P-6831FX HDMI Port and Advanced Audio Codecs (DTS-MA/True HD)

EDIT: I checked with a gateway tech and the HDMI port is only 2 channel oh well.


Here's the deal, I am thinking of adding a Blu Ray player to my Gateway and I want to know if this laptop's HDMI port will pass audio and even convert TruHD and especially DTS-MA into to LPCM and pass it over HDMI to my receiver. I know I will need the software to do this (PowerDVD etc), but is the link capable of the bandwidth to pass these codecs? Can it even pass audio at all? Does it have an xbox360-esque HDMI port where the audio is just a standard optical adapter hooked into the HDMI port?

Thanks for any help.

PS: Bit streaming the codecs is of no help to me since my receiver cannot decode the new formats but it can process uncompressed PCM over HDMI.

 

Did you manage to find a blu-ray drive that you installed internally?

 

I was going to do a system pull from a dell laptop, but that plan is scrapped now.

 

Sadly, the answer is no to your questions.

In the spec pages of the P-FX models, you will see that the HDMI port is version 1.2.

Only version 1.3 and up have the capability of transmitting TrueHD and DTS-HD to the receiver for decoding.

This is not bad news, of course - because on a powerful laptop like the P-FX you can *easily* obtain software which will play Blu-Ray movies *AND* decode the TrueHD/DTS-HD audio on-board and have HDMI send out decoded audio stream to your receiver. Furthermore, HDMI 1.2 can still send out decoded 7.1 channel audio to your receiver...it's simply not capable of sending uncompressed, undecoded audio (e.g. where the receiver will then have to decode TrueHD/DTS-HD streams).

With that in mind, you don't even need to get a receiver that has HDMI 1.3 or TrueHD/DTS-HD codecs onboard. Not necessary with this laptop. If you already have one, more power to you - it'll still work although you will never be able to use those features with the laptop.

 

For some reason, the laptop is limited to 2 channels over HDMI, i'm not sure why. Decoding can be done via software so i don't need to send the formats over HDMI, just their decoded form, which my current receiver can handle. Basically the computer is good, my AVR is good, but the HDMI port is where it breaks down.

I was hoping, If I could pull this off, I would be able to sell my PS3 which is used almost entirely as a Blu Ray player. Alas, no hope today.

 

I personally think the technician does not know what he's talking about. HDMI 1.2 has the capacity to transmit 7.1 audio. You don't just use an HDMI standard and trim off some features. Doesn't work that way.

I don't have this laptop myself, but perhaps there are hardware and/or software settings to enable digital audio output over HDMI.

For example, many laptops with TOSLINK output won't have digital optical out functional unless you enable it in system audio settings.

EDIT: ALL versions of HDMI can transmit 7.1 audio via LPCM (decoded already). The HDMI port is not at fault - I am 100% certain it is some configuration in the laptop/software that's at fault.

 

Yes, it is in the spec that 1.2 can transmit 7.1, but the hardware implementation may not be in place connecting the audio to the internal port. For example, the XBOX 360 Elite cannot transfer 8 Channel PCM over HDMI because Microsoft went the cheap route and just routed the old optical cable into the HDMI connector, essentially limiting the port to the optical bandwidth levels.

Now, it is possible that Gateway did something like this or the Sound Cards firmware is written for 2 channels only, which could be upgraded with a firmware update. For now, it is stuck at 2 channels.