Movies on Demand Surround Sound Question and Picture Blocking

[peterr_ibg]

Hi

My wife went out last night leaving my son and I all alone. Thought we'd take the opportunity to watch some 'boys' TV and paid to watch 10,000 BC on the Movies on Demand System. We quite enjoyed the movie, but a couple of things bugged me.

Firstly, every now and then, I lost picture quality and the screen froze followed by a blocky picture before going back to usual. This was annoying especially as I was paying for the film. If it was a DVD I would be returning the disc as faulty.

Secondly, and the real reason for the post, I can't get 5.1 surround when playing the film. I'm connected ok, via optical, to my amp but it's telling me I'm receiving a digital signal, but only front left and front right. I tried the BBC HD service last night and that was the same. I double checked that HDMI overide was on, and it was, and had lots of attempts of switching it all off and back on again to see if I could reset anything. But, after 15 mins of head scratching my son was getting restless to watch the film so I had to accept the Pro Logic II processing that my amp delivered to the 2 channel soundtrack.

I thought that all of the movies that can be watched on the Filmflex service were in DD 5.1 so it has been bugging me all night as to why it wasn't working. Thought I'd give it another go this morning and now the BBC HD service is broadcasting in 5.1 and working fine so I know I'm ok with the settings and connections, but when I play the film I've rented it's still only a stereo feed.

Anyone any ideas, or do I need to ring the wonderful Virgin CS to either complain that I'm not getting what I paid for or that I've got a problem with my box?

[Rob]

Sometimes BBC HD is 5.1 sound, sometimes not. It depends on the programme. It's possibly the same with the films on demand service.

If you are unhappy with the picture quality, then call faults to complain. Regular stuttering doesn't sound right to me.

[spiderplant]

As you get 5.1 when the BBC are broadcasting it, your setup is fine. Most Filmflex films don't have a 5.1 soundtrack. Is there something that made you think this one should have?

The blocky picture is probably caused by a signal levels fault. You would need to report that to VM.

[peterr_ibg]

Mmmmmm - Just re-read the FAQ. It appears I misread. Only HD films on Filmflex are in surround sound. Disappointing though, I would have expected a proper sound track.

[CountZer0]

Originally Posted by peterr_ibg

Mmmmmm - Just re-read the FAQ. It appears I misread. Only HD films on Filmflex are in surround sound. Disappointing though, I would have expected a proper sound track.

Not all of them. I've come across a couple of HD films that were in stereo and my first thought was - isn't HD supposed to be in 5.1?

[sprattgraham]

Originally Posted by peterr_ibg

Mmmmmm - Just re-read the FAQ. It appears I misread. Only HD films on Filmflex are in surround sound. Disappointing though, I would have expected a proper sound track.

Filmflex are a joke, there’s no reason why they can't provide a 5.1.