J - Supported Multichannel Audio Layouts

Multichannel audio devices are supported by RV audio output module choice “Platform Audio”. The “Platform Audio” choice is available on all RV platforms ie. OSX, Linux and Windows.

On OSX, you might need to enable the multichannel (e.g. 5.1) capability of your audio device using the OSX utility “Audio Midi Setup”.

The list of possible channel layouts that RV recognises is listed in the table below.

Table J.1:

Channel Layout

Layout and Speaker Description
FL = Front Left
FR = Front Right
FC = Front Center
LF = Lower Frequency/Subwoofer
BL = Back Left
BR = Back Right
SL = Side Left
SR = Side Right
BC = Back Center
FLC = Front Left of Center
FRC = Front Right of Center
LH = Left Height
RH = Right Height

Mono

FC

Stereo

FL:FR

3.1

FL:FR:LF

Quadrophonic

FL:FR:BL:BR

5.1

FL:FR:FC:FL:SL:SR

5.1 (Back)

FL:FR:FC:FL:BL:BR

5.1 (Swap)

FL:FR:BL:BR:FC:FL

5.1 (AC3)

FL:FC:FR:SL:SR:LF

5.1 (DTS)

FC:FL:FR:SL:SR:LF

5.1 (AIFF)

FL:BL:FC:FR:BR:LF

6.1

FL:FR:FC:LF:BL:BR:BC

7.1 (SDDS)

FL:FR:FC:LF:SL:SR:FLC:FRC

7.1

FL:FR:FC:LF:SL:SR:BL:BR

7.1 (Back)

FL:FR:FC:LF:BL:BR:SL:SR

9.1

FL:FR:FC:LF:BL:BR:SL:SR:LH:RH

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Supported Multichannel Layouts

Note that RV will mix down, mix up or reorder channels for any given media to match the intended output device channel layout format.

For example, playing back 5.1 media to a stereo audio device will see the 5.1 audio channels mixed downed to two channels.

Similarly, playing back stereo media to a 5.1 device will see the media’s stereo FL and FR content mixed up to the 5.1 device’s FL, FR and FC only.

For the case where the media and device have the same channel count and speaker types but different layout e.g. for 5.1 media and 5.1 (AC3) device, the media’s channel layout is reordered to match the device channel layout when RV reads the media.

For the case where the media and device have the same channel count but non-matching channel/speaker types, the channel layout of media is passed to the device as is; for example 5.1 (Back) media and 5.1 device.

The audio channel layout for any given media can be determined from RV’s image info tool.