Vaio FZ283 no HDMI 5.1 output

I've poste this on another thread but decided a wider post might help:

Got a FZ283 in December and been having fits with it. HDMI will only output stereo no matter what I try. Sony tech support has told me all current models only have HDMI 1.1 and thus only output stereo. Sony's own esupport website states all current models have HDMI 1.3. Then they told me ...well it does have 1.3 but only supports software funcion of 1.1Reguardless HDMI 1.0 supported 8 channel audio. Grrrrrrrrrrr.... I keep getting convienent BS answers that solve nothing. Another gripe is the FZ series totes Instant ON and guess what, not with the NVIDIA card. This computer came with the Instant Mode manual also. After many hours of tech support run around... it seems to be a NO GO. Anybody have any GOOD solid answers? I don't really care to watch BluRay with 2 channel audio. Looks GREAT, sounds crappy...A muscle car with a 4 banger...

Update: Installed the updated Sigma Tel audio driver found on the UK sites (not found in US). Still only puts out 2 channel.

Anybody find a solution?

 

Bump for discussion.
Here's my question as well. IF you can actually get it to output 5.1 digital discrete, how do you get that to your 5.1 receiver without the receiver having onboard HDMI 1.3 decoding? Most receivers just pass the video and don't use the audio.

Someone posted something about an HDMI firware update coming up which maybe includes the software 1.1 to 1.3 update? I'm starting to wonder what's the point of the HDMI except for video only. If it's got Blu-Ray, aren't we going to want the full meal deal?

 

http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/support-info.pl?template=&info_id=22
Found this and it has a lot of answers. HDMI is currently 1.3 and does output "Dolby Digital" - supposedly. This page also shows how the HDMI audio controls work. However, it is hard to find a receiver that will pull this audio without just forwarding it. Anyone know any different?

 

What receiver are you using? Are the sound jacks all setup correctly to receive 5.1 and is there any audio options on your tv or receiver to enable 5.1?

You might want to make sure the sound is enabled properly in control panel-> sound. click the hdmi entry and click properties then on the supported formats tab make sure the dolby digital option is ticked if its there. Checkout the sampling rate too could be different options you could try like 48 KHz

 

I'm not using anything yet (FZ arrives tomorrow) but wanted to use a Pioneer HDMI enabled receiver. Problem is, it only has pass-through and you need separate audio cable to play through receiver. I will try to get my Samsung TV to ouput 5.1 via its optical out but I've heard that doesn't work.

 

Whether or not the Sony HDMI software is 1.1 or 1.3 seems irrelevant at this point. Version 1.0 was capable of 8 channel audio. I have a Sony HDMI DVD player that passes 5.1 surround audio perfectly to my HDTV and out of the HDTV via optical to my Sony receiver (works and sounds great). When my FZ is connected to my HDTV via HDMI, the video passes 1080p and only 2 channel audio is passed and only through the L/R output of the HDTV. No optical audio is passed at all. This has to be a Sony software issue or Sony’s control of the SigmaTel audio drivers since the SigmaTel options for anything other than 2 channel and headphone output are blocked (grayed out). I kept thinking it might be the WinDVD BD software but realized the audio options in WinDVD BD are ultimately controlled by the system audio controllers (Sony and SigmaTel). I have spent hours now online and on the phone with Sony support. I even did a complete system restore, updated all software and allowed Sony support remote access only to have them basically agree that, we (Sony) have a problem and need forward this to the software engineers. In my opinion, Sony needs to hear from the user community. I’ve also researched SigmaTel’s capabilities and they do support multi-channel audio and firmly state that ultimately the computer manufacturer controls which functions operate.

 

I have the same issue. Only 2 channels pass to my new AV R. I've just opened a complain with Sony. I let you guys know any news.

 

Sony first answered me I need to buy another sound card. Now the toldme the problem is my av receiver! But they did not confirm that the FZ can pass 5.1 audio.

 

I can confirm that my Samsung HDTV does not pass HDMI through optical out. FZ via HDMI to HDTV has decent picture (with bad DVD motion jerk) and good 2 channel sound through my TV but that's as far as I can get. I guess HD discs on the big screen for me will have to wait until Blu-Ray players drop a bit.

 

Just FYI, I have Acer 5920G and I use it as Media Center connected via HDMI to LCD and I only get stereo. It's a known limitation. I also just ordered refurb FZ with bluray and don't care about 5.1 out

 

I do have Blu-Ray on my FZ. Sony has never tried to tell me to buy new sound card or AV R. Who ever told you that was grabbing for straws and had no idea what they were talking about. What level tech were you talking to? You’re going to have to hang in there (press the issue) and NOT spend a whole lot of senseless money on whims of un-knowledgeable esupport techs. I think we're all going to have to raise the BS flag and press the issue to correct resolution. Stand alone Blu-Ray will surely solve the 5.1 problem but why own a laptop with HDMI unless it performs to the HDMI standard?

 

Update - I have been waiting for the Sony engineers to work this problem out and had not heard back. So I emailed the Sony support tech back, he said he would check to see what the status was and still we wait. No response back as of yet. He said 24-36 hours initially, it's been a couple weeks now I think.

 

I have the same issue on my AR51 and do not get 5.1 on Bluray discs played through WinDVD. Interestingly I do get 5.1 on videos played through iTunes and successfully set up Windows Media Center to play over 5.1, but can't get my Bluray DVDs to play anything other than stereo.

Any update on this issue since the last post?

 

I just got an AR825 and am having the same issue. Options to even choose toslink or HDMI in winDVD BD are grayed out, and passing of the 5.1 core lossy streams from BD seems a bare minumum feature that should be supported.

 

No update. Sony has gone roundy-roundy on this issue. They offer lots of ideas but no solutions. They have come real close to saying oops, it doesn’t work even though it should, but they don’t commit. Even still, lots of documentation says that it works. I did find one Sony comment recently that said only 2 channel audio with HDMI but can’t remember where I saw it. I may have intentionally subverted the thinking about it out of pure agitation.

I’m still convinced the problem is Sony’s control of the SigmaTel audio drivers. SigmaTel has stated the computer manufactures control the functions of the drivers. You can’t even get drivers from SigmaTel because they only deal with original equipment manufacturers (OEM), Sony in this case.

The good news is… …I’ve saved money on my car insurance… LOL, but seriously, I’ve worked out all the other little annoyances. Vista SP1 installed flawlessly and I’ve not even had minor glitches.

 

I have a FZ348E/B equipped with Blu-Ray. I'm getting 5.1 via HDMI to my Marantz receiver for everything but Dolby TrueHD. I recently downloaded a trial version of PowerDVD Ultra and was able to remix TrueHD to either DTS or DD thus getting 5.1 for movies with TrueHD as well. I will be purchasing PowerDVD before the trial expires. It blows away the crippled version of WinDVD that ships with the Vaio.