Audio/Video Question

[spierceisu]

I have a 5.1 System with and older 4K TV and an older 4K receiver. The receiver is 4K passthrough but not for copy protected content (guess that is a thing) so to get 4K content I have to send my Roku to my TV and then send HDMI back to the receiver for sound. The picture looks great but I am not getting Dolby Digital+ audio and am getting Dolby Digital 5.1 which I do notice a difference in Dolby Digital Plus. My receiver can upconvert to the TV and my TV will upscale, but it won't be full 4K. It also acts funny with the switching since my TV keeps toggling back and fourth between the home theater speakers and the TV speakers until it gets a signal and sometimes is on the wrong one. Can you tell much of a difference between true 4K and upconverted? Would the receiver and TV both upconverting get a better picture than just once upconverting? I do like the HDR of the 4K but the sound from Disney plus when I run through my TV is super glitchy and cuts out constantly for tiny blips and it is super annoying but it doesn't happen on other apps.

 

[NickTheGreat]

What kind of TV is it? Some TV's of the era (maybe still) didn't output 5.1 sound over HDMI ARC (audio return channel). I have had issue with that on my Sonos stuff and my old TV with the optical connection.

I don't know the answer to your question without replacing some piece of hardware in your setup, probably the receiver. I've been out of the game for a long time, so I don't know anything about AVR's and DRM stuff.

 

[aeroclone]

I think the value of the full 4K picture with HDR will depend on the quality of the TV and the quality of the video source. Sounds like you are primarily watching via Roku, so I would direct wire the Roku to the TV for a while to watch 4K HDR and see how much you appreciate the video improvement.

If you think the video makes a big difference to you then you may be due for a new receiver.

I just upgraded my receiver recently for a similar reason. My receiver was listed as 4k capable when I bought it, but at the time there wasn't a finalized 4k pass through standard. Flash forward to today and it only has the bandwidth for 4k at 24fps. So I upgraded the receiver. Added bonus, picked up a couple more HDMI ports and support for the latest surround modes like Dolby Atmos.

 

[spierceisu]

What kind of TV is it? Some TV's of the era (maybe still) didn't output 5.1 sound over HDMI ARC (audio return channel). I have had issue with that on my Sonos stuff and my old TV with the optical connection.

I don't know the answer to your question without replacing some piece of hardware in your setup, probably the receiver. I've been out of the game for a long time, so I don't know anything about AVR's and DRM stuff.

I agree that a new receiver would fix it, but not really wanting to spend the money on a new one. Keeping up with new tech is too expensive. I did upgrade my receiver a while back from a older Pioneer when HDMI was pretty new but it was a great deal on facebook marketplace with a set of speakers.

 

[spierceisu]

I think the value of the full 4K picture with HDR will depend on the quality of the TV and the quality of the video source. Sounds like you are primarily watching via Roku, so I would direct wire the Roku to the TV for a while to watch 4K HDR and see how much you appreciate the video improvement.

If you think the video makes a big difference to you then you may be due for a new receiver.

I just upgraded my receiver recently for a similar reason. My receiver was listed as 4k capable when I bought it, but at the time there wasn't a finalized 4k pass through standard. Flash forward to today and it only has the bandwidth for 4k at 24fps. So I upgraded the receiver. Added bonus, picked up a couple more HDMI ports and support for the latest surround modes like Dolby Atmos.

The receiver I have is not HDCP 2.2 compatible and is only HDCP 2.0 so trying to get 4K from my Roku doesn't come through. I don't have a 4K disc player and do watch a handful of Blurays on a Bluray player. I think the biggest annoyance is the sound cutting out constantly on my Disney Plus. I may just have to try going back to the receiver and see if upcoverting both will be OK. I like the 4K picture, but even with a universal remote to control all the things, the switching is still hit or miss with signals going back and fourth between the TV and receiver,

 

[alarson]

I think the value of the full 4K picture with HDR will depend on the quality of the TV and the quality of the video source. Sounds like you are primarily watching via Roku, so I would direct wire the Roku to the TV for a while to watch 4K HDR and see how much you appreciate the video improvement.

If you think the video makes a big difference to you then you may be due for a new receiver.

I just upgraded my receiver recently for a similar reason. My receiver was listed as 4k capable when I bought it, but at the time there wasn't a finalized 4k pass through standard. Flash forward to today and it only has the bandwidth for 4k at 24fps. So I upgraded the receiver. Added bonus, picked up a couple more HDMI ports and support for the latest surround modes like Dolby Atmos.

And honestly doesn't have to be super expensive if you've got a fairly basic setup.

Like, costco regularly has a couple different denon models that can handle the full bandwidth, have plenty of hdmi ports, etc for ~400