(2019-10-06, 00:16)barrygordon Wrote: I just started using Kodi again after a long absence. When I play an mkv file with an Atmos sound track, my AV processor (Anthem 60) states that the track is PCM and not Atmos. When I play the same mkv file on my Dune player which sends the audio as bitstream the AV processor states that the decoder in use is Atmos. I have set the Kodi audio up according to the Audio quick start guide. What am I doing wrong? Any help greatly appreciated.
(2019-10-06, 14:46)noggin Wrote:(2019-10-06, 00:16)barrygordon Wrote: Noggin, Thanks for the clear reply. I guess I will just have to wait and spend another $35 when full Atmos support comes available. I thought I read that the Pi 4 with the latest version of Kodi supported all of the audio formats. Oh well . . .
(2019-10-07, 05:54)barrygordon Wrote: I am a bit confused. I have the Dolby Demo files for Atmos. One of the files is a speaker test that sends a white noise tone to each speaker in the Atmos profile. It does this in sequence, each burst lasting about 15 seconds. Although my AVR says PCM as opposed to Atmos (the AVR is an Anthem AVM 60), each speaker in the configuration (7.1.4) emits the correct sound when the picture shows it is selected. The same audio file when played through a Dune player shows the format to be Atmos but the sound and picture are exactly the same as the Kodi. I am confused.
(2019-10-07, 11:26)noggin Wrote:(2019-10-07, 05:54)barrygordon Wrote: I am a bit confused. I have the Dolby Demo files for Atmos. One of the files is a speaker test that sends a white noise tone to each speaker in the Atmos profile. It does this in sequence, each burst lasting about 15 seconds. Although my AVR says PCM as opposed to Atmos (the AVR is an Anthem AVM 60), each speaker in the configuration (7.1.4) emits the correct sound when the picture shows it is selected. The same audio file when played through a Dune player shows the format to be Atmos but the sound and picture are exactly the same as the Kodi. I am confused.
Are you 100% about the height speakers being correct?
The 7.1 I can totally understand - that would be Dolby True HD 7.1 being decoded to PCM 7.1 I believe (which has been supported in Kodi on platforms that support 5.1/7.1 PCM output for a number of years) - however the 4 height/presence feeds also being correctly carried over PCM surprises me. There is scope for Atmos-over-PCM using MAT 2.0 I believe (which is more designed for gaming) - but I don't think Kodi and/or the Pi supports this (though I think MAT may be used by Apple TV in some situations)?
(2019-10-07, 17:29)barrygordon Wrote:(2019-10-07, 11:26)noggin Wrote:(2019-10-07, 05:54)barrygordon Wrote: I am a bit confused. I have the Dolby Demo files for Atmos. One of the files is a speaker test that sends a white noise tone to each speaker in the Atmos profile. It does this in sequence, each burst lasting about 15 seconds. Although my AVR says PCM as opposed to Atmos (the AVR is an Anthem AVM 60), each speaker in the configuration (7.1.4) emits the correct sound when the picture shows it is selected. The same audio file when played through a Dune player shows the format to be Atmos but the sound and picture are exactly the same as the Kodi. I am confused.
Are you 100% about the height speakers being correct?
The 7.1 I can totally understand - that would be Dolby True HD 7.1 being decoded to PCM 7.1 I believe (which has been supported in Kodi on platforms that support 5.1/7.1 PCM output for a number of years) - however the 4 height/presence feeds also being correctly carried over PCM surprises me. There is scope for Atmos-over-PCM using MAT 2.0 I believe (which is more designed for gaming) - but I don't think Kodi and/or the Pi supports this (though I think MAT may be used by Apple TV in some situations)?
I agree with you. That is why I am confused. Is there any feel for the date when Kodi on RPi will do bitstream audio? Would need to know what version of RPi (4b, 4B+ ?) and what version of Kodi. With the price point of an RPi I don't mind buying another. In fact, I now have various models just laying around. An RPi 3 is running as my central automation controller for the whole house. It handles text to speech CallerId and all my lighting using a UDI controller
(2019-10-07, 17:43)noggin Wrote:Thanks again noggin(2019-10-07, 17:29)barrygordon Wrote:(2019-10-07, 11:26)noggin Wrote: Are you 100% about the height speakers being correct?
The 7.1 I can totally understand - that would be Dolby True HD 7.1 being decoded to PCM 7.1 I believe (which has been supported in Kodi on platforms that support 5.1/7.1 PCM output for a number of years) - however the 4 height/presence feeds also being correctly carried over PCM surprises me. There is scope for Atmos-over-PCM using MAT 2.0 I believe (which is more designed for gaming) - but I don't think Kodi and/or the Pi supports this (though I think MAT may be used by Apple TV in some situations)?
I agree with you. That is why I am confused. Is there any feel for the date when Kodi on RPi will do bitstream audio? Would need to know what version of RPi (4b, 4B+ ?) and what version of Kodi. With the price point of an RPi I don't mind buying another. In fact, I now have various models just laying around. An RPi 3 is running as my central automation controller for the whole house. It handles text to speech CallerId and all my lighting using a UDI controller
The Pi Zero to Pi 3B+ (i.e. the legacy Pi range) cannot bitstream HD audio as their audio bandwidth over HDMI is limited to 4 x 192kHz PCM streams (8 channel support is limited to 48k and possibly 96k I think) - whereas for HD Audio bitstreaming you need a bandwidth equivalent to 8 x 192kHz PCM streams.
The Pi 4B is based on a newer generation of SoC and the HDMI audio hardware in this supports 8 x 192kHz PCM audio streams, and the developers have confirmed they see no hardware limitation that would prevent Dolby True HD and DTS HD MA/HRA bitstreaming. They also believe Atmos extensions to True HD and DTS:x should also be supportable.
No timescale for support though. (Ditto HDR and Rec 2020 output support for playback of UHD HDR content to HDR displays)
(2019-11-16, 18:34)barrygordon Wrote: I have been playing around with the "Atmos problem". I have the set of original Dolby Atmos demo files ripped to my NAS in MKV format, as are all my other media files. One of the files, when played on Kodi, seems to deliver the Atmos Audio. I say this because of the AVP stating the audio it is receiving over HDMI is "Atmos" as opposed to PCM. The AVP is an Anthem AVM60, Kodi is 18.4 running on a Rpi 4 B.Is the file that works DD+ with Atmos (i.e. lossy, non-HD Audio - as used by Netflix, Amazon Prime Video etc., and for some secondary or tertiary language tracks on Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray) rather than Dolby True HD with Atmos (which is lossless and the format largely use for the main audio tracks on Blu-ray and UHD Blu-ray)?
One of the other test files is a speaker test which cycles white noise through all the speakers in the configuration (my speaker configuration is 7.1.4). when this file is played on my Dune player the AVP states the file is Atmos format and the sound cycles through all 11 speakers. When the same file is played on Kodi it states it is PCM, BUT, the sound cycles through all 11 speakers.
I am once again confused as noggin's explanation made a lot of sense to me and I thought I understood the problem.
(2019-11-17, 21:46)barrygordon Wrote: I ran mediaInfo on the Atmos speaker test file and it reports that there are two audio tracks. The AVP shows the audio as PCM. Here is the data on them:
Audio #1 - Commercial name: Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos; Codec ID: A_TRUEHD
Audio #2 - Commercial name: Dolby Digital; Codec ID: A_AC3
The test file that does come across and plays as ATMOS (as shown on my AVP) has the following encodings as reported by media mon (Only one audio track):
Audio - Commercial name: Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos; Codec ID: A_EAC3
I looked at a few others and they are all encoded as "Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos". They all show on the AVP as PCM.
It looks like your supposition that if the file is encoded as "Dolby TrueHD with Dolby Atmos" it can not be bitstreamed, but if it is encoded as "Dolby Digital Plus with Dolby Atmos" it can be bitstreamed and it is. I just don't see why it should be a bandwidth problem as the Rpi 4 B hardware should be able to handle it.
