Technical Issues and Questions

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fiddlesticks
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1826 Post by fiddlesticks » Thu May 20, 2021 2:59 pm

Michael Kerpan wrote:
Wed May 19, 2021 8:41 am
fiddlesticks -- why not try (borrow, buy) a latest generation streaming device before giving up on the TV itself. It's a lot cheaper. ;-)
That seems like sound advice. I'll try that. Thanks!

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1827 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu May 20, 2021 5:51 pm

fiddlesticks -- Hope it works!

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fiddlesticks
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1828 Post by fiddlesticks » Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:07 am

I think you have solved my problem. Thanks!

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1829 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Jun 08, 2021 11:00 am

Glad I could help!

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1830 Post by therewillbeblus » Wed Jun 23, 2021 9:57 pm

So I bought this RCA/HDMI converter following my request on the previous page but can't for the life of me figure out how to make it work from my Roku TV to my soundbar. The soundar isn't popping up as an audio option on my TV no matter where I put the chords... is it possible I ordered the wrong adapter or can anyone help me troubleshoot this?

Also, this is my soundbar, in case that matters- Thanks

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Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1831 Post by Adam X » Thu Jun 24, 2021 12:08 am

I guess my first question would be how are you using the soundbar? Unless you’ve got your wording back to front, I think your doing things backwards.

If you’re simply sending audio from the TV/source to the soundbar, you want to go from an OUTPUT on the TV, to an INPUT on the soundbar.

Based on the available pictures & what you’ve said so far (though without knowing the exact TV you have it’s hard to be certain), you should just be able to go from the stereo RCA outputs on your TV (white & red), to the inputs on the sound bar.

On the TV you’d need to go into settings and tell the TV which port you’re outputting the audio from.

The HDMI converter you’ve bought is designed to convert the analogue RCA signal (input, stereo audio & composite video) to the digital HDMI signal (output). So it likely wouldn’t work sending a signal in the opposite direction, as it’s designed to upscale the video signal.

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1832 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jun 24, 2021 12:33 am

So the annoying thing about Roku TVs is that they also only have inputs, which is why you need an adapter to serve as the output from the TV between it and the sound bar’s input. I was hoping that the HDMI port would work for that, but beyond that abstract piece of info I have no idea. I’m wondering if I need the other kind of RCA/HDMI adapter with external pieces (male, I guess?) as seen here. None of the online articles, message boards or YT videos are helpful.

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fdm
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1833 Post by fdm » Thu Jun 24, 2021 4:11 am

Just looking at amazon and guessing what your tv might be, picking the TCL 50-inch Class 4-Series 4K UHD Smart Roku LED TV - 50S435, 2021 Model, the picture with its inputs and outputs on its side, and looking at the rather poor picture at amazon of your sound bar's inputs, I would suspect your only option for an audio connection aside from the RCA audio output is an optical cable. Plug the optical cable into the tv and into the sound bar, that gives you a digital connection. (Otherwise it looks like both that tv and the sound bar have headphone input connectors, so perhaps this cable might work for that option.) I'd try the optical first, since that cable came with the sound bar.

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Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1834 Post by Adam X » Thu Jun 24, 2021 4:41 am

The soundbar appears to come with a stereo RCA > 3.5mm (1/8”) cable, so failing the Optical cable option, you could use that to connect w/ the TV’s headphone output.

That TV model actually has an HDMI port w/ ARC (audio return channel) functionality, which means you can use it to send audio from the TV.

Though the soundbar would need an HDMI input for that to be an option for you. If fdm guessed wrong, the TV model you’re using would be helpful.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1835 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jun 24, 2021 9:02 am

Thanks, my TV is the Element 50" 4K UHD Roku TV. I've tried connecting an HDMI through my ARC port on the TV, and while my soundbar doesn't have an HDMI port, the RCA adapter does, so I figured that with the HDMI listed as output, this would help merge them. However, no such luck- my TV doesn't recognize my soundbar as a device to connect. I don't seem to have an Optical cable anymore- though I do see there are ports on my TV and soundbar, from everything I've heard the Roku TV's ports are all inputs so it wouldn't help, especially because my adapter doesn't have a place for that cable. I don't really want to keep buying cords and adapters for trial and error either... at this point I'm close to just returning this adapter and buying a new soundbar that might be more up-to-date, but I'd be lost there too.

Does anybody have a Roku TV who uses other speakers besides the TV ones?

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Adam X
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1836 Post by Adam X » Thu Jun 24, 2021 10:04 am

I'd return that HDMI converter regardless, as it won't do what you're after. The HDMI Output port on the box is sending the signal to the HDMI cable, not the other way around.

As you seem to've misplaced the optical cable (it'd look something like this), hopefully you still have the other one I mentioned (stereo RCA > 3.5mm) - this should work without issue. Left (white) & Right (red) RCA's into the soundbar, the 3.5mm jack into the TV's Headphone port.

The below quote's from near the start of your TV's manual:
Connecting headphones or analog soundbar

You can connect headphones or an analog soundbar (not provided) to the TV’s headphone jack.

Tip: Inserting a plug in the headphone jack disables the sound from the TV’s built-in speakers.

Warning: Loud noise can damage your hearing. When using headphones, use the lowest volume setting on your headphones that still lets you hear the sound.

Select models also have an audio line out connection that is not affected by TV volume or mute settings and does not disable the TV speakers. Use this connection when you want to use your amplifier or soundbar to control the TV volume. To turn off the TV’s built-in speakers, from the Home screen menu, navigate to Settings > Audio > TV speakers and change the setting.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1837 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jun 24, 2021 11:57 am

Thanks! Unfortunately I can't find the Stereo RCA> 3.5mm jack, so if I purchase one of those I should be all set? If the optical cable is better I can do that too

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fdm
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:25 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1838 Post by fdm » Thu Jun 24, 2021 1:02 pm

therewillbeblus wrote:
Thu Jun 24, 2021 11:57 am
Thanks! Unfortunately I can't find the Stereo RCA> 3.5mm jack, so if I purchase one of those I should be all set? If the optical cable is better I can do that too
Get an optical cable. It would be better (and your sound bar manual agrees (page 7)). Odds are pretty high the optical connection on your tv is an audio output. No need to splurge, just get one of the monoprice ones on amazon, and make sure it's long enough to reach between the two.

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Adam X
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1839 Post by Adam X » Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:26 pm

Yep, get the optical cable.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1840 Post by therewillbeblus » Thu Jun 24, 2021 3:43 pm

Okay cool, thanks- even though I'm not getting thoroughly clear answers online, it seems that my TV should work with the optical cable (it's not labeled "output" on my TV, but if it doesn't work I'll just return it again). Thanks again for your help, fdm and Adam X!

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1841 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Jun 26, 2021 11:19 pm

Just wanted to confirm that the optical cable works- very strange that the soundbar still won't show up as a device to visibly connect on the Roku platform, but fiddling with random inputs on the soundbar helped and the sound is coming through. Again, very grateful for your help!

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Adam X
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1842 Post by Adam X » Sun Jun 27, 2021 6:29 am

Glad we could help.

kekid
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1843 Post by kekid » Sun Jul 18, 2021 3:13 pm

Can someone recommend an external DVD/Blu Ray/4K UHD player for Mac? I am not sure one exists. If one does not, what is the best choice? Thanks!

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tenia
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Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1844 Post by tenia » Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:53 am

kekid wrote:
Sat Jul 24, 2021 7:56 pm
I don't know if this is a reasonable request, but I would truly appreciate if someone could give a short tutorial on how to interpret Caps-a-Holic tables and charts. If this better belongs to the "Technical" thread, please feel free to move it there. Thank you.
I'm not sure exactly what you need, but basically, caps-a-holic comparisons are split into 3 sections :
- the upper part where you get to select some comparative screencaptures
- the middle part with the selected comparison
- the lower part with BD Info scans (encode info) from the selected discs (note : it doesn't appear for DVDs)

The upper band is quite intuitive : just click on a cap to select it.

The middle part : you need to either click on "Fullscreen comparison" (which will load a Full Screencap comparison) or select various level of zooms (detail / Zoom / Ultra Zoom) and click on a part of the cap to load a comparison. It then is a mouse in / mouse out comparison : if your mouse is over the picture, you have 1 version, if the mouse is out of it, you get the other version. For instance, here, I chose the 2 BDs of Pickup, picked the 1st cap and selected Fullscreen comparison, which loaded this page. Moving over or out of the cap switches from the Criterion disc (mouse out) to the MoC disc (mouse over).

The lower part shows the encode info of both releases : you can see the movie's file is slightly larger on the Criterion disc (24,246,650,880 bytes vs 21.681.233.280 bytes), and since the audio options are exactly the same (1 LPCM 1.0 48/24 track), it's solely because the average video bitrate is slightly higher on the Criterion disc (35944 kbps vs 31995 kbps). You also can see the subtitling options (ENG SDH on both), and you then have an instant video bitrate graph for both releases, which show how the bitrate varies over the course of the movie. You can see the bitrate varies a bit more on the MoC disc than on the video and have bigger differences between the highs and the lows. The Criterion is almost constant bitrate and is quite flat, ie almost no variation (except for 1 drop and 2 peaks).

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RSTooley
Joined: Wed May 29, 2013 9:35 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1845 Post by RSTooley » Wed Aug 04, 2021 7:33 pm

I have maybe the dumbest question in the history of the forum.

I have a 55'' 4K HDR enabled television and a ton of Blu-rays. I do not own any 4K Blu-rays.

Would my Blu-ray collection look better when played on a 4K Blu-ray player or does my TV already do all of the hard upscaling work? Would regular 1080p Blu-rays see any benefit from a player that has HDR capabilities?

Sorry if this has been asked before. I'm naive to this topic and I couldn't find a definitive answer on the forum.

I do plan on buying 4K discs in the near future, but I'm just curious as to how my current 1080p collection will look. Thank you!

kekid
Joined: Tue Nov 02, 2004 9:55 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1846 Post by kekid » Wed Aug 04, 2021 10:19 pm

tenia wrote:
Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:53 am
kekid wrote:
Sat Jul 24, 2021 7:56 pm
I don't know if this is a reasonable request, but I would truly appreciate if someone could give a short tutorial on how to interpret Caps-a-Holic tables and charts. If this better belongs to the "Technical" thread, please feel free to move it there. Thank you.
I'm not sure exactly what you need, but basically, caps-a-holic comparisons are split into 3 sections :
- the upper part where you get to select some comparative screencaptures
- the middle part with the selected comparison
- the lower part with BD Info scans (encode info) from the selected discs (note : it doesn't appear for DVDs)

The upper band is quite intuitive : just click on a cap to select it.

The middle part : you need to either click on "Fullscreen comparison" (which will load a Full Screencap comparison) or select various level of zooms (detail / Zoom / Ultra Zoom) and click on a part of the cap to load a comparison. It then is a mouse in / mouse out comparison : if your mouse is over the picture, you have 1 version, if the mouse is out of it, you get the other version. For instance, here, I chose the 2 BDs of Pickup, picked the 1st cap and selected Fullscreen comparison, which loaded this page. Moving over or out of the cap switches from the Criterion disc (mouse out) to the MoC disc (mouse over).

The lower part shows the encode info of both releases : you can see the movie's file is slightly larger on the Criterion disc (24,246,650,880 bytes vs 21.681.233.280 bytes), and since the audio options are exactly the same (1 LPCM 1.0 48/24 track), it's solely because the average video bitrate is slightly higher on the Criterion disc (35944 kbps vs 31995 kbps). You also can see the subtitling options (ENG SDH on both), and you then have an instant video bitrate graph for both releases, which show how the bitrate varies over the course of the movie. You can see the bitrate varies a bit more on the MoC disc than on the video and have bigger differences between the highs and the lows. The Criterion is almost constant bitrate and is quite flat, ie almost no variation (except for 1 drop and 2 peaks).
Thank you very much, Tenia. Very helpful to me.

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1847 Post by senseabove » Wed Aug 25, 2021 2:28 pm

I'm starting to try and figure out what it would actually take to make the jump to 4k UHD and wondering whether I'd also be required to upgrade my receiver at this point. I have an older, slimline Marantz NR1504 receiver that I'd rather not replace if I don't absolutely need to (why does it seem like all modern receivers are HUGE), but it's not capable of passing 4k and only has ARC, not eARC. If/when I do get a 4k TV (leaning toward the LG CX, if I decide to do this sooner rather than later, in case that makes a difference), I should be able to plug anything 4k directly into the TV, and then use the ARC HDMI port to pass 5.1 audio from 4k devices through the TV back to the receiver, while still having HD/non-4k devices connected correctly to the receiver.

So, for example, if an Oppo BD player and game console are connecting directly to the receiver, a 4k UHD player and a 4k streaming device connecting directly to the TV, and the receiver and TV are connected via ARC, it should allow surround audio from either end to go through the receiver and video from either end to go through the TV.

Have I understood that correctly? I've been able to find Q&As about going one way or the other (e.g. 4k playback device-> 4k TV->e/ARC->receiver or soundbar), but I've not found anything about going both ways in the same system with a receiver, so I just wanted to make sure.

Also, from what I've read, I could still get 5.1 surround sound (though not uncompressed surround) with just ARC, not eARC, available on the receiver, and an optical TOSLink connection wouldn't wouldn't be an upgrade over ARC.

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Adam X
Joined: Thu Apr 16, 2009 5:04 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1848 Post by Adam X » Wed Aug 25, 2021 4:53 pm

Not quite what you're trying to do (and I'm still in regular HD land), but I use ARC via my Oppo BD player to route analogue audio to my Hi-Fi amp when I hook up my laptop to my TV via HDMI.

I've got the HDMI cable between the TV & Oppo connected to the ARC-enabled port on each (which I also use to send video from the Oppo when I'm watching a disc). First I select the input on the Oppo, then I get a message on the TV telling me it's ready for me to choose an input on the TV. Works with no problems, can't see why it wouldn't do the same with your setup. I'd imagine the receiver's manual would walk you though it?

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fdm
Joined: Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:25 pm

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1849 Post by fdm » Wed Aug 25, 2021 5:45 pm

I would imagine that your 4K disc player would have two HDMI outputs, in which case you could probably use one of the HDMI outputs to feed the receiver directly for audio and the other to feed the tv directly for 4k video. No ARC needed this way. That HDMI connection to your receiver would then provide you with lossless 5.1 audio, whereas with plain old ARC you would be stuck with lossy DD 5.1 at best.

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senseabove
Joined: Wed Dec 02, 2015 3:07 am

Re: Technical Issues and Questions

#1850 Post by senseabove » Thu Aug 26, 2021 2:48 am

Adam X wrote:
Wed Aug 25, 2021 4:53 pm
Not quite what you're trying to do (and I'm still in regular HD land), but I use ARC via my Oppo BD player to route analogue audio to my Hi-Fi amp when I hook up my laptop to my TV via HDMI.

I've got the HDMI cable between the TV & Oppo connected to the ARC-enabled port on each (which I also use to send video from the Oppo when I'm watching a disc). First I select the input on the Oppo, then I get a message on the TV telling me it's ready for me to choose an input on the TV. Works with no problems, can't see why it wouldn't do the same with your setup. I'd imagine the receiver's manual would walk you though it?
Thanks! That's at least evidence of a two-way set-up working in a non-soundbar situation.

Since the receiver is from the pre-4k/eARC era, I didn't feel too confident the manual would be all that helpful about possible incompatibilities.
fdm wrote:
Wed Aug 25, 2021 5:45 pm
I would imagine that your 4K disc player would have two HDMI outputs, in which case you could probably use one of the HDMI outputs to feed the receiver directly for audio and the other to feed the tv directly for 4k video. No ARC needed this way. That HDMI connection to your receiver would then provide you with lossless 5.1 audio, whereas with plain old ARC you would be stuck with lossy DD 5.1 at best.
Ah, I've never paid attention to there being an audio-only HDMI port before, since I've never had need of it, but it does look to be pretty standard. Thanks for pointing that out.

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