
- #HDMI PLAY SOUND THROUGH TV HOW TO#
- #HDMI PLAY SOUND THROUGH TV MOVIE#
- #HDMI PLAY SOUND THROUGH TV MANUAL#
This means all those high bitrate formats currently available on Blu-ray discs, 4K Blu-rays and some streaming services – Dolby TrueHD, DTS-HD Master Audio and object-based formats such as Dolby Atmos and DTS:X – will all be compatible.īut whether manufacturers choose to support them all is up to them. There’s scope for eARC to deliver up to 32 channels of audio, including eight-channel, 24bit/192kHz uncompressed data streams at speeds of up to 38Mbps.
This allows you to send higher-quality audio from your TV to a soundbar or AV receiver. The main benefit of eARC is a big boost in bandwidth and speed. It’s a feature implemented in the most recent HDMI 2.1 specification. What is HDMI eARC? What are the benefits?Įnhanced Audio Return Channel (also known as eARC) is the next generation of ARC. If you want this level of functionality, you’ll need HDMI eARC.ĪRC can, however, allow you to receive Dolby Atmos audio from streaming services such as Netflix, Disney Plus and Amazon Prime Video, as these services embed Dolby Atmos in the lossy Dolby Digital Plus format which ARC can handle. It simply strips out the core 5.1 data stream. It’s worth noting ARC doesn’t allow you to bitstream the full-fat high-quality codecs such as Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio or DTS:X soundtracks that you find on Blu-rays and 4K Blu-rays. Some TV manufacturers only support Dolby Digital, while others only support two-channel stereo, defeating the point.
#HDMI PLAY SOUND THROUGH TV MOVIE#
Support for all relevant audio codecs isn’t compulsory, so you can’t simply assume that a TV will be able to send a 5.1 Dolby Digital or DTS soundtrack from a movie over ARC. The biggest problem for ARC in its current guise is manufacturers have been left to pick and choose which elements of the protocol they want to include. This means some ARC-enabled products will play together nicely, others might not. Worried about potential lip-sync problems? HDMI v1.3, launched in 2006, added automatic audio syncing, although it was only optional.
#HDMI PLAY SOUND THROUGH TV HOW TO#
MORE: How to improve your TV's sound Are there any issues with HDMI ARC?


A word of warning, though: turning HDMI CEC on can have some unwanted AV side-effects - so you might want to experiment first. But more on that later.Īs part of the process, you should consider enabling HDMI CEC (Consumer Electronics Control), so you can turn your TV on and control the volume on your soundbar or amp without the need for multiple remotes. Any HDMI cable should be able to cope with the requirements - it’s only when we move on to eARC this could (potentially) become an issue. Using HDMI ARC does not require a new HDMI cable. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to grab a remote and tweak a few of your TV settings, including turning off your TV’s built-in speakers and enabling your telly to send audio out to an external speaker or amp. With some TVs, HDMI ARC might work automatically.
#HDMI PLAY SOUND THROUGH TV MANUAL#
Consult the TV’s user manual if you’re unsure. Labelling isn’t compulsory, but as long as your TV is a late-2009 model or newer, there should be one at your disposal. Peer around the back of your TV - if it’s packing three or four HDMI sockets, you need to find the one that’s labelled “(ARC)”. To take advantage of HDMI ARC, you’ll need a television and audio processor (AV receiver or soundbar) with matching ARC-enabled HDMI sockets.
