Hi everyone, thanks for the replies so far! I'll try and answer everyone's suggestions/questions clearly.
Have you tried using HDMI port 3? This is sometimes the port required (for some TV's) in order for 4K to work with external devices.
No, actually. Though, to be clear, I do get 4K and HDR out of the XBox as long as I let it and the TV negotiate the video output settings without my involvement. This is the case on the current HDMI port, #2. My TV uses one of those separate "one connect" boxes to host all of the input and output ports - this one. As you can see, it defines some detail for specific ports, but doesn't show anything special in relation to HDMI port 3.
I can certainly give this a shot though, worth a go I guess?
HDMI cables - 2.0a if you want hdr as well. 2.0b better and same price on Amazon. Never buy expensive one's from high street just as good online for less than a tenner.
The XBox One X is a 4K and HDR capable console and I'm using the HDMI cable which came with it, which I believe is 2.0 (a or b I'm not sure about). As mentioned, I do get 4K and HDR out of it without any issue - it only stops under specific circumstances introduced as a fix for a separate problem (see below, if you dare!).
You probably need to explain exactly what you've changed on the X1X when you say "manual video output is my way forward". And maybe also explain what you're trying to set up in relation to audio output to a reciever. Are you connecting directly to the TV from the X1X, or via something else?
Ok, so the why's and what's... I apologise for how convoluted this is! Here goes...
My Xbox is connected directly via HDMI to my KS8000 TV. I also have a Panasonic BD Home Theatre system, model SA-BT200. It's about a decade old, so predates newer features like ARC, ruling out receiving audio via HDMI. However it has two optical inputs and until now that's been fine, with my XBox on one input and the TV on the other. Both items send 5.1 dolby digital as bitstream to the HT. Last week I added a PS4 Pro into the mix. So, an issue presented itself - how to get audio from 3 devices into the HT system which has only two optical inputs. Initially I tried some small optical splitters, but they were junk and better types are simply too big for the limited space I have available in my media unit. That left me with another option - have both consoles output audio via HDMI rather than optical, which the TV can then pass on via it's own optical cable to the HT, meaning all devices catered for on just one HT optical input.
With me so far? Ok, so at this point I discovered a new issue. With the consoles outputting audio as bitstream sound did reach the HT via the TV in glorious 5.1! But a delay was introduced. The audio was now a tiny fraction behind the video, even with the audio delay setting on the TV set to 0. It's very small, but perceivable. At this point I did some research. What I discovered (and I may still not have this 100% correct) is that where available outputting audio as PCM rather than bitstream is supposedly the better option anyway since it's not compressed. Both consoles can do this. I was now thinking "would this make a difference? Is the delay something to do with bitstream decoding and encoding?". Now, another thing I also learned and which is important here is that full 5.1 or 7.1 in PCM format needs to be transmitted via HDMI all the way to the HT since apparently optical just isn't up to it (correct?). I read that if the signal is transported from source to HT via optical at some point, then only 2 channel stereo will get through. In this moment, that was fine - even though my HT cannot receive audio via HDMI I simply wanted to see if the audio delay vanished by using PCM, meaning I could then at least consider replacing the HT in the future if it would be worthwhile. So, both consoles were then set to send 5.1 audio via HDMI in PCM format to the TV, which was then told to pass it on again in PCM to the HT via optical. The result was stereo audio and no delay. Winner!
Now, this is where we get to the question I've posted here. When I initally attempted to change the audio output format on the XBox from bitsream to 5.1 uncompressed (PCM), it wouldn't let me. It gave an error saying my receiver doesn't support it, i.e. the TV. I'd already set up rececption of PCM audio on the TV and had the same going through from the PS4, so I knew the notification from the XBox was wrong. After looking around the internet I eventually found someone else had hit the same hurdle and solved the problem - who knows why, but the inability to switch the XBox to PCM audio output is tied to the default automated video output settings. If I turn off automatic video output settings on the XBox , then I can choose PCM audio output and I get the audio result detailed above. However... this is where we reach the point I've explained in the port. When I turn off automatic video output settings on the XBox it immediately drops the res and features such as HDR. There are options presented by the XBox to turn HDR and 4K on, but if I try to do this i'm notifed by the XBox that my TV is reporting that it's not capable.
So, what this means is that although I've got a solution for sending perfect 5.1 audio out of the XBox to my HT via the TV, it comes at the cost of 4K and other UHD abilities becaue of either the XBox being at fault or the TV telling the XBox it's not up to the task.
