Will the M1330 HDMI output 1080p video and 5.1 audio at the same time?

Will the M1330 HDMI output 1080p video and 5.1 audio at the same time? I can't seem to find the answer to this. I'm planning on getting a Plasma TV with a DVD 5.1 Audio system.

Not too sure if the TV will send the 5.1 audio signal to the DVD speakers via the digital optical ports... but one problem at a time .

 

HDMI supports, on a single cable, any TV or PC video format, including standard, enhanced, and high-definition video, and up to 8 channels of digital audio. So yes it does it at the same time. You will need a AV receiver attached to your Plasma to decode the sound to the other speakers.

 

Ok thanks, I had just read somewhere that the M1330 doesn't output 5.1 audio via its HDMI port.

 

It definitely does output audio, though I only have stereo sound on my LCD so I don't know to what degree audio it does.

Since it's a digital transmission on a standard cable, one would assume that if the standard specifies 7.1, that Dell's implementation would, too.

 

like I said in my first post. HDMI supports up to 8 channels.

EDIT:
of sound that is

 

I definitely get 5.1 via the HDMI on my 1330!

 

It is pretty common knowledge that HDMI supports 8 channel, LPCM, 192 kHz, 24-bit audio if it is documented in Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDMI

The question is: What does the M1330 support? It does support 1080p with 5.1 AC3 sound over HDMI. But it is almost for sure that it won't support 8 channel LPCM.

It is correct that the intel HDA of the ICH8-M southbridge that is used in the M1330 does indeed support up to 8 channels in up to 96kHz:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_HDA

The question how does the HDA get into the HDMI stream? If you check your device manager you'll find the HardwareID of the HDMI device which is:
HDAUDIO\FUNC_01&VEN_1095&DEV_1392&SUBSYS_1028020A
This is taken from a GM965/X3100 intel graphics enquipped M1330. But it would be interesting to see whether the same device is used in the GeForce 8400M GS enquipped ones.

This is the Silicon Image 174 HDMI transmitter. I don't think you'll find a datasheet for this one. It's similar to this device:
http://www.siliconimage.com/products/product.aspx?pid=6

Except that it does weave audio and video together. Without a datasheet I can't exactly tell whether the SiI174 is directly attached to the intel HDA bus or whether it is attached to the SigmaTel 9228 audio codec. If it is attached to the latter one the situation is simple: The STAC9228 only supports S/PDIF output which can't do more than 5.1 AC3 due to bandwidth limitations:
http://www.idt.com/?genId=STAC9228
And telling from the datasheet the specific chip revision used in the M1330 doesn't even support dolby AC3. That would suggest the SiI174 is attached to the intel HDA bus and not the STAC9228.

Finally it would be interesting to attach an M1330 to a 7.1 capable receiver and see what audio formats it supports. You should then see it here:



and here:

 

Hmm I am having trouble with the HDMI audio, I only get stereo. The "configure" button is greyed out on the HDMI in playback devices, any ideas?

Thanks

 

Ok solved that, but now when I press configure it's only showing stereo. arg

 

..........................and then I rebooted at the Configure button greyed out again. RAAAAAAAR