IT UHD audio trouble

[FelipeF]

Not sure what you intent is with asking if Tam's statement is verifiable. Tam actually leads the QA team. His team conducts testing on various devices and TVs on a daily basis to find and squash bug before they make it our customers. Of course, we are not perfect by any means but we do adhere to strict testing procedures to deliver the best possible streaming experience. As with all things related to the internet, there are many factors that can make streaming content difficult. Sometimes device manufacturer's release new firmware upgrades (without notification) that can "break" our app, ISP routing changes, CDN host issues, etc. When these issues occur, we do our best to resolve them from our end. Sometimes we are at the mercy of an entity outside of our company and depend on them to address this issue. Sadly, this is the case with the LG issue currently being reported on this forum.

Just as Jake has mentioned previously on other threads, Vudu engineers are not obligated to participate on these forums. It's not part of their daily duties. They do interact with you all regardless because they would like to tackle head on any pending issues before they become bigger problems. I definitely welcome their feedback since this makes my job a bit easier and together we are able to address your concerns a lot quicker. Posting inflammatory statements towards Vudu staff just makes it less desirable for them to post updates on this forum. We would rather have posts with constructive criticism that offer insight to your issues and useful information for our investigations. I just feel as the moderator of this forum, this needed to be addressed. I would rather move forward and work on addressing your issues so you can get back to streaming lovely movies and TV shows!

[lujan]

Tam,

Is your statement verifiable with LG? I don't see how this is an LG issue when this all started with your update on January 2nd, 2018 (3.0.25). Before that, everything worked fine. Assuming for a minute that it is an LG issue, why not repost the prior VUDU app version so we can all watch UHD on VUDU with proper audio and when the issue is resolved, post another updated version that works correctly. Why leave a broken app online? Also, what is the "LG issue" specifically and who is working on it from both teams?

I don't know what's going on with Vudu lately as a lot of different issue have cropped up that they don't seem able to fix. Since around the time of the release of Dunkirk (December 19, 2017), UHD titles don't include Dolby Vision (but only HDR-10) on devices where UHD is working. UHD doesn't work at all using the Chromecast Ultra. I don't have an LG that works with Vudu as far as UHD so I can't test the issue you mention above. Doesn't anyone at Vudu do any testing before devices are updated in order to prevent things like this from happening?

89 UHD
861 HDX
3 SD

[JayS_CT]

Hello All

LG is working on a solution. This seems to be an LG issue that will require them to fix. Will let you know when we Vudu gets something to test out.

Thanks
Tam

Tam,

Is your statement verifiable with LG? I don't see how this is an LG issue when this all started with your update on January 2nd, 2018 (3.0.25). Before that, everything worked fine. Assuming for a minute that it is an LG issue, why not repost the prior VUDU app version so we can all watch UHD on VUDU with proper audio and when the issue is resolved, post another updated version that works correctly. Why leave a broken app online? Also, what is the "LG issue" specifically and who is working on it from both teams?

[JayS_CT]

From the description, it looks like that is a stereo short, delivered in a standard 5.1 container. If that's the case, what you're seeing is accurate as your Denon is only getting a stereo (left/right) signal.

I understand.. It does appear that way.. All other UHD movies (including the ones I've stored on VUDU) delivers the content correctly to the Denon over the same connection (meaning all the lights on the receive side are properly lit). I don't know what this short film is they've provided. It's not an issue with the Denon if all the other streaming providers feeds are operating correctly as well, so I'm much more inclined ow to believe it is something in this 5 minute (or less) film clip. As for the major issue, given that the feed from VUDU is going into the same Denon from the XBOX One X and working correctly on the VUDU app there, it appears that the recently updated VUDU app for the LG is at fault.

[gamescan]

From the description, it looks like that is a stereo short, delivered in a standard 5.1 container. If that's the case, what you're seeing is accurate as your Denon is only getting a stereo (left/right) signal.

[JayS_CT]

I agree with the above poster... this started with the latest version of the Vudu app on LG.. All other 4k streams and audio from Netflix, etc. (including ATMOS) come in fine.

An update for everyone though. I loaded the VUDU app on to my XBox One X (which I didn't know was a supported platform - looks like the S is as well) .. Net is the audio is fine, HDR is recognized, full surround with UHD .. So it is the App associated with LG that is at issue.

I spoke with Vudu level 2 support. They pointed me to a test UHD video called "Breathe" on the Vudu site (it is not the movie, has some guy by a pool). I played that from the Vudu app on the LG and surround sound seemed to be fine, but unlike full UHD movies like Dunkirk or others that are ATMOS, etc., the audio stream feed (looking at the receiver) does not look to be standard surround sound signal coming in as only the left and right channel lights were lit, so I'm not sure what actually my Denon is decoding.. It would be good if others tried this 5 minute short..

Worst case, if you've got another place that you can load Vudu, like and XBox or PS4, you may want to try it there in the interim until this gets sorted out with the appl on LG.

[ryanmcv]

Yeah, the issue started when the Vudu app was updated in November or December. The TV's firmware hasn't been updated since last July (version 05.30.02). My Vudu UHD titles were working fine from July to November. So I find it very curious that Vudu is pointing the finger at LG. Clearly it is something in Vudu's app update that causes the issue.

[JayS_CT]

A question for the VUDU folks. I tried to load Vudu from the WWW app on the LG to see if it was the native app. That attempt came back with an error message that VUDU on the web was looking for Flash Plugin to operate. Is the web app still relying on Flash for processing? Get the same error on Chrome browser on my Macbook Pro.

[JayS_CT]

All,

Just tried a different approach. Instead of a movie rental, I went to my Vudu Library (Ultraviolet) where I have several 4K HDR movies (via Ultraviolet and Movies Anywhere both linked to VUDU). The experience was different by movie. Standard Blu-Ray is fine Surround Sound is fine, Wonder Woman 4K HDR skips horribly on audio (as in the video submitted above) but video is fine, whereas Magical Beasts and Where to Find them is "watchable" but hiccups in both audio and video from time to time and nothing at all like Wonder Woman. This has to be App related in my opinion as Dolby Vision 4k video and audio are fine coming off Netflix (Stranger Things). Just wanted to provide more information.

[JayS_CT]

Add me to the list of affected LG C6 users. I posted a video of exactly the same symptoms as others have described.
Prior to the 1/2/18 update I didnt have this issue but I did have an issue where the UHD video content would stutter every 8 seconds but the audio was fine. Prior to the last LG firmware (the one from many months ago) I had zero problems with UHD playback.. its been nothing but problems ever since that LG FW update.... kinda sad issues have persisted for the better half of a year. This is still the best solution for me to utilize my digital UHD collection(When its working), however I wont be buying, and have not purchased any since the issues started (why would I, it doesn't work) Hopefully LG will not only resolve the issue but will also allow Atmos pass through on their 2016 models in the process. Link to video attached (https://youtu.be/BrxQ9op9U1g)

Couple of points.. On C6 I had no issues after LG FW but did after Vudu upgrade, so I repeat that I don't necessarily automatically blame LG for this one. I have no issues with 4K streaming and audio on other apps, only VUDU. The only real issue I had with the latest LG FW was the impact to HDR on Game mode selection. As for ATMOS (or lack of), that should not be impacting what we're hearing with Vudu.. It should revert to a more standard surround sound I believe.

[JayS_CT]

I'm having the same audio drop-out issues, so I'll share my information:

- LG OLED55C6P
- Sound is set to output via HDMI ARC to a Sony HT-ST5000 sound bar.
- The issue occurs when watching most UHD content on Vudu. Switching to HDX quality resolves the audio drop-outs.
- When I switch the TV's settings to output via built-in speakers, audio from Vudu UHD titles seems to be fine.
- Connected via HDMI ARC, but the problem also occurs using an Optical connection.

I really hope LG and/or Vudu can quickly find and release a fix for this issue. Between this issue and the Chromecast Ultra issue, I have no way to watch my Vudu UHD titles.

Adding my name to the chorus of users with the issue. I am connected with Optical (for now) to Denon 4311CI receiver (being upgraded). Honestly I don't know if this is being caused by the latest firmware on my LG C6 OLED or the latest Vudu update. UHD was fine in Vudu and it remains fine with all other sources. The choppiness is only coming from Vudu. We had it with Dunkirk. Not a question of internet speed based on all speed tests. Again though it is my recollection that we had watched UHD titles fine on Vudu after the LG FW update but before the latest Vudu update. Is it possible it is a conflict in Vudu code? Not sure why folks always seem to jump to blaming the TV manufacturer. :-(

Is there a way to reload the earlier version of Vudu? I am using the built in app. It was be helpful if we had the ability to try Vudu from other sources to see if the issue still exists, e.g. loading Vudu from the WWW browser with some test UHD video streams? Would help us and you with diagnosing. Can VUDU place a "test" 4K stream we can try for different options to see if it can be fixed without having to rent a movie?

If VUDU is able to reproduce this in house does a roll back on the VUDU app help???

[raynist]

Same problem in a 65 inch C6

[raynist]

Add me to the list. 2016 65 inch C7 with audio stutter on UHD movies. Started sometime in December I think.

C6 is passing sound to Denon 4400 via hdmi. UHD is unwatchable unless I switch to tv speakers and I didn?t spend thousands on speakers and amps for that. This does not happen in HDX

have passed in renting numerous 4K movies from Vudu because of this.

Has as happened on Blade Runner 2049, Geostorm and others. Haven?t played a UHD move recently that wired correctly.

[DoYouVUDU]

Add me to the list of affected LG C6 users. I posted a video of exactly the same symptoms as others have described.
Prior to the 1/2/18 update I didnt have this issue but I did have an issue where the UHD video content would stutter every 8 seconds but the audio was fine. Prior to the last LG firmware (the one from many months ago) I had zero problems with UHD playback.. its been nothing but problems ever since that LG FW update.... kinda sad issues have persisted for the better half of a year. This is still the best solution for me to utilize my digital UHD collection(When its working), however I wont be buying, and have not purchased any since the issues started (why would I, it doesn't work) Hopefully LG will not only resolve the issue but will also allow Atmos pass through on their 2016 models in the process. Link to video attached (https://youtu.be/BrxQ9op9U1g)

[TamM]

I'm having the same audio drop-out issues, so I'll share my information:

- LG OLED55C6P
- Sound is set to output via HDMI ARC to a Sony HT-ST5000 sound bar.
- The issue occurs when watching most UHD content on Vudu. Switching to HDX quality resolves the audio drop-outs.
- When I switch the TV's settings to output via built-in speakers, audio from Vudu UHD titles seems to be fine.
- Connected via HDMI ARC, but the problem also occurs using an Optical connection.

I really hope LG and/or Vudu can quickly find and release a fix for this issue. Between this issue and the Chromecast Ultra issue, I have no way to watch my Vudu UHD titles.

Hello Ryanmcv

Thanks for the added information. I will forward this to LG.

As for the Chromecast Ultra, sorry for the inconvenience. Vudu is working on a fix and should have something out when done.

Thanks,
Tam