Arc hdmi's.
jrh1
Posts: 34 Forum Member
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Do arc compatable hdmi's work when the tv does not have arc. Looking at buying a Panasonic sc-hte80 soundstage .And can it be wired so that the Sky box goes through the hte80, and the dvd straight into the tv, only 2 tv hdmi's.
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ARC requires both source and destination are ARC compatible.
Obviously not.
Sorry, but I don't follow you? - there's only one way communication from the optical output on the TV, it just sends the audio data out and nothing else.
You can certainly set the TV to 'external speakers' which will mute the internal speakers, but there's no way to control the soundbar volume from the TV.
If it had an optical INPUT it would still be no good, you need an OUTPUT.
What TV do you have? The Panasonic unit you are proposing to buy does have a stereo analogue input so it may still be possible to connect up the TV if it has a headphone or analogue output instead of any sort of digital output.
The only way I can think that the TV could automatically switch to external speaker mode is if it has a trick optical socket that can detect the presence of a plug inserted into it. As you say the optical out just sends audio data out, which it will do all the time the TV is on whether or not the output is connected to anything. It has no return path to say there is something on the other end of the cable.
And I suspect the TV remote is actually controlling the output level of it's optical out and is having no effect on the soundbar at all.
Absolutely no reason why it shouldn't be. After all the real world is analogue
You haven't said what telly you've got so we can advise what options you may have.
Your loudspeakers don't understand digital
Sony TV's have an audio output socket (3.5mm stereo jack), configurable as either headphone or line out, and as adjustable level or not - it's a VERY, VERY useful feature, and ideal for his purposes.
According to the manual available on the Panasonic website the only audio outputs on this TV are a pair of analogue phonos. Those are the ones to the right of the VGA PC socket as you look at the rear of the TV.
So a simple stereo phono to phono lead required to connect TV to soundbar.
You would need to check your TV manual to see if you can configure the audio output as variable or not, as I said above Sony ones can be configured either way - so perhaps Panasonic can as well?.
But often with sound bars you have to use their remote control to alter the volume.
It struck me as odd too... however there is more to it, although it's not completely obvious what's going on.
The soundbar - an LG NB4530A - has only two sources wired: The TV via optical, and a Playstation 4 (replacing a Blu-ray player) via HDMI. The HDMI from the PS4 is on a passthrough to the TV so I only get a picture if I select 'HDMI' as the source on the soundbar. I set it up this way in an attempt to get the 'purest' audio feed from the PS4 and eliminate any lag that might crop up.
Where it gets interesting is that, even with 'Optical' as the source input, and the HDMI source off (but connected), when the TV is switched on the soundbar wakes from standby, the TV pops up a message 'Audio System Active', the TV sound is muted and the soundbar takes over. I literally don't have to do anything but sit down.
Volume changes using the TV remote show the message 'Audio System Volume +' & 'Audio System Volume -' with the corresponding volume shown on the soundbar display. That is, the TV is controlling the soundbar, probably via HDMI.
This set-up with the optical audio feed also works for the Humax PVR, only that's just a point-to-point HDMI connection to the TV - the audio is fed to the soundbar in exactly the same way as Freeview, with the volume controlled in the same way.
When the TV is put on standby or turned off, the soundbar goes into standby automatically.
The TV is using CEC to control the soundbar via HMDI. I do the same with my Panny TV and Yamaha soundbar.
Ah, that would explain it then. Needless to say I was pleased to find this extra layer of functionality (knowing I did not have an ARC compatible TV) - saves a lot of remote juggling, or should I say, more remote juggling
Yes, that's pretty well all a sound bar is - except you get a sub-woofer as well, and a decent pair of speakers would mean you don't really need a sub.