HT-X8500 & Netflix on Android TV

[Mahir007]

I just bought & installed the HT-X8500 soundbar and so far its been great. However, last night I encountered a weird issue that I haven't been able to discover the cause of in the manual. Basically, whenever I'm playing 5.1 (non-Atmos) content in the Netflix app, the "Vertical S." indicator lights up and I'm not able to turn it off. If I press the vertical surround button on my remote while watching the video, all that happens is that all of the indicators flash 3 times in a row. I do not have the feature turned on before playing the content and if I pause the video, the indicator turns off before lighting back up when I press play (the audio also takes a second or two to start after pressing play).

If anyone is able to explain what this is for or what it means (or preferably, how to turn it off), it would be greatly appreciated.

[Mick_D]

Hi @Mahir007

Is the Vertical S only lighting up when you're using the Netflix app? We need to establish whether the soundbar is misbehaving, or simply responding to a prompt from a specific app.

Cheers

Mick

[Mahir007]

Unfortunately no, the Vertical S indicator does light up when using other apps that have surround sound content. It lighted up when watching something on the Prime Video app and when watching my own media on Plex. However, it didn't light up when using apps such as YouTube, BBC iPlayer or when viewing surround sound content from other HDMI devices connected to the TV or to the soundbar directly. 

[Vanilla_]

Hi Mahir007, 

That's weird! Maybe it's just a simple glitch. Have you tried resetting the soundbar completely? The steps to reset are on Page 36: https://www.sony.co.uk/electronics/support/res/manuals/4746/7cc509a022abba783ebac1f98f03e447/4746092...

Let us know if this makes any difference,

Vanilla_

[BoutTime]

I have the same issue and tried resetting the soundbar but it still does the same thing. Vertical Surround (Vertical S.) cannot be disabled when viewing Netflix on either my TV connected via ARC or my Nvidia Shield TV media player connected via HDMI In. This is the same with Disney+ too. And now I think I know why this occurs......

Basically this appears to be directly linked to HDMI Control. Turn off HDMI Control by holding down the 'VOICE' button for 5 seconds. Once this is turned off, you will be able to disable Vertical Surround. So it seems that possibly either the TV and/or connected Media Player is telling the Soundbar to use Vertical Surround, probably because Surround Sound is set in either the TV and/or Media Player settings.