Sky "considering" adding Dolby Digital 5.1 via HDMI to Sky+ HD boxes
Sky has exclusively told whathifi.com that "it's currently investigating the possibility" of introducing Sky+ HD set-top boxes that transmit Dolby Digital 5.1 surround sound via the HDMI connection.
At the moment, Sky+ HD owners have to use an HDMI cable to transmit the picture from the box to the TV or projector, and a separate optical digital connection to their home cinema amplifier to output 5.1 surround sound.
"When we launched Sky HD, lots of users weren't using HDMI [for sound], but we're aware this is becoming more of an issue for some of our customers," says a Sky spokeswoman.
There's no timescale for when the change may be introduced, but Sky's technical team is looking into it.
It's become more of an issue recently, with some new-model multichannel amps and receivers automatically defaulting to HDMI for surround sound and bypassing the optical connection.
This means that in certain configurations current Sky+ HD boxes will only output stereo sound (via HDMI) to the amp or receiver, not Dolby Digital 5.1.
Sky is not alone in this regard, with other set-top boxes from companies such as Tiscali and BT Vision also outputting Dolby Digital 5.1 via the optical, not HDMI connection.
Last year Sony had to fix its STR-DG820 and STR-DA2400ES receivers so you could use the HDMI and optical inputs simultaneously, and this year Yamaha has run into the same problem with four of its 2009 models.
Even if Sky does decide to add surround sound via HDMI to its future set-top boxes, there are still one million or more existing Sky+ HD boxes in UK homes that need the dual HDMI/optical connection.
Comments
This one's funny.
Right, finally got to the bottom of this one! Several of us in the office have Virgin V+ at home, and when the engineers came and installed it, the boxes were installed with both HDMI and optical cables.
That's how my system has been configured from Day 1, and as one of my colleagues was also told the optical cable was needed for DD5.1, that's what we believed.
However, I've just got home and removed the optical cable and made sure HDMI override was 'on'. What confuses matters is that if you do that, you get an on-screen menu saying you must connect an optical cable between the box and the receiver.
I didn't, leaving just the HDMI cable in place, and as ShadowTD says it now delivers DD 5.1 via HDMI.
For the record, I also emailed Virgin earlier today and they said HDMI override should be set to 'off' when using only an HDMI cable. But do that, and you'll only get stereo sound, not 5.1. So even they're confused!
@Andy: I've a 'TV Drive' which outputs HDMI audio just fine. You need to turn 'HDMI Audio Override' on in the settings menu. Say what you like about the Scientific Atlanta, at least its HDMI works to spec.
Huh? Isn't this a Hifi and home cinema site? Surely if it was you'd know that both V+ and Apple TV both output 5.1 over HDMI just fine.
I doubt this will be an over-the-air fix? I thought that the design of the box was the problem? Can Sky/WHF confirm how, if at all, this issue will be addressed?