Is my non 4k amp reducing quality?

Markgolf · 14 Jan 2020 at 12:53

Hi All,

I just got my new Samsung Q80R, very nice and very happy.

I have everything (xbox, sky Q 2tb, PS4) going through a trusty old Sony STR-DH910 amp (Prob 9 years old).

Will this be reducing the quality of the image on my TV? I did try to compare a 4k Youtube vid played from my sky q box against youtube on the TV itself but to be honest, I didn't spot a difference in quality or motion.

Just one of those things where you want to see the full potential of the TV.. (Even if I don't notice it)

Thanks!

Jason1973 · 14 Jan 2020 at 13:31

Hi Markgolf.

If the amp is 1080 p it will reduce the picture but the tv will more likely upscale. You could test by connecting directly to the tv and see if you can notice the difference. I would be getting a 4K amp if I didnt have one already.

Bluecube · 14 Jan 2020 at 14:36

What Jason1973 said. The OP notes that it’s difficult to see the difference between 4K and 1080p. I’ve also found that Samsung TVs have excellent upscalers that make it difficult to see the difference. The differences are there if you look hard enough (usually a slightly brighter, sharper pic) but not so much that they slap you in the face.

lucid · 14 Jan 2020 at 15:59

The short answer is yes. Whether or not you see the difference though depends on the source.

Of its just UHD resolution, but still SDR with 8bit colour (hello Sky Q :rolleyes:

), and you're sitting far enough away from the screen, then it will be hard to tell much difference.

Change though to a UHD source with HDR and WCG, then try comparing it direct to the TV against going through the amp, and the difference should be colossal. I've always said that the extra dynamic range and broader colour range is what's most noticeable about UHD. In fact, we could have stayed with 1080p and just added HDR and WCG and been just as happy. These are the thing you see at any distance in a living room. They trump resolution by a country mile.

Raggs · 14 Jan 2020 at 16:00

could buy a 4k switch, I've routed my 4k sources through one and let the ARC channel on the tv send sound to the old avr i have ,theres a downside though arc doesn't appear too support DTS HD pass-though or True Dolby sound from my xbox on x apparently it can do this now, i get normal dts or dolbly digital plus from 4k blu rays, but i think this new earc standard may do from bits i have read.

xs2man · 2 Feb 2020 at 17:52

Can you not just plug your devices directly I to the TV, and take the audio from the TV to tha amp?

Bluecube · 2 Feb 2020 at 17:57

No DTS or Atmos if you do that

xs2man · 2 Feb 2020 at 18:51

Bluecube said:
No DTS or Atmos if you do that

Sure.

The OP seems geared more towards not reducing picture quality from sources he already has. Not so much for expanding on the sound field by adding more speakers and a newer amp.

hornetstinger · 2 Feb 2020 at 20:24

Bluecube said:
No DTS or Atmos if you do that

Depends on the TV, if you use hdmi from source to TV then TV to amp, you'll keep Atmos and DTS.

Bluecube · 2 Feb 2020 at 20:25

Only with eARC capable TVs as far as I’m aware. The Q80 certainly doesn’t support DTS or Atmos.

lucid · 2 Feb 2020 at 20:41

Bluecube said:
Only with eARC capable TVs as far as I’m aware. The Q80 certainly doesn’t support DTS or Atmos.

Yep.

For the majority* of the TVs that have some sort of DTS support, it's just 2.0 DTS rather than 5.1 DTS.

ATMOS encoded within Dolby True HD and DTS-MA soundtracks hit a brick wall going via the average TV's ARC connection. It is possible though for TVs to pass DD+ with the lossy version of ATMOS that broadcasters use. It just depends on the TV. There's not a huge difference in bandwidth between DD 5.1 and DD+ 5.1 carrying ATMOS, so something such as a Sky Q box could pass ATMOS via standard ARC to an external sound system.

* There may be a TV in existence that will pass full DTS 5.1 from a HDMI source to the ARC connection, but so far I can't think of one that does.

Dervious · 7 Feb 2020 at 12:29

I doubt your 9 year old amp will be passing or even downscaling a 4k input signal.

I suspect that if you go into the settings on your Sky Q box you'll find that the output resolution is 1080p or less. If you try changing the resolution to 2160, you'll probably get a blank screen and the box will revert to the lower resolution.

Psycho Sonny · 7 Feb 2020 at 14:26

This is the major pitfall of external sound solutions however it's a simple fix. Get a new avr and sell the old one to offset some of the costs.

Also I am surprised you can't tell the difference but I suppose the majority of people who don't know any better would struggle also.

Sky can't do hdr. My mate was using Netflix off the q box until I told him the built in app was much better as it could do hdr, dolby vision, etc.