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Does Chromecast with Google TV support direct connection to AVR?

phxrider
Community Member

Simple question that I can't find info on in the help section....

Does Chromecast with Google TV support direct connection to an AVR?

Second, if not officially supported, has anyone tried it that can confirm it works 100% correctly, as in does it pass audio formats as-is, and does NOT convert 2-ch PCM to Dolby 5-ch (which breaks Dolby Pro-Logic in the AVR)?

1 Recommended Answer

djtetei
Bronze
Bronze

Like I said, Google Chromecast with Google TV don't have a built-in surround sound decoder / processor and this means that multichannel soundtracks are passed through unprocessed to the audio video receiver. Stereo soundtracks are also passed through unprocessed. Google Chromecast with Google TV does not upmix two channels stereo soundtracks to multichannel surround sound soundtracks.

Online streaming services, like Netflix, Disney Plus or others, broadcast their surround sound content encoded as Dolby Digital Plus. This means that your audio video receiver must support Dolby Digital Plus decoding.

Ideally you would want your audio video receiver to support HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 protocols, in order to be able to process high data rate content.

If your audio video receiver do not support Dolby Digital Plus decoding, but only Dolby Digital, you may have issues with surround sound soundtracks from streaming services, because some of them do not provide a separate Dolby Digital 5.1 stream, and, in this scenario, the Chromecast device will down mix the multichannel soundtracks to strereo soundtracks.

So, when you set you Chromecast with Google TV sound settings to Auto and enable multichannel sound, the result depends on how well the HDMI handshake protocol functions, meaning that both the Chromecast and the AVR must talk the same language over the HDMI cable ends. Chromecast must correctly detect the AVR audio decoding capabilities and the AVR must correctly detect and identify the audio signal format passed through by the Chromecast device.

View Recommended Answer in original post

5 REPLIES 5

djtetei
Bronze
Bronze

Chromecast with Google TV has a HDMI port output which allows it to connect to a TV or an AVR HDMI input.

Chromecast with Google TV supports only multichannel audio passtrough, without decoding, or downmix to stereo audio.

If you want to stream services like Netflix or Disney Plus and enjoy multichannel soundtracks, your AVR needs to support Dolby Digital Plus decoding.

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there,

Did you have any more questions or need any additional help? If not, I'll go ahead and lock up this thread in 24 hours.

Just checking up,
Jeran
 

phxrider
Community Member

I appreciate the effort but I think you guys are missing the question.

The question is does it output 5 channel when the source is 5 channel, and 2 channel when the source is 2 channel automatically as it should when connected to an AVR. As examples, the Nvidia Shield does this correctly, Tivo Stream 4K (also Android TV) does fine when connected to the TV but when connected to the AVR always outputs 5 channel.

When using an AVR it is NOT desirable to just blindly upconvert all 2 channel signals to a 5 channel signal with 3 channels carrying nothing, as the AVR has processing like Dolby Pro Logic IIx / DTS Neo 6 to take the 2 channels and intelligently mix them into a natural sounding 5 channel experience, however if it gets a 5 channel signal the AVR thinks it's 5 discreet channels and doesn't apply this processing, with the result being just regular stereo coming out the 2 front speakers only.

It's a real pain to have to go into the settings to set the appropriate output, this should "just work" like the Shield does. As I have no personal experience with the Chromecast TV device I am trying find out if it "just works" or doesn't. From what I remember, the Chromecast Ultra, while officially not supported connecting to an AVR, did work right.

djtetei
Bronze
Bronze

Like I said, Google Chromecast with Google TV don't have a built-in surround sound decoder / processor and this means that multichannel soundtracks are passed through unprocessed to the audio video receiver. Stereo soundtracks are also passed through unprocessed. Google Chromecast with Google TV does not upmix two channels stereo soundtracks to multichannel surround sound soundtracks.

Online streaming services, like Netflix, Disney Plus or others, broadcast their surround sound content encoded as Dolby Digital Plus. This means that your audio video receiver must support Dolby Digital Plus decoding.

Ideally you would want your audio video receiver to support HDMI 2.0 and HDCP 2.2 protocols, in order to be able to process high data rate content.

If your audio video receiver do not support Dolby Digital Plus decoding, but only Dolby Digital, you may have issues with surround sound soundtracks from streaming services, because some of them do not provide a separate Dolby Digital 5.1 stream, and, in this scenario, the Chromecast device will down mix the multichannel soundtracks to strereo soundtracks.

So, when you set you Chromecast with Google TV sound settings to Auto and enable multichannel sound, the result depends on how well the HDMI handshake protocol functions, meaning that both the Chromecast and the AVR must talk the same language over the HDMI cable ends. Chromecast must correctly detect the AVR audio decoding capabilities and the AVR must correctly detect and identify the audio signal format passed through by the Chromecast device.

Jeran
Community Specialist
Community Specialist

Hey there!

It looks like phxrider accepted djtetei's answer, and it's been a few days, so I'm locking the thread. As always, feel free to make a new thread if you have any more questions or concerns.

Thank you for your help, djtetei!

Best regards,
Jeran