problem using HDMI and dolby atmos on PC for audio

[TickleMeRifle]

So I have surround sound with atmos speakers in my gaming room and I've tested dolby atmos on some video games that support it on PC. whilst it sounds awesome the main problem is windows detects my AVR as a ''second display'' rather than just an audio device. When i go to play certain games they get confused and think that my avr is actually my primary display when in fact my monitor is. Even changing the primary display to my monitor doesn't really rectify the situation. subsequently some resolutions don't appear at all because the game thinks my avr is incapable of those resolutions - well of course it's an avr and NOT a display device lol !

I honestly think PC is lagging far behind consoles and lounge room home theatre setups when it comes to ease of audio setup. Most people on PC are still using the crappy green audio jack on their motherboards and that's essentially the problem - windows doesn't care and neither do game developers because so few PC gamers care about audio. I've tried sound cards and optical out but they are really only limited to DTS connect for surround sound and don't support full dolby atmos. I'm forced into using the HDMI output on the gpu for atmos. anyone here know how i can continue using HDMI for dolby atmos without games bugging out thinking the avr is a display?

[_I_]

disable the 2nd display in windows display settings or nvidia/amd/intel control panel
(or setting the primary as display #1 should force most games to run on it by default)

or you need to get a hdmi splitter and use the audio on the primary hdmi
or use the video passthrough on the receiver

hdmi offers better sound options than spdif
spdif is limited to pcm stereo, and dd/dts 5/1 or matrixed 7.1

[TickleMeRifle]

Originally posted by _I_:

disable the 2nd display in windows display settings or nvidia/amd/intel control panel
(or setting the primary as display #1 should force most games to run on it by default)

or you need to get a hdmi splitter and use the audio on the primary hdmi
or use the video passthrough on the receiver

hdmi offers better sound options than spdif
spdif is limited to pcm stereo, and dd/dts 5/1 or matrixed 7.1

unfortunately as soon as I disable the 2nd display it also turns off the audio meant for the avr too :C. video passthrough on the avr is also not an option as I use a 144hz gsync display that needs displayport.

yeah PC audio is really poop. I don't think microsoft thought this through lol

[_I_]

what gpu?

with amd/nvidia you can enable audio only hdmi using the gpus control panel

[TickleMeRifle]

Originally posted by _I_:

what gpu?

with amd/nvidia you can enable audio only hdmi using the gpus control panel

2080ti. I've tried already. I disabled the 2nd display in the windows display settings. launched a game and there was no audio. turned the 2nd display back on and sound came back. I did notice however if I span the displays games now work as intended but duplicating the displays sometimes bugs out the game. But the problem now is my mouse pans all the way to the other monitor (or avr) if i move the mouse out of screen *faceplam*

[_I_]

can you clone the displays

[TickleMeRifle]

Originally posted by _I_:

can you clone the displays

Ok I've done a full test and this is what happens with each display option in windows:

1. duplicate these displays (I assume this is what you meant by cloning): games get confused. some games (not all) think my avr is my main monitor and not capable of displaying said resolution. game plays at some horribly low res that I cannot change in the menu.
2. extend these displays: all games play as intended but because the gpu is sending a video signal to the avr thinking it is a second display I'm actually incurring a small fps hit in-game. within windows my mouse pans all the way to the other monitor (my avr).
3. show only on 1 (i.e my monitor) - game plays but with no sound as windows shuts down the whole 2nd monitor including both video and audio. no signal is sent to the avr at all.

See the dilemma now? lol. enabling dolby atmos with the windows 10 developers update wasn't fully thought through

[TickleMeRifle]

Originally posted by _I_:

can you clone the displays

I can use video passthrough on the avr that solves all the issues but high refresh rate dissapears and gsync is disabled. guess we gotta wait for displayport capable avrs lol

[Napoleonic S]

What if you use display port cable to the monitor directly and hdmi cable to the avr?

[Bad 💀 Motha]

Games don't get confused. It's simply you not configuring the Displays correct in Windows. Do that first.

Set everything regarding HDMI/DP audio and configure your Displays within Nvidia Control Panel. Don't do it using the OS settings.

Then in Windows Playback/Recording, set the connected hdmi audio as the default device.

Originally posted by Napoleonic S:

What if you use display port cable to the monitor directly and hdmi cable to the avr?

That's exactly how you should configure it, yes. Don't use any motherboard video outputs, connect PC dedicated GPU to Display#1 via DP. Connect PC dedicated GPU to AVR via HDMI

[TickleMeRifle]

Originally posted by Bad 💀 Motha:

Games don't get confused. It's simply you not configuring the Displays correct in Windows. Do that first.

Set everything regarding HDMI/DP audio and configure your Displays within Nvidia Control Panel. Don't do it using the OS settings.

Then in Windows Playback/Recording, set the connected hdmi audio as the default device.

Originally posted by Napoleonic S:

What if you use display port cable to the monitor directly and hdmi cable to the avr?

That's exactly how you should configure it, yes. Don't use any motherboard video outputs, connect PC dedicated GPU to Display#1 via DP. Connect PC dedicated GPU to AVR via HDMI

SIGH. THAT IS EXACTLY HOW I AM CONFIGURING IT LOL. I Pretty much build PCs for a living. i know what I'm doing. I'm telling ya man it's a huge oversight from microsoft. it's not a perfect system with flaws. If you've read through the entire post I've used every single connection and windows keeps stupidly seeing the avr as a monitor. that's the big issue. there needs to be a patch from nvidia or microsoft where we can select a HDMI out as purely audio and not video. other users on other forums have essentially mentioned the same thing when using PC home theatres setups for atmos.

In summary this is what happens when i choose each setting in windows display settings. same thing happens even when i configure it within nvidia control panel:

1. duplicate these displays: games get confused. some games (not all) think my avr is my main monitor and not capable of displaying said resolution. game plays at some horribly low res that I cannot change in the menu.
2. extend these displays: all games play as intended but because the gpu is sending a video signal to the avr thinking it is a second display I'm actually incurring a small fps hit in-game. within windows my mouse pans all the way to the other monitor (my avr).
3. show only on 1 (i.e my monitor) - game plays but with no sound as windows shuts down the whole 2nd monitor including both video and audio. no signal is sent to the avr at all. even when shutting the avr display signal down within nvidia control panel it shuts everything off including the audio.

[TickleMeRifle]

Originally posted by Napoleonic S:

What if you use display port cable to the monitor directly and hdmi cable to the avr?

that's what I was already doing...the big issue is the pc recognosing the HDMI audio out as another monitor and getting confused. it treats it exactly like another monitor - sending video signals to it, spanning the desktop, getting confused which is the primary monitor in-game despite already selecting your primary display within nvidia control panel. nothing you do will make the system recognise the avr as PURELY an audio device.

[_I_]

hdmi splitter is your only choice then
make sure its 4k capable

[TickleMeRifle]

Originally posted by _I_:

hdmi splitter is your only choice then
make sure its 4k capable

yes I agree it's prob my own choice for now. But I've decided to drop back to DTS connect with a optical cable . I won't get atmos but at least still have very decent audio quality with virtual surround.

[Napoleonic S]

Originally posted by Quokka:

Originally posted by Napoleonic S:

What if you use display port cable to the monitor directly and hdmi cable to the avr?

that's what I was already doing...the big issue is the pc recognosing the HDMI audio out as another monitor and getting confused. it treats it exactly like another monitor - sending video signals to it, spanning the desktop, getting confused which is the primary monitor in-game despite already selecting your primary display within nvidia control panel. nothing you do will make the system recognise the avr as PURELY an audio device.

Aren't HDMI ports 2 ways, am I right? So a single Hdmi port can be both for in and out? Am I correct here?

If my assumption is correct, how about you're using both cables but the DP cable goes from your GPU to monitor while the HDMI cable goes from your MONITOR TO THE AVR? Would this work? So your pc wouldn't care with the 2nd connection.

[TickleMeRifle]

Originally posted by Napoleonic S:

Originally posted by Quokka:

that's what I was already doing...the big issue is the pc recognosing the HDMI audio out as another monitor and getting confused. it treats it exactly like another monitor - sending video signals to it, spanning the desktop, getting confused which is the primary monitor in-game despite already selecting your primary display within nvidia control panel. nothing you do will make the system recognise the avr as PURELY an audio device.

Aren't HDMI ports 2 ways, am I right? So a single Hdmi port can be both for in and out? Am I correct here?

If my assumption is correct, how about you're using both cables but the DP cable goes from your GPU to monitor while the HDMI cable goes from your MONITOR TO THE AVR? Would this work? So your pc wouldn't care with the 2nd connection.

the HDMI on the back of the monitor is ''input only'' so wouldn't work. But i tested it anyhow and no success. pc doesn't pick up the monitor as "audio capable device". In nvidia control panel it says ''no audio capable display available'' for the monitor. all good. thanks for trying to help but I've just resigned to using DTS connect which is still quite good quality.