Video Asylum

Posted by BootieDay (i) on November 22, 2000 at 07:00:59:

Using the Video Essentials DVD in my somewhat obfuscated home theater setup, I am unable to get ANY sound for the Dolby ProLogic (DPL) LFE Subwoofer level test. All DD5.1 and the remainder of the DPL tests work just fine. I run DVD digital out to an external DD decoder and DVD analog audio out to my surround pre/amp/proc. This proc has NO digital input but is "DD-ready" in that my DD decoder provides discrete 5.1 analog outs to the proc. When I select DD mode on the proc, the 5.1 discrete inputs are selected. When I select DPL mode, the regular L-R analog audio inputs are enabled. Now, the info on the DVD menu seems to indicate that I should be able to switch audio tracks from DD5.1 (the default) to DPL. But when I select DPL, my DD decoder still indicates it is receiving a DD signal (i.e. it doesn't seem to do anything different). Also, the DVD explanation says that "the DD surround audio is digitally converted into DPL which is provided as PCM-encoded audio on the DVD". Does this imply that the PCM-encoded audio signal would need to be decoded to analog L-R audio and then DPL decoded? (something my setup won't allow me to do 'cause I can't decode any digital signal other than DD5.1 bitstream). Shouldn't the entire DPL signal be available on the analog outputs of the player for these tests, and if so, do I have to muck with the player setup to get this to work correctly? Anybody else have success with this test?