereas if you use Dolby, you get Dolby on digital out (whenever you have such content) but 2-channel PCM on the HDMI.
soodgautam
Jolly Blunt Roadrunner
Nice explanation nineth. ThanksPS:- welcome to the Forum 🙂
can someone help me?
i have 5.1 home theater but it is not having any optical / coaxial input..it just has 6 inputs (RCV)....i have Tata Sky HD..how to get 5.1 sound?
If your home theater can't really take in any digital input (coaxial or optical), you really can't get 6 channels into it as tata sky's set top box only has two channel (analog) output. So, the best you could do is to just get the downmixed 2-channel and use something like "Dolby pro-logic" in your home theater to play it on all your speakers (to be safe that the downmixed output is sent to the 2 analog out, set STB audio output conf to "PCM" instead of Dolby digital). I would blame your home theater instead of the STB. Frankly, it's poor design if something says 5.1 sound and can't take in digital audio in. Does your home theater even have a dolby digital decoder? If it really does, then it's amazing/weird why they didn't provide the same functionality for decoding from an external digital input (you may want to double-check your output ports once again). If it doesn't decode dolby digital, I wonder what kind of a "5.1 home theater" it is to not play dolby digital (the most widely used 5.1 channel format). If this is the case, then it probably is just a 2-channel to 5.1-channel upmixer through processing like "Dolby pro-logic" or their own custom stuff.
i have 5.1 home theater but it is not having any optical / coaxial input..it just has 6 inputs (RCV)....i have Tata Sky HD..how to get 5.1 sound?
If your home theater can't really take in any digital input (coaxial or optical), you really can't get 6 channels into it as tata sky's set top box only has two channel (analog) output. So, the best you could do is to just get the downmixed 2-channel and use something like "Dolby pro-logic" in your home theater to play it on all your speakers (to be safe that the downmixed output is sent to the 2 analog out, set STB audio output conf to "PCM" instead of Dolby digital). I would blame your home theater instead of the STB. Frankly, it's poor design if something says 5.1 sound and can't take in digital audio in. Does your home theater even have a dolby digital decoder? If it really does, then it's amazing/weird why they didn't provide the same functionality for decoding from an external digital input (you may want to double-check your output ports once again). If it doesn't decode dolby digital, I wonder what kind of a "5.1 home theater" it is to not play dolby digital (the most widely used 5.1 channel format). If this is the case, then it probably is just a 2-channel to 5.1-channel upmixer through processing like "Dolby pro-logic" or their own custom stuff.
can someone help me?
i have 5.1 home theater but it is not having any optical / coaxial input..it just has 6 inputs (RCV)....i have Tata Sky HD..how to get 5.1 sound?
There are two possibilities. Either your home theatre is an old HTIB (Home theatre in a box) setup which will only have 2 channel inputs. (I do have the same setup). In that case you will only be able to use two channels + the subwoofer. Else your home theatre is of a low end, multi channel amplifiers which will receive 5 separate inputs, amplifies it and output to 5 speakers + sub woofer. This can be used along with DVD players having 5 separate outputs, or PC with 5 channel outputs.
In either case, you do not have a built in digital input receiver which could decode a digital signal and send it to your home theatre speakers. Your best option is to get a home theatre receiver (cheapest ones are from Sony, or you can search for Denon/Onkyo/Boss etc). There is an option to get a digital converter which can input the signal via an optical input and separates them to 5 channels, but it will be more expensive than a good home theatre receiver.
i have 5.1 home theater but it is not having any optical / coaxial input..it just has 6 inputs (RCV)....i have Tata Sky HD..how to get 5.1 sound?
There are two possibilities. Either your home theatre is an old HTIB (Home theatre in a box) setup which will only have 2 channel inputs. (I do have the same setup). In that case you will only be able to use two channels + the subwoofer. Else your home theatre is of a low end, multi channel amplifiers which will receive 5 separate inputs, amplifies it and output to 5 speakers + sub woofer. This can be used along with DVD players having 5 separate outputs, or PC with 5 channel outputs.
In either case, you do not have a built in digital input receiver which could decode a digital signal and send it to your home theatre speakers. Your best option is to get a home theatre receiver (cheapest ones are from Sony, or you can search for Denon/Onkyo/Boss etc). There is an option to get a digital converter which can input the signal via an optical input and separates them to 5 channels, but it will be more expensive than a good home theatre receiver.
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