There is no stereo 2.1 (Dolby Digital 2.1). The ".1" is the LFE channel for very low frequencies to the Sub-Woofer. Actually its Dolby Digital 2.0.

The Byond box output from RCA (red and white) in 2 channel stereo PCM audio BUT the Byond digital audio settings must be changed to "Stereo (Analogue and Digital)".

The Byond box output from RCA (red, white cable)...
1) When settings to "Stereo (Analogue and Digital)", the RCA audio output will be in 2 channel stereo PCM for ALL HD and SD channels.
2) When settings to "Dolby Digital 5.1 (Digital Only)", the RCA audio output will be in 2 channel stereo PCM for ALL SD channels. Completely no audio for ALL HD channels.

The Byond box output from HDMI can output in two audio types...
1) When settings to "Stereo (Analogue and Digital)", the HDMI audio output will be in 2 channel stereo PCM for ALL HD and SD channels.
2) When settings to "Dolby Digital 5.1 (Digital Only)", the HDMI audio output will be in Dolby Digital 5.1 for HD channels, in PCM stereo 2 channels for the SD channels.

When output in Dolby Digital 5.1, eventhough all the 6 audio channels is active, NOT all channels may not be used. Some programs only have 3 channels (main left and right, and centre), some in 2 channels, some in 4 channels and the best when all 6 channels are heard. I used Byond HDMI output connected to my Yamaha AC amplifier so sometimes my sub-woofer is not active, sometimes some programs no audio from my 2 back surround speakers.

For the Byond, you will get better "sound" when Dolby Digital 5.1 is used from HDMI. Analogue stereo 2 channel PCM from RCA (red, white) has lower loudness and poorer sound quality.

To use Dolby Digital audio, must use HDMI connection. Can connect directly to the HD TV using HDMI... most HD TV already have Dolby Digital decoder built-in so it will decode the digital audio to its own TV speakers... which means any 5.1 channels will be decoded into stereo. My Samsung TV have builtin Dolby Digital and DTS built-in decoder.

Well... it depends on what you want to do to play stereo 2 channel audio. Connect by RCA (red, white) cable (which is the lowest audio quality) ? Or do you want to connect by HDMI cable ...
(1) directly to HD TV (better audio quality but only in mixed 2 channel audio from the low quality TV speakers)
(2) to AV Amplifier (best audio quality from maximum 6 channel audio using amplifier to 6 high quality home theatre speakers)

If you use an old AV amplifier without HDMI input, then you have to connect the HDMI cable directly to the HD TV. There are HDMI converter boxes available which can convert the audio from the HDMI into 6 channel RCA output or stereo 2 channel RCA output for connection to old amplifiers but its NOT cheap !! Such boxes must be HDCP compliant for the digital video.

If your AV amplifier got HDMI input, the best audio and video quality is from Byond HDMI >> to AV Amplifier to get the best surround audio to 6 home theatre speakers. Then from amplifier HDMI output connect to HD TV for the video in fantastic HD in 1080i.

Bingo ! All yes.

The only change is when any channel operator reconvert any source programmes original screen ratio into a different one. For example ... KIX HD sometimes reconvert some programmes from the original 4:3 by expanding the black side bars to become 16:9... eventhough you set to "Pillar Box" for your HDTV, you will still get "fat faces".

That means if the channel operator did not reconvert or meddle with the original source program ratio, then you will get exactly the same result as you mentioned above.

It is the same situation for the Byond subtitle settings. Eventhough I set the Byond subtitle setting to "Disable" which shut off all subtitles, the Bahasa or English or Chinese or whatever subtitle will still appear for some programmes. Many times the channel operator can "hard-code" the subtitle into a programme. Whatever I do to the Byond subtitle setting... if they "hard-coded" Bahasa Malaysia subtitle, then I will ALWAYS see the Bahasa Malaysia subtitle.

Subtitles that can be changed or follow according to the Byond settings are called "Soft-coded" subtitles. Of course there will be no subtitle when the programme did not come with any, hehe.

Thanks for your feedback and kind words! Will also edit my previous post to correct the "PVR Service monthly fee" mistakes. I used this link..."http://www.astro.com.my/mypackages/articles/art_5156.html"... to find out the price by ticking on "Personal Video Recorder Service" and "External Hard Drive PVR Service" by comparing the difference so it seems the indicated price is not correct.

There will be confusion for some people when we mentioned about the "PVR" which means "Personal Video Recording/Recorder" so I am posting the picture below to show the difference...

As shown, both the Byond box and Byond PVR box can be used as PVR but the difference is the harddisk used for recording.

The Byond box use an external 320GB harddisk for recording. Previously, Astro recommended the WD My Passport AV 320GB (2.5 inch) USB2.0 external harddisk to connect by USB to the Byond box but it seems that this harddisk is no longer available now. Therefore Astro have now relaunched the PVR EASi box for the Byond box. I have previously posted the PVR EASi internal picture which is actually a WD 320GB (2.5 inch) harddisk put inside a fancy casing. Reposting the PVR EASi internals here...

The Byond PVR box already have an internal 500GB (3.5 inch) harddisk so it does NOT require the PVR EASi.

For the Byond box, the Astro recommended WD My Passport AV is not available now, the PVR EASi is required.

I phoned to Astro Customer Support to recheck on the the PVR EASi and found out that I made a mistake.

The PVR EASi box is NOT free and we have to pay RM 80 (one time charge) to get it ! Actually its not expensive if we compare it to other external 2.5 inch 320 GB harddisk especially when harddisk prices have increased a lot due to last year's floods in Thailand. Also, many PC sellers only have minimum 500 GB stocks now.

Ok, back to the PVR service topic. Here is the corrected info...

Getting the PVR EASi is also optional if we already have earlier purchased the WD My Passport AV 320GB harddisk. I have earlier purchased 2 WD My Passport for RM 230 each in 2010 which I used for other storage purposes. So I can choose not to "buy" the PVR EASi. Eventhough Assteruk recommended whatever harddisk types to use, I have not tried on other 320GB external harddisk brands so these may or may not work. I did not subscribe to the PVR service so I don't have the opportunity to test.



I repeat... for PVR service... ONLY the Byond box need to connect an external harddisk (USB2.0) recommended by Assteruk... PVR EASi box or the WD My Passport AV 320GB harddisk (not available now)

Actually when I compare the price I bought my WD My Passport at RM 230 with PVR EASi at RM 80... mmm... wth current harddisk prices, I think we already know the answer whether its worth it or not to get the PVR EASi !

I was also told by Astro support person that there is no contract for subscribing to PVR Service so we can cancel this any time BUT there may be the ridiculous RM 10 service charge for downgrading of selected Assteruk packages and services.

That means for you, it may not be just paying RM 20 for 1 month HD Service by cancelling before the 2nd month. It may be RM 20 (HD Service) + RM 10 (Service Charge) = RM 30 just to enjoy the 10 days "free" viewing of "all" the HD channels.

I hope I have cleared any confusion about the "PVR" acronym used on the Byond and Byond PVR boxes.

I am repeating my advice here for people who may not know anything about subscribing to the HD Service... please check carefully first, properly understand it and then decide whether its worth it to subscribe to HD service for short term or for long term ! Just don't simply jump into it and regret later.

In my personal opinion, I suspect the 10 days "free" view of 130 channels as "reward" for being "awarded the people's brand choice" maybe just a cover to hide a very very very clever TRICK that Assteruk is playing to trap subscribers who did not check clearly first before signing in to the HD Service. Only my "unfair" opinion but think about it !

Did you connect the Byond HDMI Out directly to your HDTV ?

When Byond Digital Audio Output is set to "Stereo (Analogue and Digital)", it will HDMI output all SD and HD channels in only PCM Stereo which all HDTV can decode so got sound.

When Byond Digital Audio Output is set to "Dolby Digital 5,1 (Digital Only)", it will HDMI output all SD channels as PCM Stereo... and all HD channels as Dolby Digital 5.1/2.0.

If your HDTV do NOT have built-in Dolby Digital Decoder... when the Byond is set to "Dolby Digital 5,1 (Digital Only)", the HDTV will have NO sound eventhough you connect directly by HDMI to your HDTV. So make sure your HDTV support Dolby Digital decoding. IF not, then of course no sound for all HD channels !

Here's a picture I took with my phone camera of my Samsung HDTV...


Most old and new AVR Amplifiers already support Dolby Digital audio decoding so connecting the Byond HDMI to the amplifier (if have HDMI Input) will correctly allow sound from the HD channels with Dolby Digital audio. If you are already using this connection, then maybe something is wrong with your Byond box. Of course getting 5.1 surround from home theatre system for the HD channels Dolby Digital 5.1 is a lot better than the HDTV internal stereo speakers.

You also mentioned that you got "some jiggling" in the picture and then no sound. I suspect that there may be 2 possible reasons.

Possible Reason 1
Maybe the HDMI contact pins in either end of the cable heads is poorly connected or loose. Loose connections can cause intereference or loss of video or audio.

Possible Reason 2
Even if the reception signal is strong from the LNB at dish, please check from your Byond whether the signal reception fluctuates sometimes from excellent to poor. This was what happened with a friend of mine who installed the dish on the first floor. He complained that his LED TV picture will always flicker a few seconds after about every half an hour and picture colour is weak eventhough the reception signal is still strong, so I asked my Astro installer friend to personally go to his house to check. Hehe... he found out that the dish angle of direction was pointing to a very tall tree with one tree branch that is blocking a part of the signal path. My friend just saw off this annoying long horizontal branch and no more flickering and picture colour and sharpness is now excellent ! It seems that the single long tree branch is always swaying from the wind and blocking part of the signal area, LOL. Sometimes its difficult to find out the reason which may be due to such "blocks".

Possible Reason 3
Probably your "jiggling in graphic n then no sound" can also be caused by loose cable connection at the LNB (at sat Dish) or at your Byond Satellite Input.
Also check if your Byond Satellite Input cable is properly connected tightly. Its difficult to check the LNB for loose cable connection if located at rooftop.

Even if the LNB is correctly aligned at the dish, sometimes the cable connected to the LNB may be getting slightly loose which can cause very funny problems with the TV channels.

Everything I suggested here are only my guesses of your actual situation. I believe the best way is to call someone who is very good in Audio/Video/HiFi to personally come to your home to check everything, including your HDMI cables and various connections.