I am trying very desperately to get HD audio working from my laptop. Someone please help.
I have a laptop with an HDMI port that is connected to a hdmi switcher with digital audio out (Amazon.com: Monoprice 4X1 HDMI Switcher w/ Toslink & Digital Coaxial Port (Rev.2) w/ 3D support: Electronics). That hdmi switcher is connected to my TV via HDMI and is connected to my receiver (Harmon Kardon AVR 147) via optical. So, the setup is as follows:
Laptop --(HDMI)--> HDMI switcher --(HDMI)--> TV
--(Optical)--> Receiver
I'm pretty sure this is not a problem with the HDMI switcher because I also have my DVD player and DirecTV DVR connected to the HDMI switcher and both are working perfectly with HD video going to the TV and the HD audio going to the receiver.
In any case, once the HDMI cable is plugged into my laptop, there is a playback device called "Sharp HDMI" (since I have a Sharp Aquos TV connected at the other end of the HDMI Switcher). Under Supported Formats, I see:
Max Number of Channels: 8
HDCP: Supported
Bit Depths: 16-bit, 24-bit, 32-bit
Sample Rates: various from 32.0 kHz to 192.0 kHz
Encoded formats: DTS Audio, Dolby Digital Plus, DTS-HD, Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital,
Under Advanced, I have the default format at 16 bit, 48000 Hz (DVD Quality) and both check boxes are checked for "Exclusive Mode".
When I try to configure the speakers for this device, it gives me the following options: Stereo, Quadrophonic, 3.1 Surround, 5.1 Surround, 5.1 Surround, and 7.1 Surround. I select one of the 5.1 Surround options and play the Test sounds. I hear audio in the front left and front right speakers only and nothing when the center channel, subwoofer, and both rear speaker test sounds play. An even more interesting fact is that when I try to "Test" the device from the Playback device list, I hear the same two speakers, but when the other speakers are supposed to be playing sounds, the audio level indicators actually jumps up but of course no sounds is being played.
I do hear audio when I try to play a digital audio source from my laptop (DVD or MKV file with DTS audio), but I know the audio coming out of the receiver is not true Dolby Digital or DTS since those lights do not show up on my receiver.
Can someone help me with this?