[wesk05]

That's promising then in terms of nVidia working in TrueHD and DTS-MA decoding (to LPCM) and/or bitstreaming in the future.

I would be very surprised if Tegra X1 SoC did hardware decoding of Dolby Digital, DTS audio. If the decoders were present in the SoC, default Android video player would have decoded those formats (unless nVIDIA decided not to enable the decoders to cut licensing costs). As long as the SoC supports 7.1 LPCM, Kodi's AudioEngine will be able to decode those formats.

[Tinwarble]

Audio

7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI
High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192 kHz over HDMI and USB
High-resolution audio up-sample to 24-bit/192 kHz over USB
Supports: AAC, MP3, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, PCM


As I've stated though, if hardware decoding for HD audio is added the lower level formats (DD/DTS) will also be able to be hardware decoded.

[wesk05]

Audio

7.1 and 5.1 surround sound pass through over HDMI
High-resolution audio playback up to 24-bit/192 kHz over HDMI and USB
High-resolution audio up-sample to 24-bit/192 kHz over USB
Supports: AAC, MP3, OGG Vorbis, FLAC, PCM


As I've stated though, if hardware decoding for HD audio is added the lower level formats (DD/DTS) will also be able to be hardware decoded.

For all Dolby Digital/DTS hardware based decoding, nVIDIA has to get Dolby MS11/DTS M6/8/HD-Master Audio decoders. You cannot include those decoders without paying for the license and if you did pay for the license, there is no point in disabling them. At the best, we may see HD audio passthrough.

[Tinwarble]

Yes, I know that and I don't know why your saying "there's no point in disabling them" as I don't believe anyone has stated that they are currently included.

What I'm saying is that if HD audio is included (and there's no reason to think that Nvidia won't go down the licensing route) then the lower level licensing will come with that.

[wesk05]

Yes, I know that and I don't know why your saying "there's no point in disabling them" as I don't believe anyone has stated that they are currently included.

What I'm saying is that if HD audio is included (and there's no reason to think that Nvidia won't go down the licensing route) then the lower level licensing will come with that.

Those decoders cannot be added once the product is in production! This is why I am saying if hardware based decoding is to be enabled the decoders are already there, but disabled (makes no sense).

[Tinwarble]

Who told you that? They most certainly can, DTS-HD was added to WD SMPs well after they were released.

[wesk05]

Who told you that? They most certainly can, DTS-HD was added to WD SMPs well after they were released.

Work experience!

Passthrough can be added, but not decoding. Was it decoding that was added to WD SMPs after they were released?

[noggin]

That's promising then in terms of nVidia working in TrueHD and DTS-MA decoding (to LPCM) and/or bitstreaming in the future.

I would be very surprised if Tegra X1 SoC did hardware decoding of Dolby Digital, DTS audio. If the decoders were present in the SoC, default Android video player would have decoded those formats (unless nVIDIA decided not to enable the decoders to cut licensing costs). As long as the SoC supports 7.1 LPCM, Kodi's AudioEngine will be able to decode those formats.

Doesn't the Broadcom chip in the Pi do just that for MPEG2 and VC-1 video codecs. But you have to enable it with a licence key? So it is entirely possible the hardware is capable, but that nVidia decided not to enable it to avoid licensing costs? That doesn't mean it can't be enabled at a later date - as happened with the Pi?

[Tinwarble]

That's promising then in terms of nVidia working in TrueHD and DTS-MA decoding (to LPCM) and/or bitstreaming in the future.

I would be very surprised if Tegra X1 SoC did hardware decoding of Dolby Digital, DTS audio. If the decoders were present in the SoC, default Android video player would have decoded those formats (unless nVIDIA decided not to enable the decoders to cut licensing costs). As long as the SoC supports 7.1 LPCM, Kodi's AudioEngine will be able to decode those formats.

Doesn't the Broadcom chip in the Pi do just that for MPEG2 and VC-1 video codecs. But you have to enable it with a licence key? So it is entirely possible the hardware is capable, but that nVidia decided not to enable it to avoid licensing costs? That doesn't mean it can't be enabled at a later date - as happened with the Pi?

Right, which was actually my point (somehow got side tracked).

[wesk05]

Doesn't the Broadcom chip in the Pi do just that for MPEG2 and VC-1 video codecs. But you have to enable it with a licence key? So it is entirely possible the hardware is capable, but that nVidia decided not to enable it to avoid licensing costs? That doesn't mean it can't be enabled at a later date - as happened with the Pi?

MPEG LA licensing doesn't require the product to be tested in the lab. Both Dolby and DTS require the product to be tested before licensing. It seldom happens after the product is released. I am not saying that it can never happen, I just haven't seen it in 10+ years of my work. There can always be a first to everything

[pedromvu]

Why would anyone need anything more than passthrough for HD audio codecs?

Unless your receiver is really really old.

[Tinwarble]

MPEG LA licensing doesn't require the product to be tested in the lab. Both Dolby and DTS require the product to be tested before licensing. It seldom happens after the product is released. I am not saying that it can never happen, I just haven't seen it in 10+ years of my work. There can always be a first to everything

But unless you have some inside info you're not telling us about , we don't know what the actual capabilities of the SoC are or what testing it has gone through. It could after all have been tested just Nvidia never licensed it.

Why would anyone need anything more than passthrough for HD audio codecs?

Unless your receiver is really really old.

That's actually a good point, if you don't have have a AVR or other equipment that can process HD audio, then most likely it's not going to handle 7.1 LPCM and decoding and downmixing to 2 channel is usually done on the DTS core. The only reason would be for TrueHD, were only the HD audio track is available and needs to be downmixed to 2 channel.

[ocmdiaz714]

Got my shield yesterday. Not worth the $200 for me, someone interested in its media capabilities rather than gaming. It's only been a day but I might return it and hook my huge tower back in.

[wesk05]

Why would anyone need anything more than passthrough for HD audio codecs?
Unless your receiver is really really old.

There are some streaming apps that do not support DTS passthrough, it has to be decoded, e.g. CinemaNow, Flixster/UltraViolet. This is not really HD audio, just DTS-HD LBR.

But unless you have some inside info you're not telling us about , we don't know what the actual capabilities of the SoC are or what testing it has gone through. It could after all have been tested just Nvidia never licensed it.

I only know that it hasn't been tested in one of the 3 ATCs that I am associated with. I know nothing more

[Koying]

Guys, SATV including audio decoders or not is a moot point, as Kodi don't use them.

OTOH, I've seen people working on implementing DTS-HD (full) decoding into Kodi itself. That + 7.1 lpcm would workaround the issue of not having HD audio passthrough.