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What is going on with eARC update for the soundbar HW-Q90R?

(Topic created on: 24-11-2019 07:17 PM)
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zhspence
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Hi everyone,

 

I need some clarification, as to be honest the Samsung support staff are hopeless with knowing anything about their own products. 

I was on chat with support enquiring about the eARC firmware update for this soundbar, he replies to me saying it doesn't have eARC?! 

the whole reason I purchased it was because of this update, I have the LG C9 which is eARC!

 

if they don't provide this firmware update to allow it, then this soundbar is going back for a refund. 

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zhspence
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That’s correct 18gbps doesn’t allow lossless, but eARC boosts that bandwidth to allow higher amounts to passthrough.
kylios88
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Hi guys, 

I need some clarification. Is there ever gonna be a way  how we can test the eARC functionality when the firmware update comes available?

Due to this whole discussion and the misinformation about eARC on the HW Q90R, I 've decided to buy the new Nvidia Shield today. I have tried te following tests: 

 

- Netflix and disney+ on Nvideo connected directly to the soundbar; No Atmos indicated on the soundbar (My LG C9 receives Dolby Vision though through the soundbar)

- Downloaded a lossless Dolby Atmos video on my Nvidia Shield from the official dolby site and when I play the video the soundbar indicates Dolby Atmos (as suspected).

- But the thing is... when i connect the Nvidia Shield directly to my LG C9 and pass the audio through ARC, the soundbar also indicates Dolby Atmos sound. 

 

So, with this in mind, is there ever going to be a way if we can test the eARC functionality when the new firmware update is available?


 

 

 

 

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kylios88
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_oSo_
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That’s interesting. I have the Disney + app installed on the Samsung Q90R tv and the soundbar connected to the tv. I don’t get Dolby atmos from the Disney + app on the tv. But I do get Dolby atmos from the Netflix app and the amazon video app, both installed in the tv. I guess that Disney hasn’t configure the app to pass atmos sound on the Samsung tv hopefully they do it.
As for any additional devices I one time connected the Xbox directly to the soundbar instead of the tv. I hate this set up but I did it to test atmos on the soundbar coming directly from the Xbox. My main issue is switching the HDMI ports on the soundbar from tv to Xbox l, it’s not my ideal set up so I went back to the previous set up with the Xbox connected to the tv and forget about atmos from the Xbox for the moment.
The problem with Samsung tv is that we are also expecting the update for eARC on them too. You have an LG tv which from what I heard is already eARC ready so you should be ok and just have to wait for the soundbar update if it ever happens.
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SuissoNaBisso
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With the Nvidia Shield do you have any way to have information on playback ? with which app are you reading the DOlby Atmos test file ?
or maybe try to get the info from the C9 TV, when using the smartphone remote app, you have a button "i", when clicking on it the TV will display playback info like resolution, audio fromat etc...try to see if it indicates Dolby Atmos or something else.

Also if you read the file from Plex on Nvidia, you have a way on your Plex server to check playback info
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kylios88
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@SuissoNaBisso wrote:
With the Nvidia Shield do you have any way to have information on playback ? with which app are you reading the DOlby Atmos test file ?
or maybe try to get the info from the C9 TV, when using the smartphone remote app, you have a button "i", when clicking on it the TV will display playback info like resolution, audio fromat etc...try to see if it indicates Dolby Atmos or something else.

Also if you read the file from Plex on Nvidia, you have a way on your Plex server to check playback info

 

I have used the  standard  video software 'Gallery application' from the Nvidia Shield. I could not get Plex working correctly (it wanted me to upload the .mp4 file to a media server first). 


The info from the LG TV says: 

Shield connected to the  soundbar: 16:9 | 2160p | BT 2020 | PCM
Shield connected to the C9 TV: 16:9 | 2160p | BT 2020 | DOLBY ATMOS

 

In both situations the soundbar indicates DOLBY ATMOS 

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kylios88
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@_oSo_ wrote:
That’s interesting. I have the Disney + app installed on the Samsung Q90R tv and the soundbar connected to the tv. I don’t get Dolby atmos from the Disney + app on the tv. But I do get Dolby atmos from the Netflix app and the amazon video app, both installed in the tv. I guess that Disney hasn’t configure the app to pass atmos sound on the Samsung tv hopefully they do it.
As for any additional devices I one time connected the Xbox directly to the soundbar instead of the tv. I hate this set up but I did it to test atmos on the soundbar coming directly from the Xbox. My main issue is switching the HDMI ports on the soundbar from tv to Xbox l, it’s not my ideal set up so I went back to the previous set up with the Xbox connected to the tv and forget about atmos from the Xbox for the moment.
The problem with Samsung tv is that we are also expecting the update for eARC on them too. You have an LG tv which from what I heard is already eARC ready so you should be ok and just have to wait for the soundbar update if it ever happens.

 

Apparently my Netflix setting stood on streaming quality 'good'. I have changed this to max and now I am getting the Atmos indication on my soundbar when streaming a netflix Atmos movie from my LG tv (internal netflix app) and Shield via the TV. If i did not knew any better I would ssuggest that eARC is available. But i guess this is because its compressed ATMOS then? 

 

Still i wonder how we will be able to test the eARC functionality when the firmware update comes available?

 

When streaming from Disney + i am also not getting Dolby Atmos, not through the internal LG tv nor through the Shield. Apparently a lot of people are experiencing the same issue so i also guess this is a Disney+ problem. 

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SuissoNaBisso
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Well, that's really weird...Honestly when seeing these results, if we didn't have confirmation from the journalist + Samsung UK that eARC update wasn't released yet....well I would have thought this is already eARC enabled !

When connected to TV, the fact it is showing Atmos is good but still we can be suspicious on which Atmos format is used, is it True HD Atmos or just DD+ ATmos, that we don't know...

 

So I think the best would be to really monitor from a Plex server.

I see that you are struggling with that, maybe I can grant you an access to my own Plex server and UHD HDR movies with true HD Atmos soundtrack and when you launch on Nvdia SHield, I will then monitor the audio signal sent to TV. I don't think the TV itself can downgrade the signal to DD+ Atmos, but potetnially the Nvidia Shield can do it.

 

I would just need your email you used to create your Plex account and then I'll grant you a temporary account ! can you DM this to me ?

 

Thanks

 

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kylios88
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I have send you a DM!
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kylios88
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Hi all, 

Thnx to @SuissoNaBisso, we were able to do some ATMOS testing through ARC. 

I have a Nvidia Shield connected to my LG C9 OLED TV (which supports eARC) and my HW Q90R soundbar connected to my C9 TV through ARC. 

 

We have tested several ATMOS (lossless) movies & test videos and every time the Samsung Soundbar receives the ATMOS sound from the Nvidia Shield through my LG TV via ARC. 

Because people and samsung is saying that the HW Q90R soundbar does not support eARC, and therefore can only process compressed ATMOS (instead of Lossless), does anybody know how we can distinguish Compressed ATMOS from Lossless ATMOS?

As far as @SuissoNaBisso and I can tell, the HW Q90R Soundbar receives ATMOS sound through ARC (so eARC then?....) 

 

Al the playback info in all the test stated DOLBY ATMOS. No distinction is made between compressed ATMOS or lossless ATMOS.  And i did not notice any difference in Audio quality when my Nvidia  Shield was connected directly to the sounbar or connected to my  LG tv.