How to get Dolby 5.1 with Samsung (TV+Home Theater)+ DirecTV?

[katofelinus]

I have my Samsung UN55UH6830 TV connected to the DirecTV box with an HDMI cable but the TV does not output Dolby Digital 5.1 but DTS Neo 2:5 because it is an "external source" and only "internal sources" like TV Tuner or Streaming output DD 5.1.

The only way I can get DD 5.1 is connecting the DirecTV box directly to my old Home Theater System with an optical cable. I am thinking of upgrading to the Samsung HT-J5500W Home Theater System (HTS) but first I would like know if the following setup will work well:

1) Connecting the DirectTV box with an Optical Cable to the Samsung HT-J5500W System.
2) Connecting the Samsung HT-J5500W HTS to my Samsung TV with a HMDI cable (ARC Port).
3) Connecting an old Laser Disc Player to my Samsung TV with a component Cable.
4) Connecting an External Hard Drive with movies (MP4 and MKV) to my TV through a USB port.

In Theory, I would get:

1) Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio from my DirecTV box and from the BlueRay Disc Player included in this System.
2) Dolby Digital 5.1 Audio from the movies (MP4 and MKV) I have in the External Hard Drive connected to my TV.
3) I will be able to change the volume with either the TV, DirecTV or Home Theater remote controls.

Will this work as described? Is there a better way of doing this?

Thanks

 

[Alabalcho]

The only device which should be connected to your TV is the receiver. Everything else (DirectTV, Laser Disk Player) should go thru the receiver. Get a cheap Roku for your hard-disk-based media.

 

[Marla_]

instructions state however that an additional connection would be required for direct tv to work through the system? I can't get this to work either.