Two TVs, both from the same user. His mother’s insignia and his sony bravia. I quoted it 8 posts ago. No model numbers though…
@max I took a quick look around for HDMI specs. It appears that HDMI 1.1 (which I think was the first to ship) supported DVD Audio. I think the DVD spec required either PCM or AC3 (DTS missed the window but came later). So, probably HDMI could always pass AC3. I don’t think that means the TV has to accept it - at least for the DVD Audio days. I think the DVD player had to negotiate and, if needed, was required to convert to PCM. I’m not certain on any of this-- and I’m not sure if it’s worth the effort to spend a lot of time on this when we don’t have model numbers. It’s more of a “he said, should I believe it” situation.
It’s a spec… That is all. Don’t read into it so much. There are lots of specs…
@cjcox “HDTVs do not have to handle decoding of 5.1.”
@cjcox “It’s a spec… That is all. Don’t read into it so much. There are lots of specs…”
OK, I get it. You just don’t like to lose an argument.
ATSC is OTA, HDTV is a very vague term.
Tablo is recorded content, not ATSC - once you step away from the MPEG-2 for video you can’t hold on to AC3 for audio by claiming spec. The video has already been butchered.
I am tired of this excuse. Many of us can’t stand to listen to the tingy, crappy speakers that exist on TVs.
That’s why we run our Rokus, Apple TVs, Fire TVs and everything else that can connect to our TVs through a nice stereo system.
We want theater like sound in our homes. 2 channel stereo is not theater like sound.
Tablo has done great so far, but it is time to fix this issue.
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Thanks.
So if the TV is old enough it might not decode AC3. I can live with that explanation.
But theuser86 never replied to my roku question, so his tvs might support ac3? Who knows.
They’re not in a hurry because they’re too busy working on getting a larger customer base.
Look, I get it. I too want 5.1. but if the product is not stable there is no sense requesting something that will fail under a unstable product. My not even my 24 hour old Tablo is bricked after the latest firmware update perform just hours ago. I have tried everything under the sun to resuscitate the device…The MAC address simply will not show up on my switch nor on my AP. Think, Tablo is relatively new to the market so they will have some issue to work out. No one is perfect.
I have a substantial investment in a high end Home Theater and I am itching just as much as the next person to get 5.1 on my OTA utopia. BUT i would rather sacrifice the 5.1 for stability and quality. I think that the Tablo Devs will agree with me that these two factors are of the utmost importance and the force that drives them to who they are. What fun would it be to drive a Euro Corvette if the engine is not tuned properly. I rather drive a VW Jetta that was tuned to perfection. Actually that IS was I drive but with some high tech mods and a stage three APR. Just love it when my sleep can out do a Vette or a Porsche GT. The look on their face is hysterical,
Any way I will stop my gloat. Up ticking the forum thread count is not going to change their mind. Post all you want. The Tablo Devs are a sted-fast group of individuals. I know, I work a high end team of Devs.
Niles
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In the USA, HDTV is ATSC. It is not vague. If there were, it could never work with all the different players involved.
I have not claimed Tablo violated a spec. I have claimed that it is understandable that buyers are surprised when they find out Tablo down converts 5.1 audio.
Tablo claims, “Discover the world of free HDTV”. A lot of broadcast content is 720P/1080i w/ 5.1 audio. If you watch it live or recorded via Tablo, you won’t experience the audio portion of that HDTV content.
I’m not actually waiting on 5.1. I’ve given up hope. I have a 2-tuner and a 4-tuner Tablo and a lifetime subscription; but this audio issue is one of many reasons why Tablo isn’t ready for me to switch to it.
My issue isn’t with Tablo (although I do wish they hadn’t changed their mind about supporting 5.1 and I do wish they would make the lack of support clear to the potential buyer).
My issue is with the few of you guys who jump all over anyone who complains about the lack of support for 5.1.
I have tried to make the analogy to the video portion of the spec. If Tablo down converted the video to 480, how would you feel? Would you tell me that’s OK because the content has been converted and you can’t hold them to any spec once it’s converted?
Just because you don’t have equipment to realize the full potential of the audio portion of HDTV, doesn’t mean someone who has supporting equipment shouldn’t be surprised and upset when content is missing the 5.1 sound he knows was in the broadcast.
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Well, the good news for you is that Tablo support is fantastic. Alas, they probably won’t be fantastic until Monday.
As for your 5.1 comments, of course stability is #1 when the product is a DVR. I’m not aware of anyone who thinks otherwise.
jkline, I agree but 90% of the user base are naive and that is not their fault. Marketing can a be a very powerful tool. However Tablo is not a necessarily at fault either. Society has pumped DD to be at a certain value. Most people are quick buy based on the marketing specs of a product. I think that all companies should do a better job (more responsible) to educate the consumer interested in their product. I know this sounds ridiculous from Tablo’s perspective but being upfront would be to mitigate consumer frustration and plant a healthier seed for future growth.
If I was in charge I would treat this like my marriage,it is a relationship and there are no secrets.
@jkline… a unicorn report for your pleasure reading: http://www.cnet.com/news/20-tvs-tested-which-sets-can-pass-surround-sound-to-a-sound-bar/
I want DD too. But I can wait.
I don’t believe that you care at all about DD 5.1 @theuser86 
There have been some fantastic comments in here lately. I hope Tablo reconsiders…if you look at Amazon reviews, MANY of them mention lack of 5.1. I mentioned it in my review and I got a lot of comments from people waiting to buy one until it is implemented.
I would love to take advantage of my 5.1 setup. Its such a drastic change switching from surround sound content to downmixed stereo tablo recordings. Fortunately the picture quality is fantastic.
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@cjcox As usual, more evasive responses. But the multiple unicorn references are amusing.
HDTVs are allowed to decode the 5.1 per spec and downmix it to the number of channels they have. This is exactly the section I quoted.
You stated HDTVs didn’t have to decode 5.1. You were wrong.
Furthermore, having a DVR downmix is surprising. It doesn’t have to downmix, it just needs to pass the stream along to the TV.
The picture quality is not fantastic. I have my OTA antenna coax cable split - one end to the HDTV and one end to the Tablo. Have you tried switching back and forth between Live TV using the HDTV tuner and using the Tablo?
Even at 1080p, I refer to the video as “watchable”.
All I’m saying is if you can accept lower video quality than the native stream then you can accept lower audio quality - you can’t stand on your soap box and preach untouched native audio is needed.
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@nilesfoster Tablo is definitely at fault. They said it’s on their short term road map 18 months ago, and I was stupid enough to fall for it.
Also, nobody is arguing that 5.1 should override the stability of the product. I’ve had mine for over a year, and it’s been stable.
@theuser86 Arguing that since the video isn’t great we don’t need decent audio is absurd.
You don’t have skin in the game (you stated yourself you only have a 2 channel AVR). After you spend a couple grand to upgrade, you come back and tell me that 5.1 isn’t a big deal.
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Agreed 100%. If they openly stated it on their website and weren’t misleading I’d be less annoyed (and we wouldn’t have people who bought the product and later were disappointed).
I’d be still annoyed it’s not done though, lol
No amount of arguing about it is going to make it happen any faster. The simple fact is the Tablo does not support it currently, so any future customers need to take that into consideration before purchasing.
The Tablo is a “compromise” device in quite a few areas, and a lot of that has to do with their mission to deliver TV signals to mobile devices. I do believe the Tablo folks have done a terrific job with accomplishing their main goal, as I will watch programming on my phone, tablet, PC, as well as my TVs. But here are some big compromises:
- No 5.1 support
- No 60 FPS capture
- Closed captioning is limited to Roku and iPad
All three of those issues have been argued extensively on these forums. All three are full available on cable/satellite DVRs, as well as Tivo (and likely other DVR products). So hopefully by now, everyone is aware of these issues and can make their DVR choice appropriately.
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