5.1 optical surround through Full HDTV, is it possible?

Post Reply New Topic

Alright, I have a small question and I think this is the right board to ask it.

I have a 42" Samsung Full High-Definition television, which is connected through a HDMI-cable to the Playstation 3 and to the Xbox 360 with a Xbox 360 AV cable (which also supports high-definition, It think up to 720p). I have an Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Surround System which I had connected with my Playstation 3 (Optical Cable) to get that nice 5.1 sound around me when I'm playing a game or watching a movie.

Now I want that for my Xbox 360 too, so what I did is connect the Logitech Z-5500 to my television with the optical cable, which then inputs the sounds from the PS3 and Xbox 360 through HDMI and AV and transmits it to the surround system. Very nice and all, so I can have 5.1 surround when playing on both systems.

Now my question is: When playing on the Playstation 3, would there be a better sound when I connect the Playstation 3 directly to the Logitech Z-5500, or doesn't it matter whether the Playstation 3 or the television transmits the sound to the speakers? Maybe I'm all wrong, but I think that my television only transmits 2.1 or 2.0 sounds to my speakers (so rear left and rear right won't be used or just let me hear the same sound as front left and front right).

What is the best thing to do?

if you're only connecting your xbox with the stardard AV cable then you are only connecting left and right audio? as a general rule of thumb the more devices and cables between the console and the speakers the worse the quality is going to be. As for losing true 5.1 going through the TV it seems like it should be fine, you would have to check the specs of the TV though. HDMI supports 5.1 so it all sounds like it should be working but it's up to the TV.

So what your saying is that the Xbox 360 should give me a 2.1 sound trough when using the Z-5500 and the Playstation 3 should give me a 5.1 sound? In that case I would be very happy, because in the case of the Xbox 360 it is still better than the build-in speakers in the television without having to worry that the Playstation 3 loses sound quality.

yes i would do it that way even if it made the ps3 2.1 just because.... tv speakers would be shhite compaired to the logi's

Only 720p is full high definition.

That wasn't the point of my question, but you're still wrong. 720p is HD Ready, 1080p is Full HD.

1080p is limited to 24 frames per second for broadcasting. Full 720p HD is 60 frames per second.

I have the old 5.1 xbox speakers which comes with a small led display indicating the type of signal (e.g. dolby digital 5.1, pro-logic, etc.)

When the xbox is plugged into the speakers directly the receiver indicates 5.1 dolby digital. When it receives audio from the tv via co-axial from hdmi it indicates dolby digital also. Conclusion: the signal is the same.

I don't think there is such a thing as degradation of digital signal as far as home entertainment/short distance goes (I may be wrong). i.e. so long as the receiving device can reconstitute the signal and figure out where the 1's are and where the 0's are, the signal will be perfect.