Apple TV to Yamaha decoder mode display issue

a couple of days ago Apple TV 4K 2022 have been updated to 17.2 and I’ve noticed a strange issue.

I have a simple setup ATV -> Yamaha RX-V4A -> TCL TV

I’ve noticed that despite of multichannel playback on any ATV app, Yamaha shows only PCM mode on display, even if it plays normal Dolby Digital 5.1 sound (it’s easy to do with the test DD+ streams on YouTube, for example). Audioformat on ATV is set to “auto”.

Before the upgrade of ATV it displayed decoder mode properly.

If I playback the same test stream on TV’s YouTube app or using Google Chromecast player app, Yamaha displays DD+ decoder mode properly, so it’s clearly ATV issue (or ATV - Yamaha connectivity issue), which appeared after ATV upgrade.

(Strangely audioformat option in ATV settings after upgrade turned to “dolby digital 5.1” by itself, so I’ve turned it back to auto manualy)

(So 5.1 sound at the end is OK, but it really enrage)

Is there any sort of solution? Whom should I report that problem if there is no solution right now?

Apple TV 4K (3rd generation)

Posted on Dec 21, 2023 2:17 AM

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Urquhart1244

Level 10

146,178 points

Posted on Dec 21, 2023 5:41 AM

I’ve noticed that despite of multichannel playback on any ATV app, Yamaha shows only PCM mode on display, even if it plays normal Dolby Digital 5.1 sound (it’s easy to do with the test DD+ streams on YouTube, for example).

PCM (PCM Multichannel) is the intended output for Audio Format: Auto. Then everything gets losslessly decoded to uncompressed PCM. This is the same as before the 17.2 update. 5.1 will be 5.1, but not in Dolby’s proprietary compressed format.
It is not easy or straightforward to test Dolby Digital streams on YouTube through Apple TV, as the YouTube app on Apple TV has a “hidden” in-app setting for multichannel output. Not sure why Google did that, other than to save bandwidth through users that never discover this. Find the hidden setting through a video that has multichannel audio (e.g. 5.1), then invoke the video controls overlay by pressing Down on the remote. Next, navigate to the in-video Settings (⚙️), and check the “5.1 Surround” option. Also see: discussions.apple.com/thread/255060115.

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Apple TV to Yamaha decoder mode display issue

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