Audio not transferred in HDMI

[Riznarf]

Hey all-

I know what you're all immediately thinking, "ZOMG he doesn't have the driver installed!" - I do. So, with that out of the way, I'm connecting my computer via a HDMI (comp end) to DVI (TV end) to my Plasma...the video is coming through just fine, but the audio is not.

I've tested other inputs on the TV and the speakers/tv works fine. When I looked at the audio settings when it was plugged in to the TV, it said the it was "not connected" which is confusing, because it's clearly plugged in if I can see the image on the TV.

Anyways, any help would be most appreciative.

Thanks.

Using a ASUS G53J laptop

 

[MindoverMaster]

Only HDMI carries sound, not DVI. You need HDMI from your computer to HDMI on your TV.

 

[Amplified]

Only HDMI carries sound, not DVI. You need HDMI from your computer to HDMI on your TV.

Yeah, DVI doesn't carry audio, I had the same problem then I realized that. Instead try using speakers.

 

[Yami]

DVI can carry audio but only in specific situations (needs to be a HD48**/HD59**/HD69** ATI card, or a Nvidia card with the ability to have SPDIF plugged in). Your GPU needs to support it specifically. Given that this is a laptop, it's unlikely to work.
Should work fine if you have HDMI at both ends, though. If all your HDMI ports are in use (assuming you have any), you could get an HDMI switchbox.

 

[Digerati]

That is not really what is happening. Those cards basically have integrated sound on the graphics card. The GPU is not processing sound, it is a graphics processor unit. Additionally, you must use a special DVI to HDMI adapter with the card for audio because DVI cables and the DVI connectors on the distant end (TVs, monitors, and AV receivers) do not support audio through DVI, because it is not expected. So even if the card did somehow dump 5.1 (or 7.1) audio on a DVI cable, it would have no place to go - the circuitry at the distant end would not recognize any audio coming into the TV or AV receiver's DVI inputs.

So DVI does NOT carry audio - though some "cards" (not cables or monitors or TVs or receivers) do provide a workaround through the DVI port - but again, you must use an adapter to put the audio on a HDMI cable.

Clear as mud, right? The problem is, HDMI came out of the home theater world. Monitor makers, who happen to be TV makers too, correctly did not want to include two different (though exactly the same - in terms of video signal) video connections. HDMI is smaller and smarter so DVI is phasing out.

However, most users, rightfully so, would never be happy with the quality of sound coming out of a monitor's speaker, so typically, the audio from a computer needs to be split out anyway to a powered speaker system. So the problem becomes do you split audio out after you send it to the monitor? Or before, going from the card's "audio" outputs to the speaker's inputs? For me, one who has a nice set of surround sound computer speakers, it makes no sense to add another device (the monitor) into the audio path so I take my audio directly from my computer to my speakers.

Note too if you use multiple monitors. How do you route the audio? Left front to the left monitor's left speaker, and right front to the right monitor's right speaker? That sound like wiring nightmare too.

My point is, HDMI is a great idea (HD graphics and 6 discrete audio channels in one cable) and works great for a HTPC, but for a plain ol' computer running separate computer speakers, HDMI can be real confusing.

 

[Riznarf]

That is not really what is happening. Those cards basically have integrated sound on the graphics card. The GPU is not processing sound, it is a graphics processor unit. Additionally, you must use a special DVI to HDMI adapter with the card for audio because DVI cables and the DVI connectors on the distant end (TVs, monitors, and AV receivers) do not support audio through DVI, because it is not expected. So even if the card did somehow dump 5.1 (or 7.1) audio on a DVI cable, it would have no place to go - the circuitry at the distant end would not recognize any audio coming into the TV or AV receiver's DVI inputs.

So DVI does NOT carry audio - though some "cards" (not cables or monitors or TVs or receivers) do provide a workaround through the DVI port - but again, you must use an adapter to put the audio on a HDMI cable.

Clear as mud, right? The problem is, HDMI came out of the home theater world. Monitor makers, who happen to be TV makers too, correctly did not want to include two different (though exactly the same - in terms of video signal) video connections. HDMI is smaller and smarter so DVI is phasing out.

However, most users, rightfully so, would never be happy with the quality of sound coming out of a monitor's speaker, so typically, the audio from a computer needs to be split out anyway to a powered speaker system. So the problem becomes do you split audio out after you send it to the monitor? Or before, going from the card's "audio" outputs to the speaker's inputs? For me, one who has a nice set of surround sound computer speakers, it makes no sense to add another device (the monitor) into the audio path so I take my audio directly from my computer to my speakers.

Note too if you use multiple monitors. How do you route the audio? Left front to the left monitor's left speaker, and right front to the right monitor's right speaker? That sound like wiring nightmare too.

My point is, HDMI is a great idea (HD graphics and 6 discrete audio channels in one cable) and works great for a HTPC, but for a plain ol' computer running separate computer speakers, HDMI can be real confusing.

Ok, so...let me see if I got this right:

IF i have a GPU that supports audio through DVI....AAAAAAAAAAND I put a DVI to HDMI adapter on the end of my cable...it should work? Feel free to bring down the banhammer if i totally didnt get that... thank.

 

[acerinpa]

If your TV has a HDMI input ( which virtually all Plasma TV's do ) then just use HDMI out of the PC video card to the HDMI "input" on the back of the TV using a HDMI (on both ends) cable. You may have to check in the PC audio settings to make sure the HDMI is set to carry audio signal. Don't use DVI at all.

 

[Digerati]

IF i have a GPU that supports audio through DVI....AAAAAAAAAAND I put a DVI to HDMI adapter on the end of my cable...it should work? Feel free to bring down the banhammer if i totally didnt get that... thank.

Not GPU. GPU is the CPU for a graphics card.

IF you have a graphics card that supports audio with an integrated audio processor, AND it provides audio via a DVI port, then with an appropriate ATI DVI to HDMI adapter like this one attached to the card, you use a HDMI cable out to the monitor with internal speakers, or to an AV receiver, and it "should" work.

To that, I see no point running audio to a monitor or TV, unless you are using the monitor's or the TV's speakers. If you are not using the monitor/TV's speakers, you should be using the standard speaker outputs, not HDMI.

 

[carnageX]

Since he's on a laptop, he's not going to have a DVI card (not many do, anyway); he said he has HDMI out from his laptop. You guys are thinking if he was on a desktop (which isn't the case); so you're going the wrong direction lol.

Back to your TV: do you have an HDMI connection on the TV, or is it just DVI?

If it's DVI only, check near it and see if you have an audio-input that will accept a 3.5mm headphone plug. You would then need to just get a 3.5mm male to male cable and plug it from the laptop's headphone jack to the TV's audio-input jack.

What brand/model is your TV?

 

[acerinpa]

I don't think I have ever heard of a Plasma TV that did not have a HDMI input - but I guess that it is possible. Yes, model of the TV would be helpful.