List of Supported devices

[AlbumMan]

I picked up the new box early last week and after reading your post, had the same results. My Denon shows the DD Sur name no matter if it is a surround channel or not when the app is set to 5.1 and the Denon's display details for input signal shows FL and FR only. Switching to Digital Passthrough in the app works as it should. While testing back and forth, I only had the "Unable to play channel (android error) appear once so I changed the Advanced sound settings under the Display & Sound menu in the oNN, chose Manual and enabled all of the surround choices and the error did not pop up. Not sure if that was a fluke as I reverted it back to Auto and still did not have the error. BTW, the same results occur on both ATSC1 and ATSC3 channels.

[foxbat121]

ATSC 1.0 never failed me on my Onn pro yet. But ATSC 3.0 stations do fail from time to time, quite randomly. Hopefully, SD can find some work arounds. 2.0 or 5.1 speaker settings seem to invoke cloud transcoding which results in DD 2.0 audio. We also know Onn Pro has DD/DD+ encoder enabled for anything it does not pass through.

[Sartana]

Forgive me if this has been asked before on this forum but does anyone know why no AVRs or processors can natively Decode Dolby AC-4 ?? I just got off the phone with Onkyo and they told me that they have no plans in implementing AC-4 in the future.

When AC-3 was originally introduced all the manufacturers implemented native support in their equipment. The same goes for when E-AC3.

So It just seems mind boggling as to why we still don’t have native support for AC4.

[TPeterson]

....[D]oes anyone know why no AVRs or processors can natively Decode Dolby AC-4 ??

Because royalties (and uncertainty about ATSC 3.0 success).

[Cabal]

So It just seems mind boggling as to why we still don’t have native support for AC4.

Shooting from the hip, because nothing uses it (besides ATSC 3.0 broadcasts), and it was shoehorned in there as a sleazy royalty/patent cash grab.

Lots of good choices out there, whether your focus is compatibility or open/royalty-free/innovation, but we got AC-4 instead.

[Sartana]

So It just seems mind boggling as to why we still don’t have native support for AC4.

Shooting from the hip, because nothing uses it (besides ATSC 3.0 broadcasts), and it was shoehorned in there as a sleazy royalty/patent cash grab.

Lots of good choices out there, whether your focus is compatibility or open/royalty-free/innovation, but we got AC-4 instead.

AC4 is certainly not a royalty/patent cash grab. It’s twice as efficient as E-AC3 which was in itself more efficient than AC-3.

So the real problem seems to be is because, in their mind, not too many people have the need for it. I bet you the second Netflix or one of those streaming sites starts using AC-4 we will have native support right away from all AVR manufacturers.

Its really sad that we are deprived from the full potential of AC-4 because of some BS politics.

[jasonl]

AC-4 is covered by the same license that covers Atmos, so it's not a royalties thing (though that shared license does help with it starting to show up in many newer devices with Atmos support). I haven't seen anything that confirms it is possible to bitstream AC-4 though. If it can't be bitstreamed then it can't be sent to the receiver and the receiver decoding it is moot.

[Sartana]

AC-4 is covered by the same license that covers Atmos, so it's not a royalties thing (though that shared license does help with it starting to show up in many newer devices with Atmos support). I haven't seen anything that confirms it is possible to bitstream AC-4 though. If it can't be bitstreamed then it can't be sent to the receiver and the receiver decoding it is moot.

AC-4 can be bit streamed. At least one Set Top Box will do it when Passthrough is selected in the settings.

I am not sure, but I think some Nexgen TVs can also bitstream the AC-4 signal using eARC.

[Cabal]

AC4 is certainly not a royalty/patent cash grab. It’s twice as efficient as E-AC3 which was in itself more efficient than AC-3.

One does not preclude the other. If you don't care about a compatibility layer for existing TVs and AVRs, as was done here, there existed at the time of the spec writing, audio codecs that remain technologically superior and royalty-free. But Dolby certainly wasn't going to allow that to happen.

So the real problem seems to be is because, in their mind, not too many people have the need for it. I bet you the second Netflix or one of those streaming sites starts using AC-4 we will have native support right away from all AVR manufacturers.

Keep in mind that popularity has never been a driver of AVR support. AAC remains an *incredibly* popular codec, especially in the Apple ecosystem, and the number of AVRs that can bitstream it is 0. I also wouldn't hold my breath for Netflix to push AC-4, given their jumping on the royalty-free train with AV1. Perhaps you'd see some momentum if physical discs started including AC-4 tracks alongside TrueHD + Atmos, but those don't exactly have the brightest future.

Its really sad that we are deprived from the full potential of AC-4 because of some BS politics.

Given the limited capabilities of AC-4, you won't lose any of its "full potential" by decoding and outputting it to your AVR as multichannel LPCM.

[NatHillIV]

This may be old news for everybody here. If it is, feel free to delete this post.
I just bought an ONN4K device. With my Emby server's "Stats for nerds," I can see this information.....
A) MPEGTS (4 mbps) -> Direct Play
B) Video 1080p HEVC Main 10 153 4 mbps 59.94 fps -> Direct Play (4 mbps) Renderer Media Codec
C) Audio English AC4 5.1 46034 HZ -> Direct Play
Not sure what all of that means, but it's the first time Emby has been able to do everything regarding an ATSC 3.0 signal without transcoding.

I think this is an amazing device. Snappy, quick, picture is amazing. I HOPE the fact that it is Android based might help Silicon Dust figure out how to use it for the DRM solution.

I repeat, I am not an engineer or somebody who can make heads or tails of all the technical ramifications of this new tuner.

[foxbat121]

Please be specific which Onn 4K you have:
* Onn 4K 2021 ($20), no AC-4 capability
* Onn 4K 2023 ($20), no AC-4 capability
* On 4k Pro ($50), capable of AC-4 but very unstable when used within HDHR app as posted above.

[NatHillIV]

My bad.
ONN4K PRO. $50.

[foxbat121]

In that case, see posts above about problems with AC-4 audio when used inside HDHR app with ATSC 3.0 stations. My RockTek G2 has much better AC-4 handling than this.

[Cook1217]

Just got the fire stick 4k pro for $30. Amazon had a $30 coupon for it randomly. Scooped it up only to use for my 3.0 stations. My shield can do everything else.