How do I see the type of audio being played by an external device?

[Fork]

Hi all,

If you've been following my posts recently then you'll be familiar with the fact that I'm struggling to find an external device that will play anything more than 2-Channel PCM Stereo through Sky Glass's HDMI inputs. I apologise if you're sitting back and sighing "not this guy again!" 🙂

I have a brand new 60" Sky Glass TV and am enjoying great sound on Sky Channels or via the built-in apps such as Amazon and Apple TV+.

However I'm only getting 2-channel stereo when I play content via an external device, e.g. a 4K Blu ray player.

Another person posted that they're getting full 5-channel sound when playing via an external Apple TV. I checked the Apple TV+ app built-in to Sky Glass and I can see that it only supports the Apple streaming service - i.e. it does not allow me to access any content I've purchased on the Apple iTunes Store.

Is any kind person able to tell me whether a hardware Apple TV device plays back anything other than 2-channel PCM stereo via the HDMI sockets? Even better, could you tell me how you know that?!

I'm quite happy to buy a hardware Apple TV if it plays back content with "proper" Dolby HD or DTS, but I really don't want to spend more money on another device that just plays back stereo!

Thanks all,

Fork.

[CoffeeDrinker]

I have a 1st generation Apple TV 4K box hooked up to HDMI2 on our 43" Glass. It definitely plays back content in Atmos. Apple TV+ and iTunes content plays in Atmos fine, as does Disney+. Can't test Netflix & Prime Atmos content as I don't pay for their top tiers at the moment.

Following picture is The Hobbit 4k iTunes purchase playing from Apple TV 4K box with the ... button on the Sky remote to display the Dolby Atmos & Vision badges.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. 4k iTunes purchase via 1st gen Apple TV 4K

[CoffeeDrinker]

Addendum: Pkaying anything via my Sony X800 M2 4k BluRay player only played back as 2 channel stereo, whether Dolby Atmos/TrueHD from 4k & regular BluRay down to vanilla Dolby Digital on DVD.

[Fork]

Thanks @CoffeeDrinker - you also very helpfully replied to one of my previous posts regarding this.

I've now purchased an Apple TV device (new, from Apple) and will hook it up and report back on what I see when pressing the three dots on the Sky remote when playing content.

Thanks for taking the time to reply once again!

Fork.

[CoffeeDrinker]

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@Fork wrote:

Thanks @CoffeeDrinker - you also very helpfully replied to one of my previous posts regarding this.

I've now purchased an Apple TV device (new, from Apple) and will hook it up and report back on what I see when pressing the three dots on the Sky remote when playing content.

Thanks for taking the time to reply once again!

Fork.

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I hadn't realised I was replying to the same person again! I blame the lack of coffee before posting...

Frustratingly, the Glass TV only shows the badges for Dolby Atmos & Dolby Vision, presumably a Dolby licensing requirement. Content in 7.1, 5.1 & HDR10 doesn't show any badge at all.

Not sure if there is an Apple TV box display overlay (developer mode maybe?) similar to the Sony disc player that shows the source audio config & channels and what is being delivered to the Glass TV via HDMI. I've assumed (but cannot prove) that if Apple TV can deliver Atmos via DD+ to Glass then it can also deliver 7.1 & 5.1.

[Fork]

Yes indeed, it's very frustrating that there's no button on the Sky remote to display the exact audio and video information being presented or decoded from the remote device. The Dolby logos must indeed be a licensing requirement as you say.

I haven't used an Apple TV device before so I'll see if there's a button on the remote (or possibly even Developer Mode as you suggest) to try and get that info for non-Dolby content.