Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter + SP3 = no 5.1 surround?

[rcxotic]

Hi There,
I was wondering, has anyone successfully gotten their SP3 to output to 5.1 surround sound via the MS Wireless Display Adapter? It seems when I try to do that, only the L Front and R Front speaker works.

Saw 2 threads over at MS Answers saying similar stuff. Has anyone had success with this setup?

My setup is:
Surface Pro 3 <connected wirelessly to>
Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter <connected via HDMI to>
LG BH7530TB 5.1ch Home Theatre System <connected via HDMI to>
Samsung Un65H6350 TV

 

[buers]

Found this message by search. Unfortunately, I see the same issue with a Netgear ptv 3000 Adapter. With a Dell vostro and a Lenovo Thinkpad, I get 5.1 surround, with Sp3 only stereo. In the configuration of the audio device, I cannot select 5.1. Using a cable adapter and connecting by Hdmi to the AV receiver, I can select 5.1 and 7.1.

Unfortunately, I also get disconnects typically after a few dozen minutes, with the wireless display, however I haven't tested since the last firmware update from 15th Jan.

Any ideas how to fix this?
Is anybody getting 5.1 sound with any miracast/wireless display adapter? Which type?

 

[dmillerzx]

Have yet to see anyone achieve 5.1 with the MWDA... yet MS continues to market this funtionality

 

[mtalinm]

also L/R here

 

[jnjroach]

I don't see any reference that states the MWDA supports 5.1 Surround Sound....

 

[Nuspieds]

Found this message by search. Unfortunately, I see the same issue with a Netgear ptv 3000 Adapter. With a Dell vostro and a Lenovo Thinkpad, I get 5.1 surround, with Sp3 only stereo. In the configuration of the audio device, I cannot select 5.1. Using a cable adapter and connecting by Hdmi to the AV receiver, I can select 5.1 and 7.1.

Unfortunately, I also get disconnects typically after a few dozen minutes, with the wireless display, however I haven't tested since the last firmware update from 15th Jan.

Any ideas how to fix this?
Is anybody getting 5.1 sound with any miracast/wireless display adapter? Which type?

So you're getting audio dropouts with your adapter connected to your AV Receiver?

I have my adapter connected to my Denon AV Receiver and it works fine; that's how I get my 5.1. Note that I have an SP2.

 

[dmillerzx]

I don't see any reference that states the MWDA supports 5.1 Surround Sound....

Mentioned in their mircacasat definition below

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store...-Wireless-Display-Adapter/productID.308216600

 

[nipponham]

I do not have the MS WDA but Miracast is built into my Panasaonic tv and I can get up to 7.1 discrete channels, (although my system is set up for 5.1ch). Is your tv connected to your receiver via HDMI? The tv audio output on its own will usually downmix to 2.0ch or 2.1ch

 

[jnjroach]

Mentioned in their mircacasat definition below

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store...-Wireless-Display-Adapter/productID.308216600

Ah... they have multiple pages, the other doesn't mention this...weird

 

[nipponham]

Mentioned in their mircacasat definition below

http://www.microsoftstore.com/store...-Wireless-Display-Adapter/productID.308216600

I think I found the problem. That page says MS WDA only supports LPCM audio format. If your source uses a lossy codec like AAC/AC3, MS WDA will not support it. Although Miracast can support AAC and AC3, it is not a mandatory requirement like LPCM format is. And even if the audio can be decoded to LPCM, you will need the tv to pass through (via HDMI, not SPDIF) the audio channels to a receiver that can output multichannel.

 

[buers]

I do not have the MS WDA but Miracast is built into my Panasaonic tv and I can get up to 7.1 discrete channels, (although my system is set up for 5.1ch). Is your tv connected to your receiver via HDMI?

Nipponham, I am not sure, whether your question is targeted at the OP "rxotic" only, or also at my post concerning a similar problem with Netgear PTV3000. I have my PTV3000 connected to a Yamaha RX-A820 A/V receiver (capable of 7.1 sound). And the good news from my side: now it is working with 5.1 sound using the SP3. It is reasonable to assume (but not totally clear), that with the recent firmware update made the 5.1 sound working in my setup. (It could be a coincidence, however. I don't have the time to redo the firmware update and retest). Also, the disconnections I had several times after 30 or 40 minutes are gone. Works since 2 hours almost as expected. So there seems to have been great progress.

Still, the resource usage is higher, than I would have expected from such a modern device as the SP3. Using the WIDI/Miracast device as the only display (so no effort for the internal monitor), there is an overhead of about 5% CPU time for a basically static image that only shows my CPU monitor (sysinternals procexp with the slowest update interval of 10 s). On the local display without any other applications started, I would see about 99,5% idle time, with WIDI I see about 94,5% idle time. Projecting a movie (Original 720p50, H.264 codec, projected to 1040p) uses about 22% to 30% CPU depending on the displaying program (no surprise: best was the preinstalled MUI Video, however that would only use the first audio track which was stereo). An almost three year old Lenovo X230 with i5 and Intel HD4000 was using about half of this. I assume, this is related to the unusal high resource usage I see on the SP3 when using WIFI with significant throughput compared to other computers (I had given another example in another post).

Nevertheless, I am happy to see the progress.

 

[buers]

So you're getting audio dropouts with your adapter connected to your AV Receiver?

I have my adapter connected to my Denon AV Receiver and it works fine; that's how I get my 5.1. Note that I have an SP2.

Nuspied, no, I only tried miracast/WIDI projection - video and audio together. Doing this, until a few days ago, the direct-WIFI interfaced second screen would disconnect after 20 to 40 minutes.