BT TV Box Pro - comments/questions

[DarrenDev]

@HS6 the hardware is provided by Sagemcom, however the software running on the box is all written by YouView, based on requirements from BT. Whilst I understand you're passionate about wanting this problem fixed, emailing Sagemcom is only wasting the time of people who are unable to assist.

Thanks @peskdale61 for the extra information

[DarrenDev]

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@zulu17 wrote:

The type B is presumably on the exterior label. It would be interesting to compare the Variant that is listed on the Device Information in the Settings submenu.

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Identical between my 2 year old box, and my few weeks old box (which was labelled Type B) - RTIW387.002.P

[HS6]

Hi @DarrenDev 

I accept the point you've made - I was unaware that the BT TV Pro box software was written by YouView based on BT's specifications.

I'm trying to find out where the software dev team is based so I can direct my comments/ complaints there. I used to work for a software  company and know that customer feedback often doesn't get through.

Would you happen to know which company is responsible for initiating software updates, BT or YouView?

Regards HS6

[DarrenDev]

Sorry, I've not mentioned who I am @HS6 - I'm not part of the customer services team. I lead the dev team for the BT TV and BT Sport apps on a few platforms, so have a direct relationship with the set top box team (as the BT TV app interfaces with it). The request has been made in the relevant place, and has been triaged accordingly by the business. I'm sure you must be aware that as this is a new platform, there is a LOT of work still do to and thus a lot of things to consider when prioritising changes/fixes.

[HS6]

Thanks for letting me know @DarrenDev 

Given you're exactly the person I was trying to reach.. I'll let the matter drop and look forward to a fix coming in due course.

Best regards 

[DarrenDev]

I need a bit of help from you please.

For anyone who is experiencing issues specifically with lack of surround sound on the new Pro box where it worked OK previously, I'd really appreciate the following details:

1. The make and model of your surround sound system
2. The audio mode it's in (where relevant)
3. A brief description (in your own words) of the problem - what's happening now that didn't before, or isn't happening when it used to with the previous box.

I'm trying to provide all the relevant evidence on this issue, so that its importance can be measured accordingly. Every complete response will help progress this issue quicker - if you've seen any posts/discussions/tweets in other places, I'd appreciate if you could point them here too to add their details.

Even if you've already provided details in this thread, or elsewhere on this forum, I'd appreciate if you could add here again so that it's all in one place. Even if your information is identical to someone else's please post again - the numbers matter.

If you'd rather not share the information publicly on this thread, you can also either send me a DM, or email me at tv.apps@bt.com and I'll add you to the list.

Thanks in advance - I'm really hoping to get this one properly measured and fixed ASAP!

[peskdale61]

I guess I'll get the ball rolling...

1. Integra DSX-3
2. Using any surround sound mode on the reciever

3. The problem is that stereo audio is not being correctly passed onto the reciever when the Pro box is in "Surround" mode. This is preventing the reciever from being able to automatically "upmix" stereo audio onto the other speakers. The ability to upmix stereo content to more that two speakers is a key feature of almost any AV reciever, but it relies on the source device providing audio in the correct channel format.

   With the Pro box set to output "Surround" in settings, the reciever is always reporting the audio as Dolby Digital 5.1, even when viewing known stereo content. When watching this stereo content, audio is output only from the front left and right speakers, with the other four speakers mute. As the reciever believes it is getting a valid 5.1 signal, it is unable to do any upmixing of its own.

   This behaviour is different to the previous DTR-T4000 box. When the old box is set to output "Surround" in settings, the output of the box correctly changes between Dolby Digital 5.1 and Stereo depending on the source content.

[HS6]

Hi @DarrenDev 

I'm very happy to provide the information you've requested.

1. Audio System - Yamaha RX V677

2. Audio mode on the Yamaha RX V677 - Cinema DSP (Standard)

3. Description of the problem:

With the old BT YouView Ultra HD box (and my current Apple TV 4K box), two channel Stereo transmissions (eg the BBC News) are successfully decoded by the Yamaha RX V677 to produce pseudo 5.1 surround sound. 

With the new BT Pro Box in 'Surround' mode whilst receiving a Stereo transmission, the Yamaha displays DD+ and DD EX, but the sound only comes out of the main left and right speakers.

With the new BT Pro Box in 'Stereo' mode whilst receiving a Stereo transmission, the Yamaha displays PCM and DD Prologic II and the sound comes out of the center and all surround speakers (ie pseudo surround sound).

The problem it seems is that in 'Surround' mode the BT Pro box does not send the correct information to the Yamaha for it to produce pseudo surround sound from a stereo transmission.

Regards HS6

[Will168]

@DarrenDev 

Here is a copy and paste of my original post in Message 174…

 I'm on a Denon AVR-X4500H, with a Dolby Atmos speaker setup. I have the BT TV Pro box set to HMDI Sound "Surround". When I put the Denon into Direct sound mode, I have tried to do some comprehensive testing for you and here are my results:

BBC One HD - Denon detects input as surround sound. Vocals coming out of centre channel only. The front L+R and rear L+R speakers all only play the ambient sounds/music, no vocals at all. The Atmos speakers play no sound of any type. It seems to process surround sound correctly.

ITV HD, Channel 4 HD, Channel 5 HD - Denon detects input as surround sound. Stereo mix of all sounds coming out of front L+R speakers only. No sound of any type coming from centre speaker, rear L+R or Atmos speakers. Despite detecting as surround sound, it seems to process as stereo, which seems to be correct.

BT Sport 1, 2, 3 HD, Sky Sports News HD, Sky Sports Main Event HD - Denon detects input as surround sound. Sound mix (audio and vocals) comes out of all channels at the same time for front L+R, centre and rear L+R. The Atmos speakers play no sound of any type. The same audio comes out of all speakers, it seems to be a stereo mix that purports to be surround and therefore doesn't seem right.

Eurosport 1, 2 HD - Denon detects input as surround sound. Sound mix (audio and vocals) coming out of front L+R and centre channels. The rear L+R speakers all only play the ambient sounds/music, no vocals at all. The Atmos speakers play no sound of any type. 

All of the above channels in SD - Denon detects input as surround sound. Stereo mix of all sounds coming out of front L+R speakers only. No sound of any type coming from centre speaker, rear L+R or Atmos speakers. 

I think that because the HDMI Sound is set to "Surround", it reports surround sound to the Denon and that's what it detects as. However, it does not always process it as such, as can be seen by ITV HD, Channel 4 HD and Channel 5 HD.

I can't test channel 465 for Atmos, as it's only the demo at the moment.

I mentioned this in another thread, but like some others, the audio is incredibly quiet. On the Denon volume scale of 0 to 98, my Apple TV 4K, NVidia Shield, Sky Q and the audio stream from the TV are all comfortable listening levels at between volume level 35 and 45. Much above 45 is bordering on too loud. The BT TV Pro box has to be well up above level 65 to be comparable to the other sources.

Hope that helps.

[DarrenDev]

Thanks for the posts, messages, and emails on this. I'm pleased to say that the bug with surround sound has been acknowledged, reproduced, and prioritised. Thanks again to @peskdale61 for the information that may just have clinched it!
As always, I'm not able to give timescales on when this will be fixed, but I am now at least happy that it's got the attention it deserves. I'll update again when I know more.