Question Best Settings/Setup for Gaming on TV

[In2Photos]

My son won a new PC so we plan to take his old one and use it in the family room connected to our new 77" LG C4 OLED. I also have a Denon receiver, AVR-X3000, that I plan to use for audio to our 5.1 setup. Trying to determine if there is any special settings to use for TV gaming. Here's the PC specs.

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
MSI B550 Tomahawk
32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4-3600 CL18
MSI GTX 1660 Super
Corsair RM650x
Enermax 240 AIO

I started tinkering today and was only able to get 4K 30Hz out of the 1660 over HDMI when going through the AVR. Not sure if the cable is the culprit or maybe my AVR as the 1660 supposedly supports 4K 60Hz over HDMI 2.0. If I drop it down to 1920x1080 I can get 120Hz. I know the 1660 super isn't going to do well at all in 4K so I'll probably leave it 1080, but I also thought about using the PC to play movies via Jellyfin since my streaming box doesn't support DTS. Initial tests were not successful getting DTS out of the PC either though. The thought of swapping back and forth between resolutions for gaming and movies is not appealing. But the plan is to use this for more casual gaming. We'll still play some newer games, like Hogwarts and Avatar, but I also plan to put an emulator on it and play some retro games. We'll use PS4 controllers and I have a Logitech K400 wireless keyboard with mouse as well. It looks like, if my research is correct, that Steam has Big Picture Mode specifically for TV and couch playing with a controller? So I really don't need anything more than 60Hz right now, but that doesn't mean I won't want it at some point. The TV supports 144Hz.

So I guess my question really is just am I going about this correctly? Anyone want to share their TV/PC gaming setup/experience?

 

[bba-tcg]

If you bypass the AVR, can you get 4k @ 60 Hz?

 

[In2Photos]

If you bypass the AVR, can you get 4k @ 60 Hz?

I do. So it's probably the AVR. Haven't been able to get DTS-MA connected either way yet as well.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I use Anker 48Gbps HDMI cables.

You configured all of the audio settings for the TV, Nvidia, and windows correct? The 1660 super supports most of the Dolby formats so that should not be a problem. If you have everything configured and the video includes the desired audio output then it may indeed be your AVR at fault. It is what, a 10yr old model now?

Seems janky for many -

https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/150zpyz/gaming_with_surround_sound_out_of_nvidia_hdmi

 

[Brainonska511]

I do. So it's probably the AVR. Haven't been able to get DTS-MA connected either way yet as well.

You might need to check what AVR port you are using. I believe my Denon AVR has some limits about max refresh rates/resolution for select ports.

As for DTS sound, there is either a windows setting to fiddle with or something in the play ack app. It escapes me at the moment because it's been a while since I had to do this with my own setup.

 

[In2Photos]

OK, so I had a chance to play around some more last night as well as do some more research.

With the PC connected directly to the TV I can get 4K 120Hz. My cable is too short for where the PC is going so I have a new one on the way, full 48Gbps. The problem with this configuration is that the PC doesn't seem to send anything other than 2 channel, that's all the options that show up in the Windows sound settings for the HDMI. I saw mention of it somewhere that people had to reduce resolution/frequency to get additional channels and lossless audio to work. I'll see what happens when reducing the resolution/frequency later tonight.

But as @DAPUNISHER mentioned this receiver is older and limited in what in can do. I told my wife when she said I should get a new TV a few months ago that it would open up a worm hole and I'd end up replacing everything we have. It's never just one thing. So I'm contemplating a new receiver now. The Denon X1700H or X2700H. I like the extra power on the 2700 over the 1700, but the 1700 is almost half the price, has 3 HDMI 2.1 inputs vs 1 on the 2700 (which makes no damn sense). The X3000 I have now is the same power as my original 3802 was, but I don't think it sounds anywhere near as good and weighs like 10 pounds less (there is a lot more digital stuff versus analog on the 3802). But I really don't crank things up like we used to either. If I go with a new receiver I would run the PC and my 4K streaming box to the AVR, hopefully getting all the correct audio formats, while also being able to pass HDR/Dolby Vision to the TV through the 8K60/4K120 output. But this is assuming I can get the PC to send 4K/120 with lossless audio. Right now I have no way to tell since I don't have a compatible device. Ugh.

Also played some Hogwarts on it last night, although the PC doesn't have BT so I had to sit on the floor connected wired like a poor man, lol. It played pretty well although I didn't go outside much yet. Avatar is mouse and keyboard only though so I'll have to figure out what I want to do there. Might just have to stick with my regular setup for that one. I also set up Retrobat and tinkered with that a bit. have some more work to do there though. Couldn't get the PS4 controller to work very well so I've ordered an XBOX controller hoping that solves some of the issues. Evidently the PS4 controller doesn't work with all the emulators. Also have a BT adapter coming today.

 

[In2Photos]

I use Anker 48Gbps HDMI cables.

You configured all of the audio settings for the TV, Nvidia, and windows correct? The 1660 super supports most of the Dolby formats so that should not be a problem. If you have everything configured and the video includes the desired audio output then it may indeed be your AVR at fault. It is what, a 10yr old model now?

Seems janky for many -

https://www.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/150zpyz/gaming_with_surround_sound_out_of_nvidia_hdmi

Tried this and the only option I have is to enable in on headphones, not a surround sound system.

 

[In2Photos]

Still haven't been able to get anything other than 2.0 out of the PC when connected to the TV. I've tried all sorts of stuff. i also tried a different streaming box and can't get DTS out of it either. I don't think the Jellyfin app supports DTS. I can't believe that in 2025 it's this hard to get something like this working. I pulled out my i3-530 old htpc that used Media Portal and Total Media Theater 3 from like 2010 and it plays DTS through my TV. So I thought why not install TMT3 on this PC. It needs a key and I have no idea what I did with it.

On another note got some retro games up and running.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

With either my RTX or Radeons connected directly to the TV via HDMI, I can go to sound -more sound settings - click on Nvidia or AMD audio device- configure - and pick anything up to 7.1. ATMOS and DTS:X require purchasing from the windows store.

 

[In2Photos]

With either my RTX or Radeons connected directly to the TV via HDMI, I can go to sound -more sound settings - click on Nvidia or AMD audio device- configure - and pick anything up to 7.1. ATMOS and DTS:X require purchasing from the windows store.

All I get is stereo in the configure tab. And from what I've read the Atmos stuff only requires payment for headphones. There is supposed to be a setting for home theater that doesn't require any add ons. But it doesn't show up for me under the Spatial Sound tab. I might try a third PC (or maybe my laptop) that doesn't have any special software installed and see what it does.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

You obviously are experienced, so it has to be something fairly esoteric. You've done everything needed already. Setup digital audio in the control panel. Checked the TV's settings. Scoured the windows settings. Removed the AVR from the equation. Using a good cable.

I'd nuke the Nvidia drivers with DDU and start over fresh just because. But I got nothin; here. No DTS is one thing, but getting stereo as the only option is just weird.

 

[Brainonska511]

Have you changed the number of speakers in Windows? I'm just thinking of a setting I had to change to get my receiver to constantly put out multichannel or HD sound properly. It's just some weird speaker setting buried in the sound menu settings.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

These are the options I get. He is only getting stereo as an option.

 

[In2Photos]

This is what I get when I go to the sound control panel.



Configure Tab


Properties Tab


Spatial Sound


The only place Atmos shows up is under the Advanced Tab but when I select it it just defaults back to basic sound quality.

 

[DAPUNISHER]

What's under supported formats?




Those screenshots open up a new line of questions -

Did you install the realtek software suite?
Do you have anything plugged into the onboard audio?
As useless as it usually is; did you try windows sound troubleshooter?