Advice please - getting the maximum from my EMBY Setup / Samsung HW-Q990C (Atmos and TrueHD)

[Robnaeyaert 22]

Hi Emby - long time user and support @Robnaeyaerthere.

I need some advice please.

I want to get the max out of my soundbar (Samsung HW-Q990c) and I think I need a nVidia Shield but I don't want to waste money so can someone please help?

Here is my setup

• Emby Server running on a Windows NUC PC with media USB drives hanging off the server 
• Emby Client running on my 75" 2022 Samsung Art Frame (Samsung Emby client app)
• Samsung HW-990c connected to the eARC output on my TV

 

I have loads of TrueHD / Atmos media and I'm not sure I'm getting the full benefit from my hardware to enjoy Atmos etc.  Sometimes my Soundbar says "Atmos" when I play media and sometimes it doesn't and I'm getting suspicious that my setup is not leveraged to take full advantage of the audio. 

Someone said (and I read online) I may need a nVidia Shield Pro as a "player" as it will ensure my audio is maximised.  I get the feeling I'm missing out here and not using my HW-990c to it's fullest potential.

Could someone like @Luke, @FrostByteor anyone please give me a steer on how to configure this as I don't want to waste money on another appliance if I don't need to?

 

Cheers rob

[FrostByte 5527]

Yes, the Shield is probably still the best thing you can get today to maximize your audio experience.  When using the Samsung app from the TV you are limited to the audio codecs supported by your TV and anything else will be transcoded.

To see what codecs your TV supports see the charts in the back of your user's manual like this

https://developer.samsung.com/smarttv/develop/specifications/media-specifications/2025-tv-video-specifications.html

The Atmos you're seeing now is only Dolby Digital Plus with Atmos which is common with online streaming services like Disney+, Netflix, etc.  Anything sourced from UHD will be TrueHD Atmos (or DTS:X, etc) and get transcoded which means you lose all the height layers.

When using a Shield, you get the most out of it when connected directly to your soundbar like indicated below.  Since the app is running on the Shield it can use the audio codecs supported by it.  The soundbar then passes the video to your TV.

Shield > HDMI > Soundbar > HDMI/E-ARC > TV

The TV will not passthrough these codecs either if you connect the Shield directly to it.

In addition to all the audio codecs the Shield supports it also supports more subtitle formats like PGS which is the format used on UHD video.  The only thing you lose is HDR10+ as the Shield doesn't support that as of now.

 

 

 

[FrostByte 5527]

Oh, if you do have something sourced from a streaming service which has HDR10+ and DD+ Atmos you could always play it using the Samsung app still and anything else use the Shield.  That's what I do if I know what I'm going to watch ahead of time.  I think AppleTV, Amazon, HULU, Paramount+, and recently now Disney+ are using HDR10+ for a lot of things.

 

[yocker 1728]

17 minutes ago, FrostByte said:

Oh, if you do have something sourced from a streaming service which has HDR10+ and DD+ Atmos you could always play it using the Samsung app still and anything else use the Shield.  That's what I do if I know what I'm going to watch ahead of time.  I think AppleTV, Amazon, HULU, Paramount+, and recently now Disney+ are using HDR10+ for a lot of things.

 

Samsung and their f.ed up refusal to support Dolby Vision even though Dolby has pretty much won that format war.
Oh well, at least most have HDR fallback and the loss isn't that big.

Btw %¤#%# Samsung for adding adds in the menus that you have to click over to switch HDMI input!
Plus their built quality leaves a lot to be desired.

Edited 17 minutes ago by yocker

[FrostByte 5527]

Just now, yocker said:

Oh well, at least most have HDR fallback and the loss isn't that big.

Ya, I really don't see much difference between HDR10 and HDR10+ either.  If I had to lose one, it would be HDR10+ and keep any lossless audio via the Shield.