Intel Display Audio doesn't offer 5.1 as a choice

Poulsbo2 · ‎11-07-2021

I have connected my NUC7i5BNH to my Bose home theater receiver and new LG 4K OLED TV. When I connect via HDMI, the Intel Graphics Settings shows it as Bose Display which only offers HD1080 instead of 4K. I suspected this was caused by the Bose receiver not passing the proper IDs through, so I bought an HDMI to HDMI+Optical splitter. I connected the HDMI directly to the TV and ran the optical connection to the Bose receiver. This solved the video issue and I now get 4K. However, the Intel Display Audio driver was automagically installed and now I only get Stereo as an option. Is there a way to get 5.1 audio?

I downloaded the SSU scan utility and ran it. The report is attached. Let me know if there is anything else I should send.

n_scott_pearson · ‎11-07-2021

In a nutshell, the answer is no. The TV is going to report its capabilities, which only include 4K+stereo. Same goes for the receiver; even with a 4K TV downstream, a 1080p receiver is still only going to report 1080p.
There are two possibilities for resolving this. First and best, get a 4K receiver. Second, some TVs support downstream connections (of sound bars, etc.) and will pass on these capabilities to the input.
Hope this helps,
...S

Poulsbo2 · ‎11-08-2021

Scott, thanks for your quick response.

Actually, this TV (LG OLED65C1PUB) does support surround sound modes including Atmos. I get the part about the receiver only reporting that it only handles 1080p, but since I am bypassing the receiver with the audio (via the fiber optic half of the splitter). I don't get why, in this case, the driver doesn't see the audio as coming from the NUC (independent of the TV) which should support multi-channel modes as well.

n_scott_pearson · ‎11-08-2021

Have you verified that this HDMI+Optical splitter will actually return EDID data that indicates that the abstract downstream device supports surround sound (5.1 or otherwise)? There are tools around that will display the EDID data. I can only suggest that you look with one of these.

...S