Will SONY provide firmware update to support eARC?

[nucleoXXI]

Hello,

I've been trying to find further information, but so far no luck. Perhaps someone here knows?

Do you know or is it feasible to think that SONY will provide a firmware update to i.e. A1 OLED sets to support eARC?

What I've been told is that the competition, SAMSUNG will support it later for  i.e. KS8000.

Reason why I would like to know is that I would like to update my home theather setup with a new A/V receiver. The model that I'm interested in (2016 line-up) will not support eARC and will not be updated via firmware (but better news is that the price will drop). The new model (2017) which is set to be released any week now will however support eARC onboard, but for much higher cost.

[Jecht_Sin]

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Kuschelmonschter wrote:

As for lossy Atmos (as DD+ bistream), yes.

No lossless Atmos (as True HD) though. Should also be true for DTS-HD.

At least that is what I think. AVR also has to support DD+ over ARC though.

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My AVR supports DD+ over ARC! How could I test it with lossy Atmos? 

[Kuschelmonschter]

Check out the Helicopter sample here. According to MediaInfo, it has a lossy DD+/E-AC3 Atmos and a lossless True HD Atmos track.

[Kuschelmonschter]

I have just seen that you have the Yamaha AVR. It supports DD+ but not the Atmos metadata...

[nucleoXXI]

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@Kuschelmonschter wrote:

As for lossy Atmos (as DD+ bistream), yes.

No lossless Atmos (as True HD) though. Should also be true for DTS-HD.

At least that is what I think. AVR also has to support DD+ over ARC though.

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Based on your thoughts it means eARC support on a new AV receiver is really to be considered if a service like netflix or TV channel distributor would start offering lossless i.e. DTS HD MA and Dolby Atmos?

Which in that case feels unlikely considering the bandwidth.

Correct me if I've misunderstood.

added text after the latest edit:

But let's suppose the TVs Netflix app would within near future (1-3 years) support lossless HD audio and that Android TV's are updated with the latest formats and etc. Then the only way for you to enjoy the HD audio would be that the AV receiver has eARC support right? Would it also require the TV to have HDMI 2.1?

[Kuschelmonschter]

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Based on your thoughts it means eARC support on a new AV receiver is really to be considered if a service like netflix or TV channel distributor would start offering lossless i.e. DTS HD MA and Dolby Atmos?

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It would even make sense today as you can already play lossless audio in players like Kodi or Plex.

I wonder whether lossless multi-channel audio makes a lot of sense for streaming services like Netflix though. I am fine with traditional Dolby/DTS. Those are still perfectly enough for home use in my opinion. I spent my money on a sound system with good analog parts to fully leverage those formats. And it is probably much better than many systems which do support lossless audio. If you really want to hear the difference you will have to spend money somewhere in the area of a new mid-class car.

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Then the only way for you to enjoy the HD audio would be that the AV receiver has eARC support right? Would it also require the TV to have HDMI 2.1?

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No. As you stated yourself already, a lot of today's devices can be updated to support eARC without actually requiring HDMI 2.1. You will find out whether you are among the lucky ones .

[nucleoXXI]

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@Kuschelmonschter wrote:

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Then the only way for you to enjoy the HD audio would be that the AV receiver has eARC support right? Would it also require the TV to have HDMI 2.1?

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No. As you stated yourself already, a lot of today's devices can be updated to support eARC without actually requiring HDMI 2.1. You will find out whether you are among the lucky ones .

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Hahaha... Yeah while I was changing our babys diaper a few minutes ago I was thinking.... Wait a minute what did I just say there?  

Yeah I suppose you are right, time will tell. 

But as everything looks right now for lossless HD Audio from i.e. Netflix, Sony Android TVs must be updated to support eARC?

But for lossy HD Audio (Netflix Dolby Atmos) everything is up to date for running from Sonys Android sets (granted you have an AV receiver which has Dolby Atmos support)?

Thanks for all the input btw! 

[Kuschelmonschter]

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But as everything looks right now for lossless HD Audio from i.e. Netflix, Sony Android TVs must be updated to support eARC?

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I am just speculating here, not knowing the very details of ARC or eARC specs, but I think that eARC is the common denominator for lossless audio.

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But for lossy HD Audio (Netflix Dolby Atmos) everything is up to date for running from Sonys Android sets (granted you have an AV receiver which has Dolby Atmos support)?

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From what I have read, yes. I am not sure whether every AVR which supports Atmos also accepts it over ARC. But I suppose most do...

[Jecht_Sin]

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Kuschelmonschter wrote:

I have just seen that you have the Yamaha AVR. It supports DD+ but not the Atmos metadata...

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Yeah.. It was a long shot. Plex passes the DD+ audio through but there is no sound. Also it complains that the format m2ts isn't supported (but it direct plays it just fine using AC3). SPMC plays it but with EAC3 there is no audio (it doesn't even bother to convert it, as it does instead with Doldy TruedHD). Sony's Video simply doesn't recognize the m2ts format.

Bizarre.. The PS4 plays it with Plex using EAC3. I am not sure if Plex is converting anything (the Plex interface on PS4 doesn't have any info about it and the server CPU usage is very low). Probably it is because the PS4 itself usually does the conversion into something the AVR understands. No matter if set in Linear PCM or Bitstream Dolby/DTS.

Well, not that it is a big deal. With 5.1 speakers Dolby Atmos and DTS:X are practically useless.  

[rooobb]

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Jecht_Sin ha scritto:

 [..] Sony's Video simply doesn't recognize the m2ts format.[..]

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Are you sure about that?!? Sony Handycams record HD videos in m2ts format and Video app is able to read it .......

[Kuschelmonschter]

m2ts is supported but not with any AV format inside... It probably does not like the Atmos...