Pro Logic from TV broadcast?
M. Stanley Bubien
I heard somewhere that some TV programs use Pro Logic in their broadcasts.
First off, is this true?
Assuming it is, I want to take advantage of this. I have 3 video
input sources to my deck (Kenwood VR-208), but no cable (Coax) line in.
How do I get Pro-Logic from a TV broadcast if my cable will not plug into
my TV? Or better yet, can I convert the cable to the RCA stereo ins
that my receiver does have (my VCR is mono, so that's out)?
Thanks
-Mark
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Cliff Watson
M. Stanley Bubien wrote in message ...
>
>I heard somewhere that some TV programs use Pro Logic in their broadcasts.
>First off, is this true?
Yes, some do, most don't.
>Assuming it is, I want to take advantage of this. I have 3 video
>input sources to my deck (Kenwood VR-208), but no cable (Coax) line in.
>How do I get Pro-Logic from a TV broadcast if my cable will not plug into
>my TV? Or better yet, can I convert the cable to the RCA stereo ins
>that my receiver does have (my VCR is mono, so that's out)?
Does your TV have audio output (RCA connectors)? If it does, you can patch
the audio to the receiver or you can buy a stereo VCR (used should not cost
much) and use it as a tuner.
>Thanks
> -Mark
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
>M. Stanley Bubien | ** STORY BYTES ** | Story Bytes better
>bub...@cerf.net | <http://www.storybytes.com> | than sound bites
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
> A mailing list of *very* short stories (2 words and up) sent weekly.
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cheers, Cliff
Gary A. Edelstein
Bubien) wrote:
>
>I heard somewhere that some TV programs use Pro Logic in their broadcasts.
>First off, is this true?
>
Many, if not most, use Dolby Surround, even commercials.
>Assuming it is, I want to take advantage of this. I have 3 video
>input sources to my deck (Kenwood VR-208), but no cable (Coax) line in.
>How do I get Pro-Logic from a TV broadcast if my cable will not plug into
>my TV? Or better yet, can I convert the cable to the RCA stereo ins
>that my receiver does have (my VCR is mono, so that's out)?
>
You need to have the line level output from a device with a TV Stereo
(MTS) tuner go to a receiver (or preamp or outboard decoder) with a
Dolby Pro Logic (DPL) decoder. A stereo (Hi-Fi) VCR or stereo TV with
line level audio outputs will work. Your mono VCR won't. If you have
cable, you'll have to check to see if the cable system passes the MTS
signal. If you need a cable box, then the box has to pass the signal.
Hope this helps, Gary E
|Gary A. Edelstein
|gary.ed...@mpcug.com; ap...@detroit.freenet.org
|"We have met the enemy and he is us." - Walt Kelly's Pogo
|I don't live in Detroit
|Born, raised and still living in Wisconsin
Mark Spiering
Last week I connected my TV receiver's audio outputs up to my receiver
to watch the special Star Trek: Voyager episode (the two-hour Borg
mini-movie which, by the way, was probably the best episode of the show
I've seen yet!) in Dolby Pro-Logic. I didn't expect much surround
envelopment, but there were some mild effects from the start and I was
fairly pleased. However, during the course of the show, the surround
field collapsed several times for fairly long periods (several minutes
approximately) and then would suddenly come back. Even though the
surrounds were mild, it was obvious when they would drop out. I checked
my TV receiver and it indicated (via the on-screen display) that it was
receiving a stereo carrier. However, upon checking my receiver I
discovered that the left and right level meters were tracking together
(indicating a mono signal which cannot be DPL decoded). When the
surround filed returned, the left and right meters would then track
independently (indicating the stereo signal had returned). All the
while, the TV receiver continued to indicate that it was recieving a
stereo carrier. I still enjoyed the episode, but the sound situation
was a bit annoying.
I called my local UPN affiliate and spoke with their programming
director. He could not give me specific reasons why the sound reverted
to mono during the show (I expected such a response). He did indicate
that the station does sometimes broadcast mono signals on a stereo
carrier, depending on the original programming material. He would not
say why they do this, but I suspect a possible reason would be so that
TV viewers would see the "stereo" indicator on their sets (many TVs
provide an LED or indicator for stereo sound) come on and think they're
recieving a true stereo signal when in fact they're not. There may be
other reasons, but I can't think of what they might be. So be careful
when you see that "stereo" light come on your set, you may actually be
receiving a mono signal! :-)
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Mark R. Spiering "Oh, great warrior! Heh!
Engineer, Audio & Cinema Enthusiast Wars not make one great!"
mspi...@execpc.com - Yoda
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Stephen Schaffer
and I also have an auxiliary ant. input hooked
up to a roof antenna. I have fixed output stereo
connections going to a pro-logic receiver. I get
pretty good pro logic performance off the antenna most of the time,
really quite enjoyable.
The cable is a different matter-sometimes good
sometimes fair, sometimes weird--center channel coming from left front
on some channels when same channel is great off antenna. If cable
companies can't even pass
pro-logic audio encoding, how can we ever
hope they'll do HDTV?? If HDTV fails in this
country I think it will be the fault of the cable
industry.
You can't always get what you want, but if
you try sometimes, you just might find, you
get what you need!!! Good Luck, Steve S.
Gino Lercara
<16680-36...@newsd-271.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
[SNIP]
>The cable is a different matter-sometimes good
>sometimes fair, sometimes weird--center channel coming from left front
>on some channels when same channel is great off antenna. If cable
>companies can't even pass
>pro-logic audio encoding, how can we ever
>hope they'll do HDTV?? If HDTV fails in this
>country I think it will be the fault of the cable
>industry.
Stephen,
Interesting you mention that weird decoding of prologic from cable.
I have a similar problem with ShowTime on my cable system (Comcast).
Any ideas why the amp would not be able to decode it correctly?
I've been meaning to call the cable company on this one as it's very
annoying!
Thanks for the post,
Gino
Len
>
> Last week I connected my TV receiver's audio outputs up to my receiver
> to watch the special Star Trek: Voyager episode (the two-hour Borg
> mini-movie which, by the way, was probably the best episode of the show
> I've seen yet!) in Dolby Pro-Logic. I didn't expect much surround
> envelopment, but there were some mild effects from the start and I was
> fairly pleased. However, during the course of the show, the surround
> field collapsed several times for fairly long periods (several minutes
> approximately) and then would suddenly come back. Even though the
> surrounds were mild, it was obvious when they would drop out.
I watched Voyager on my prologic setup and didn't notice any problems
with the sound. I find most of the surround effects to be somewhat
mild on Voyager but still enjoyable. The final scene where the
borg ship comes through the transwarp conduit sounded nice.
Anyway, I have a sort of problem related to stereo broadcasts.
When using my Panasonic PV-S7670 to tune channels I notice that
the stereo indicator on the front of the VCR flashes on/off.
This is when watching a single channel. But when it happens
I don't notice any difference in the sound. I haven't been
able to figure this one out.
--
Len
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HogHead
anolog signal and the inputs on VIDEO#2 and VIDEO#3 will only take DIGITAL
signals unless you re-program them.Hook up the RCA outs on your TV to the
VIDEO#2 or #3 on the reciever.At the reciever VR-208,select video#2 or #3
which ever you hooked your TV to,and from the INPUT SELECTOR then press the
INPUT MODE key until you see ANOLOG displayed.That should do it!
Stephen Schaffer wrote in message
<16680-36...@newsd-271.iap.bryant.webtv.net>...
My tv is hooked up to cable without a box
and I also have an auxiliary ant. input hooked
up to a roof antenna. I have fixed output stereo
connections going to a pro-logic receiver. I get
pretty good pro logic performance off the antenna most of the time,
really quite enjoyable.
The cable is a different matter-sometimes good
sometimes fair, sometimes weird--center channel coming from left front
on some channels when same channel is great off antenna. If cable
companies can't even pass
pro-logic audio encoding, how can we ever
hope they'll do HDTV?? If HDTV fails in this
country I think it will be the fault of the cable
industry.
You can't always get what you want, but if
Stephen Schaffer
system is so erratic, but I don't blame the receiver or the TV as it has
occurred on 2 different receivers and 3 different TVs. Our local cable
system is Media-One, and they have
been doing a lot of "upgrading" lately. I have
never used one of their boxes-just hook the cable directly to the TV.
I was told by the tech who came out to tweak an unrelated problem
on my TV that
using the box would make the pro-logic situation even worse. When the
problem becomes too objectionable I switch over to
the roof antenna, or if it's a cable only channel
I fire up the DSS dish and get it off that. The
only reason I keep cable is because 2 local channels
are a little weak off the antenna and network
affilliates aren't available on DSS in my area.
Cable companies won't care about quality issues like this until there is
true competition
in the cable industry. If DSS were allowed to
provide network feeds, cable would have to
address these issues--but that's a whole different thread, and probably
for another
newsgroup--sorry!