Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General What sound channels/codecs are supported? (stereo, 5.1, 7.1, 9.2.2) & Vote/poll: Best aspect ratio?

So far I've only played 2.6 hours on my work PC, a Lenovo Tiny, which is rather limited and not meant for gaming:
i9 9900T CPU, RX 560 GPU, 32GB memory running at 2666 MHz, Samsung Pro 980 NVME m.2 SSD, NEC P212 LCD 1600x1200 resolution, stereo speakers (AudioEngine A5+)

The game was choppy (low FPS, even at lowest settings), yet I was thoroughly impressed/amazed (zero bugs detected). I've since uninstalled until I can have a proper setup to optimally enjoy this masterpiece. By watching gameplay videos on my HT setup, I've experienced what this game is capable of, and the sound is half the experience. The barbarian's frenzy roar, the spell sound effects, cutscenes, all 1st class Hollywood production quality. It seems the devs aren't cutting corners and insist on making the most beautiful experience for us, so I don't want to cut corners either. In preparation, I need to know how this game is coded for audio. I plan to output audio from this PC by SPDIF to this receiver, that feeds these surround speakers and a pair of JL Gotham v2s for the subs.

Question #1 (sound): Any benefit if I add rear surround to be 7.2 setup? Any atmos support for ceiling speakers: 7.2.2? My surround setup is only 5.2 currently. If surround back is supported, I'll add Salon2s for the fronts and move the Studio2s to the rear.

Question #2 (display): Tentatively, I plan to buy Alienware's 34" QD-OLED, when it's launched in the USA on March 29th (video output from the 3090 Ti by displayport directly to the display instead of passthrough from the AVR). Unless there's a better display to consider, when BG3 is the only game of concern. I'm wondering if ultrawide (21:9 ratio 3440x1440 resolution) will be too cumbersome for interacting with the the character profiles, mini map, and the user interface, when they are spread so far apart. I've never used a curved display, nor ultrawide, but this is the only display option we have for QD-OLED, and I've seen from youtube videos that BG3 seamlessly supports ultrawide for both cutscenes and gameplay.

Another display consideration is LG's 27" (3840 x 2160) OLED because it's a smaller size (less head turning), higher resolution, flat, and available now. It's refresh rate is locked at 60Hz, but BG3 isn't a FPS, it's turn based, and a 3090 won't always achieve 60 FPS on BG3 in 4k ultra settings (hence the need for a 3090 Ti or greater). MicroLED would be best tech for a gaming display, but it took a ridiculous 15 years before anyone released a derivative of an OLED gaming display (Sony released the 1st OLED TV, the XEL-1, in 2007, and Alienware's QD-OLED gaming monitor was released in China yesterday, March 3rd of 2022). Manufacturers probably feared burn-in from our static UI so they skipped OLED gaming displays completely, until the tech fully matured.

My concern is that Alienware's 32" QD-OLED is likely entry level (low production quality) in regards to OLEDs based on it's bargain $1,299 pricing and this critical review. While LG's 27" OLED @ $2,999.99 is intended to be professional/reference quality, and yet there's this Linus video warning us with Do NOT Buy This For Gaming! Quite the conundrum.

Also posted on r/BaldursGate3

What's the best aspect ratio for experiencing BG3? single choice
	5:4
	4:3
	16:10
	16:9
	21:9
	32:9
	Other (post answer)
Votes accepted starting: 04/03/22 07:57 AM
View Results

Question #1: I haven't used anything beyond 2.1 or 7.1 headphones with the game. I could hook it up to my home theater to check which uses the predecessor to the AVR-A110, the AVR-X8500H, which powers my 7.2.7 setup (klipsch premier reference base level, harman kardon FH/RH + 3 mica ceiling speakers).

Question #2: I prefer the 32:9 aspect ratio of the Samsung Neo G9: https://www.abt.com/Samsung-49-G9-O...rved-Screen-LS49AG952NNXZA/p/170406.html

Current system is AMD Ryzen 9 5900X, 32GB DDR4-3200 CL14, NVidia RTX 2080TI, Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero, 2TB NVMe Corsair Force MP400, 1TB NVMe Samsung 960 PRO.
Runs everything extremely well @5120x1440.

You're exactly who I was hoping to hear from. I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one here who uses speakers and a display for PC gaming. The AVR-X8500H is virtually identical to the AVR-A110, which I'm now using. I've watched vids on the G9, which is a flagship among mini LEDs. It's hard to imagine what playing BG3 on that would be like, especially when utilizing all that real estate. Perhaps you must turn your body, some rolling in your chair from end to end. Are you able to play in ultra mode (everything maxed) in that resolution with a 2080 Ti? If so, what FPS do you average?

If you do try out BG3 on your HT setup, please let me know what codec is displayed by your AVR, such as PCM, DD+, Dolby Atmos, stereo, etc. To use the native codec, you may need to set sound mode to AUTO using the Pure button on the remote. That's how I do it at least. But why would you choose a headset over using your 7.2.7 HT setup? Did you find a holy grail audiophile gaming headset? If so, please link. If it's about convenience, there are some handy options available for sofa gaming. Check out this solution from couchmaster.

No I don't have to turn my body, but you do occasionally miss things that pop up in the UI at the far distances, but I find the extra screen space well worth it for the immersion. FYI - I'm using the G9 predecessor the CHG9, which is a fairly significant downgrade, but same 5120x1440 resolution, 120/144Hz refresh. Less backlight zones (a laughably small amount). With everything maxed out and no DLSS, I get ~50-60FPS unless I am swinging the camera around, then it can drop considerably like down into the 30s. Turning on DLSS balanced, I can get high 70s, but I have the frame rate capped at 60. The frame rate cap is another convenience thing. My office is an average sized room, but with the CRG9, my work laptop, and gaming rig, printer, network equipment (10G switch, router, cable modem, UPS) my office will often already be 10 degrees hotter than the rest of the house. Running the GPU at full throttle to squeeze out the last 5% performance is so much worse. Tolerable during the winter where I have the windows open to Chicago's sub-freezing temps outside, but completely unbearable during the summer to the point I have to leave the door open (which brings a host of problems with the pets always needing attention) and fans changing the air in the room as quickly as possible.

As for why do I use a headset or desktop 2.1, it is because my gaming PC is in my office, and my HT is in the HT room. For most of the games I play, I don't find the benefit of > 2.1 sound more important than the PITA it is to use a keyboard/mouse in my HT. But that could be the games I play, which is typically strategy, RPG, 4x, or racing games, and the game makers don't usually have a high budget for creating ATMOS sound. My gaming rig also doubles during work hours as a web browser for researching stuff, so I would need to lug it back and forth, or invest in some remote gaming gear (fiber optic DP/USB cables).

My brother on the other hand (isn't a programmer, and doesn't work from home), does all his gaming exclusively in his HT. For the most part he plays a different genre of games though that he uses a controller for it all, and that works well for him so I hear.

Here is some pictures of my gaming rig after I put it together:
[img]https://imgur.com/a/qXfOmlg[/img]

Ok, you get some great performance out of that 2080 Ti for the most part, but camera panning is a big chunk of the gameplay. Perhaps I can get smooth enough performance from a RTX 3080 w/ 5950X in ultra @ 4K resolution (leaning towards the LG OLED), without DLSS and it's glitches, because I have 4x Corsair One Pro on hand and can use one as a placeholder until the EVGA E1 is released (3090 Ti is rumored to launch March 29th).

Interesting Star Trek looking display at the top of your case, I've never seen such. I recognize that 2080 Ti FE (Founder's Edition). I built this rig using exclusively 13x 2080 Ti FE, shown sitting directly in front of my A/V rack. That model looks and feels premium, but it has the worst cooling/temps of any 2080 Ti that I've dealt with. Blowing a fan across it's backplate is necessary to lower the VRAM temps. And hearing you complain about the heat of one 185W GPU, heh, you got it so easy.

I've also PC gamed some on my HT using the Corsair One Pro with a wired Xbox controller, as in 19h total according to Steam. It was quite comfortable and ideal, but I haven't implemented keyboard and mouse gaming in the HT before either, I'm still looking into how that could best be accomplished. I'm thinking I'd literally need to park a computer desk in the middle of the room. And I did do what you said you were considering, I had an ethernet, HDMI, and even a fiber optic run installed linking my home office to the HT room and used a wireless xBox controller, but having a PC in the HT room made more sense. Much time to ponder the setup until BG3's release.

Dell opened orders for the world's first QD-OLED display today.

This person said, "5.1 is what I heard the game is mixed to and what I've been able to test so far."