"JohnC" wrote in message
.. .

I think that will do it. When RTFM (thanks spamtrap1888) the Panasonic
will provide Dolby Digital when an ATSC channel is selected and PCM when
NTSC channel is selected. I'm getting ATSC over the air so I need to
convert Dolby Digital. Looks like the Gefen unit will do this. I'll get
it and post back the results. BTW, I could find no menu option to change
the digital optical out fomat on the TV. Thanks to all for your help.

Interesting. My 60" Mitsubishi DLP converts everything it receives,
whether OTA or from any HDMI or analog source, into 48 KHz stereo PCM for
its optical output. This allows me to use an ancient DAC with it and get
full functioning no matter what the source.

There may be a setup menu option for forcing the digital output of your TV
into PCM mode all of the time. Or not.