Formats can wreak havoc with a home theater system. Generally speaking, streaming services, studios, and many device makers do what they can to make sure media plays in the best available format. But home theaters are often Frankensteinian creations borrowing parts from multiple brands and years, and all it takes is one component being outdated or otherwise lacking format support for you to be left with disappointing results.

The solution to this — in some situations, anyway — is something known as passthrough. For those unfamiliar, I’m going to explain the basics. But even if you know something about it, there are limitations that you need to be aware of, particularly if you’re into console or PC gaming. Typically, gaming is so dependent on high-performance specs that your system is better off if it’s armed for the latest standards from the start. Passthrough is best used with movies and TV shows.

What is passthrough, and what does it solve?

Check for these options on your devices

One of my biggest gripes with TV makers is how stingy many of them are with format support. Usually I’m concerned with HDMI bottlenecking (more on that in a moment), but you’ll also run into issues with which formats are supported in the first place, and how well they’re handled. Many TVs can’t decode DTS:X, for example. It could be that your TV doesn’t support spatial audio formats at all, or that connected speakers and/or receiver will do a better job of decoding whatever it is you want to play. If you let your TV try to decode a mix before it heads out, you could end up stuck with a lesser format (such as “plain” 5.1-channel surround sound) or simply inaccurate handling of an available option like Dolby Atmos.

Passthrough (sometimes labeled bitstream) is meant to solve this situation, not just on TVs, but on equipment like media streamers, Blu-ray players, and game consoles as well. Devices that support it attempt to pass along data without processing, saving that job for a receiver or soundbar. With DTS:X, passthrough might be a way around the missing compatibility I talked about. Similarly, if you’ve got an Atmos-capable receiver, it can potentially handle channel metadata better than your TV, which may result in noticeable differences in the final output.

I’m focusing on audio here, but there is such a thing as video passthrough as well. Mainly I’m thinking of 4:4:4 chroma passthrough, which you may want enabled if you’re connecting a PC or console and want better color representation, albeit possibly at the expense of things like refresh rates. I’m not going to touch on video passthrough much in this article, since its use cases tend to be more niche.

There are some key limitations on passthrough support, the most obvious being that the output device still needs to understand the format you’re working with. If your Blu-ray player and an inserted disc support DTS:X, but your soundbar or receiver doesn’t, the whole endeavor is pointless. Likewise, you can’t pass through VRR (variable refresh rate) graphics to a TV that’s locked at 60Hz.

Perhaps the most significant barrier is HDMI compatibility. It’s not about specific format support — different HDMI specs simply have more bandwidth available, so if a format consumes data beyond a port or cable’s capacity, it won’t matter what your input or output devices are ready for. You can’t force lossless Dolby Atmos or DTS:X through an HDMI 2.0 ARC connection. If your TV doesn’t have an HDMI 2.1 port with eARC, which offers a 48Gbps (gigabits per second) pipe, you’ll have to revert to one compressed audio standard or another. You can get compressed Atmos over ARC, in case you’re wondering, and that’s not such a big deal given that most streaming services rely on it.

Be sure to check devices not just for general HDMI specs, but their specific HDMI passthrough functions. If you want lossless Atmos, you’ll have to guarantee that HDMI 2.1 passthrough is available.

How do you enable passthrough?

Options on TVs, consoles, and other gear

On a TV or add-on media streamer, this is going to depend on the exact software platform it’s based on, and which formats you want to flow through. Roku devices, for instance, may ask you to go to Settings -> Audio -> S/PDIF and ARC to toggle one form of passthrough, and Settings -> Audio -> Digital output format for another. On Google TV devices, you may be able to head over to Settings -> Display & Sound -> Advanced sound settings -> Surround sound mode and select Passthrough.

Notice that the word “may” has popped up twice, owing to both hardware compatibility and the possibility that you may be on a different OS version. With Google-based devices, there’s the additional issue of companies casually relabeling menus and options. Things can get confusing. When in doubt, you’ll want to refer to manuals or web instructions, particularly for soundbars, receivers, or dedicated Blu-ray players.

Speaking of labeling, as I mentioned earlier, passthrough is sometimes marked as bitstream. Technically, there is a difference, but only in that bitstream is the “what” and passthrough is the “how.” Keep this in mind for all platforms and devices.

Case in point: two of the leading game consoles, the Sony PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Series X. On a PS5, you have to head over to Settings -> Sound -> Audio Output and flip Audio Format (Priority) to Bitstream (Dolby) or Bitstream (DTS). The Xbox equivalent of this involves navigating to Settings -> General -> Volume & audio output, setting HDMI audio to Bitstream out, and picking Dolby Atmos or DTS:X under Bitstream format. If that’s not awkward enough, expect to change additional settings to get this to work for Blu-ray discs, possibly in the middle of playback.

The situation gets even more complicated if you’re connecting a Mac or Windows PC. Windows 11 requires you to launch mmsys.cpl from the search bar and check Allow applications to take exclusive control of this device under an HDMI output’s Properties -> Advanced right-click menu, then set your Windows sound to stereo to deliver raw output. Once that’s done, you may still need to make sure the apps you’re using (like Plex or VLC) are set for passthrough if they support it.

As for video passthrough, there’s not usually much that has to be done on computers, but you will need to explore HDMI-related options on TVs and other devices to see if anything is applicable. For features like VRR or 4:4:4 chroma, you’ll also want to check if they’re enabled on an input device — they may not be active by default.

4K Capability

Yes

What’s Included

PlayStation 5 Digital Edition, Dualsense Wireless Controller, 2 Horizontal stand feetm HDMI cable, USB cable

Brand

PlayStation

Storage

1TB SSD