Can Plex on ATV 4K with Homepod stream Dolby Atmos?

[212rikanmofo]

Does anyone know if it's possible to stream Dolby Atmos videos from the Plex.app on ATV 4K with the Apple Homepod speakers? I have 2 setup as a stereo pair, and in the latest homepod 15.1 now supports Apple lossless and Dolby atmos.

 

[priitv8]

From what sources would you stream?
There is no way to enjoy Atmos from blu-ray rips, as there is no converter known that can transform lossless Atmos (from blu-ray) into lossy Atmos (as used in streaming and supported on tvOS).
If your source is DD+ and Plex can just pass it through to aTV, then it should be possible.
I can test the Plex side of this.
I do not have those homepods, so will not be able to say anything about them.

 

[212rikanmofo]

Yes I have movie files that have E-AC3 DDP 5.1 for the audio tracks, so would plex.app on ATV 4K play the audio as Dolby Atmos to my Homepods?

 

[priitv8]

I've tested it, some. Not on pods, but on my AVR.
Plex client on aTV can not reproduce Atmos.
Infuse client can (from Plex server).
But then again - why do you need Plex for it? Native HomeSharing can play DD+ Atmos on appleTV without problems. Has been since day 1 (of Atmos support on tvOS).

 

[212rikanmofo]

Because all my media is in Plex, which is why I wanted to use that. But I will try infuse. You also mentioned homesharing can play DD+ Atmos without any 3rd party apps, could you please show me how I would play a video file to try that out with.

 

[priitv8]

Because all my media is in Plex, which is why I wanted to use that. But I will try infuse. You also mentioned homesharing can play DD+ Atmos without any 3rd party apps, could you please show me how I would play a video file to try that out with.

a) you can run Infuse as a client to Plex server. In fact I do not like the Plex tvOS client, so I use Infuse in its place.2
b) just as with any normal iTunes movie in local library. Put it into mp4/m4v container, make sure Atmos is in DD+/E-AC3 format and video is in H.264 or H.265. Then drop it into TV app on serving Macintosh and use Computers app on tvOS to watch. Subler will make sure DD+ Atmos stream attributes are set correctly, if you are coming from a MKV file.
There is no method known (to me) that would convert TrueHD Atmos (from bluray) into DD+ Atmos (for tvOS).