Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: HD Television Sound?

This is topic HD Television Sound? in forum The Afterlife at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 03-21-2009, 05:20 PM:

I have noticed that some popular network programs has a title card in the beginning like "24" that say's "In 5.1 Stereo Sound in Selected Areas". Are all television station that is broadcasting in HD automatically sending the sound out in 5.1 or is the sound format limited to stations in major cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, and San Francisco? I tried to get the information from the Fox, ABC, NBC and CBS affiliated stations here in Honolulu but no one was available to talk to me

If all HD stations are broadcasting programs with 5.1 sound including our local stations, I guess I will have to buy another optical cable. I was at Best Buy yesterday looking for one but all they had was 8 foot long Monster Cables for almost eight dollars but I did not feel I should get it if my local stations are not broadcasting HD shows with 5.1 sound. If they are, I will try to buy cheaper ones online.

-Claude

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-21-2009, 05:40 PM:

5.1 capability varies from one TV station to the next. The NBC and FOX affiliates here in the Wichita Falls-Lawton viewing market support Dolby Digital 5.1 in the broadcasts. The CBS and ABC affiliates here do not. It's just regular 2.0 channel stereo even if the original program was mixed for 5.1.

Some HD cable channels leave everything in 2.0 as well. Others like HBO, Palladia, etc. vary the audio based on the program.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 03-21-2009, 07:01 PM:

I do not know why I did not think about it but I just called Best Buy and talked to someone in television sales and he said Fox, CBS, ABC, NBC are all broadcasting in 5.1 sound here in Honolulu as well as HBO, Cinemax and a few other HD channels. I guess I have to go shopping for optical cables now.

-Claude

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-21-2009, 08:31 PM:

Belkin makes some decent optical cables. I have one that looks kind of strange. The cable is a clear plastic tube; the actual fiber optic strand is somewhat visible inside of that clear tube.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 03-21-2009, 09:08 PM:

Bobby,

I will need a cable at least 7 feet because that is the approximate distance from my HD set and my HDDVR. I went to Belkin's site and they have a twelve foot cable for $22.95. How effective is a cable that long? Will there be a loss of signal strength at that length.

-Claude

Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 03-21-2009, 09:41 PM:

You should be able to buy a 2 meter fiber optic cable for under $20. 3 meter cables are not very common, but can be had for under $20 as well. Some of the longer cables may have to be ordered from the Internet since they're not often stocked at stores like Wal-Mart or Target.

I don't know the signal limits for Toslink style fiber optic audio cables. I doubt there would be any problem for 3 or 4 meter lengths of cable. We have run fiber optic data connections between computer systems and LED-based electronic message centers that run more than 100 feet of distance. That is a different kind of thing compared to sending a constant digital audio stream via Toslink connection. Any any rate, fiber optic cable has a high degree of capability to it.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 03-22-2009, 12:06 AM:

www.monoprice.com

Best prices for cables on the internets.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 03-22-2009, 01:18 PM:

Thanks, Joe! [Smile]

-Claude