Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Where Does Television Sound Come From?

Hope that doesn't look too dumb as a post title but I was wondering where the sound I hear through my Onkyo receiver and M22 speakers comes from when watching a TV show, and what effects the quality?

I've noticed some television shows sound wonderful and others not so great so I was wondering if I'm not using the TV speakers then the source of the sound is what? The station itself? And does HBO (or any station for that matter) send a clearer signal and that gets processed through the tv tuner then through the receiver?

Does the the TV tuner have an effect on sound quality? Like if I got a killer latest and greatest tv would the sound be better, or is it only the recevier/speaker combo and the processing in that receiver that effects the sound?

Am wondering because it seems some shows sound better but I'm not sure if that's true what can I do to make them d sound better.

Thanks

Larry

I am going to try a shot in the dark here, but I would wager to say that a cable signal is a cable signal, unless it's HD cable.

I would also venture to say that you should watch TV through the receiver in 'Stereo' mode, and not surround mode (unless the station sends a signal for that sort of viewing -- such as HD cable stations).

I generally watch TV through 'stereo' mode, and most channels are exactly the same. Maybe you could get a cable 'amplifier' which would boost the cable signal a little, thus, increasing the sound...

Again, that's all speculation...I am no cable TV guy...but routing the cable through the receiver works for me.

Good luck...hope that helps.

I have found that the quality of sound varies from cable station to station and OTA is the same.

What ever box you use for tv is splitting out the signal coming in over cable, sat or OTA. My digital/analog feeds OTA/cable go through the tv tuner first then out to the receiver. The Denon sees analog for some cable, no definitive signal type for others. The Denon sees 2.0 or 5.1 for OTA.

Charter cable puts out a lot of crappy signal. However they process their feed is the best and mostly worst they can do.

Would a newer tv do better? It is possible. If you have multiple tvs in the house, just listen to the same channel on the different tvs. Some do better than others. But if your getting a crappy signal, there is not much your processor can do.

Here in Minneapolis I have Comcast HD.The digital out's on the STB all put out Dolby 5.1 regardless of analog-digital-or hd.However the analog outs will vary And put out the broadcast signal whether Dolby-mono-stereo.It also will vary depending on if I am watching digital or analog channels with the digital being better.My Hitachi has digital outs but if I run the analog signal in it only passes through what it gets coming in.Basicly if you have a stb with digital outs your odds are better using them.

Thanks for the replies. My Set top Box (I hope that is what STB stands for) processes all the signal before it gets to the receiver so I imagine the capabilities are in the box and the original signal. I have seen only a few time where I can use anything other than stereo, which I use all the time.

So if I understand the science the sound originates with the station (Doh), then gets processed through the set top box, then gets played with or passed through the receiver depending upon whether it is digital, digital surround, or analog and not much of this sound reproduction having anything to do with the TV itself.

So a great receiver MIGHT make a difference but if the station is broadcastng junk there's nothihg but junk going to get through to my wonderful M22's. And on the rare occasion a station is broadcasting in dolby or some other such modern new technology, then my receiver can decode that and voila' surround sound from the TV?

Anything I missed? EDIT: Can't for the life of me figure out what OTA stands for.

Thanks
Larry

Over The Air - ie, antenna

The cable companys all pretty much work the same.They recieve signals from satelite and then pass that signal through the cable.Most network and premium cable shows broadcast Dolby digital 5.1.Your reciever should de-code the signal and you should see the result on the display panel.When I used either basic cable or premium with a box and ran the l-r cables into my reciever the display would change with the station being watched,eg.mono-stereo-dolby prologic.To get Dolby digital you need a digital out on the box otherwise you will probably get pro-logic.My box has both optical and coax digital outs and outputs DD for all channels.I don't think the tv matters that much because of the limitation on the built in speakers,when you change channels about the only change might be the stereo indicator changing.If your box has a digital out by all means run it direct to the reciever and more than likely you will get digital on all channels,really nice if you get music channels through cable.I believe satelite also outputs all digital to.
Kind of a long winded reply but yes,using analog into the reciever makes you a lot more dependent on the original signal from the station and about all you can do is play with various sound fields on the reciever.BTW if your box is digital it should still work fine even if not HD.Look for a digital out.

Just a quick follow up to my follow up .If your box lets you access an on screen menu,tv guide-recordings-search etc,see if you have a audio set-up option.Mine is a Motorola and if you can modify the settings look for a audio compression menu.If it is set to low or off your sound can vary quite a bit.A heavy compression setting will equalize the sound between channels especially if you have 2-tier cable,some analog,some digital.This will have no effect on a digital output but with standard l-r it might make quite a difference.

Only if you have digital cable. You can't stuff DD5.1 down an analog pipe.

If at one point they were able to stuff 180 analog channels down the same pipe I've got 60 analog channels on now, yes they could.

I guess a lot depends on your cable provider.I split my cable to get pip and was surprised to find I was still getting most of the HD programs right from the cable bypassing the STB.Of course the order was all messed up,I would go from Home Shopping-analog to HBO-HD.I was also getting DD by using my tv's optical out but only when it was being broadcast.

On DirecTV, I get virtually nothing in DD. We do not subscribe to premium channels and I do not have HD, but on the occasional free preview weekends, I have noticed that Showtime, HBO, etc. deliver a 5.1 signal. So, I know I've got the boxes wired right and the capability exists. However, for network shows that might be filmed in HD and might have included a 5.1 sountrack, I do not get the 5.1. I'm assuming that it is because the DD signal is only transmitted with the HD signal.

Your question is probably a little more complex than you anticipated, and, probably not easy to answer.

I think that the bottom line is it all depends on the path (way) that it got to you from where it was initially produced.

I think that it is just a matter of time before almost all cable TV has multichannel DD. I think that it is sort of like when color TV came out. It took a while, but almost everything is color now.

Guess that I am sort of dating myself. LOL!!!!

If an inkjet-based TV were possible, it would be a sight to behold. Of course, they'd give them away and recoup the costs (and then some) through ink sales...

Or just give each ink a different specific gravity, so they'd settle out in the reservoir.

Bren R.

I'm sure the Laser Monks would step in to provide some relief on that front.

Unless I'm badly mistaken (it's happened before...) by definition, HD TV comes digitally in a certain minimum definition in lines per inch, 16 x 9 format, and with 5.1 sound. I suppose the question is, how many providers have gotten to that standard yet, and are they passing it on to the end users.