XR65-AJ80 stereo/multichannel sound lost on web apps (iplayer, C4) when skipping

[newyankee]

I am wondering if anyone else has noticed the following issue.

When playing content on the UK catchup services apps (and others that use the HbbTV/web app scheme) with multichannel sound or just stereo: Sound is fine when played from the start of the programme. However, when fast forwarding or rewinding, sound reverts to mono. This is regardless of the output used (TV speakers, headset, HDMI ARC, optical out). 

I have already contacted sony support at the beginning of December 2023, exchanged 100+ e-mails. I had a service technician sent out to replace the mainboard with no effect (surprise!).

I have begged that this issue be forwarded to software engineering. All with zero success. 

What else can I do? Yes, I have already added a Chromecast with google TV, so that I now have 2 google TVs in one.

[TheMaze]

Hey @newyankee 

When you get those apps on your Chromecast, do they work fine with the TV?

[newyankee]

Yes, they do. The independent apps work fine on chromecast and another android TV - that is for sound.

The culprit is, that Chromecast with google TV does not at this time play UHD content (not certified) and C4 is unavailable.

So I can decide wether to either watch last night of the proms in full stereo OR in UHD. 

The sound error also applies to live streaming because the stream is started from somewhere in the middle and some container information is only processed if played from the start.

[SatoruGojo]

Can you try to update the software to the latest one, I can see that it's recently released: v6.7532

@newyankee 

[newyankee]

I had already updated the software to the current version (v6.7532). Doesn't change a thing.

Except for the message "Ethernet connected" on startup. I did know that though.

[EMS_MO72]

Hey @newyankee 

Did you try to report it to Sony again after the Engineer's visit and changing the MB?

[newyankee]

Yes, I did.

The support process is still ongoing (7 months and counting). It is quite frustrating though: they just told me to use the regular apps instead of going the Hbb TV route. That's possible for some services.

However, the UK catch-up services always use an Hbb TV scheme and the respective player which is apparently buggy. 

Basically, they're always trying to blame me using a VPN and hold that responsible for the sound issue.

I am really at a loss here.

[TheMaze]

And does connecting to the internet directly without using a VPN really solves the issue for you?

[newyankee]

No.

Why would it. When something is geoblocked, it doesn't play at all. It would not affect the sound-only decoding of the stream, if I am correct. As answered above, native apps from the playstore on a CCWGTV work just fine in all aspects within the same network setup.

BTW, I am not using a VPN, it's a configurable DNS. But again, other web based services from within my "IP-home-country" show the same bug on that particular SONY TV only. 

[TheMaze]

Hey @newyankee 

I'd recommend that you try not using any "special" internet configurations or any anonymisers (VPN, custom DNSes, proxy servers) as they might be preventing the correct hardware configuration to be exposed to the stream provider (app), and thus causing this odd behaviour.