[bungly]

Hi everyone
I am new to the site and a novice (or thick) regarding home electrical items.
I purchased earlier this year a panasonic 42" plasma tv model number tx-p42g15b which I am very pleased with at the weekend I purchased a panasonic home cinema system model number sc-bt230
I was told that I could get surround sound through the cinema system by using a optical cable so I bought one of those aswell.
I have tried connecting these in every way possible but can get no sound at all when using the tv although the sound is fine when I watch the blu ray dvd's
Can anyone help please.

Bungly

[gomezz]

Things to check:-

1) The optical cable is connected to the optical output from the TV;

2) The TV is set up to output audio from that optical output;

3) The optical cable is connected to an optical input socket on the home cinema;

4) The optical input on the input on the home cinema is selected - usually a button on its remote saying Source or Input or some such.

I see that this home cinema model also has a mini-jack audio input so you could try connecting this to the headphone output of the TV with a suitable lead. Note that you will not get full digital surround on the optical output from the TV anyway (*). You will be limited to Dolby Pro Logic surround in which the surround sound is matrixed onto two (stereo) channels, But the quality of the sound will still be miles better than the inbuilt sound from the TV's own weedy speakers.

(*) I now see this is a Freeview HD model of TV so it may output full digital surround sound from HD channels. Except that there are apparently other issues with this regarding the audio format being used to broadcast not being recognised by the majority of kit currently available, almost certainly including your home cinema system and TV. Look for a thread started by nwhitfield on this topic.

[chrisjr]

If I have downloaded the correct manual....

On the remote for the Home Cinema system is a button labelled EXT IN. Press this a number of times till you see D-IN 1 or D-IN 2 on the display depending on which socket you are using.

[bungly]

Thanks Gomezz and chris jr

I am at work at the moment so will try when I get home.

I have already tried chrisjr's and that did not work.

One thing I forgot to mention is that I switch on the tv and use viera link which switches on the cinema system.

however using the remote for the cinema system I can get into the source menu but it will not let me scroll up or down the options, I have to do that using the tv remote.

Bungly

[gomezz]

That sounds like you may be trying to change the source input on the TV rather than on the home cinema system. Not the same thing at all. Is there a button on the front panel of the home cinema system which lets you switch input source rather than using its remote control? It may be behind a drop-down flap.

[Tassium]

In the TV menu is a Viera Link submenu. On the TV remote is the [Viera Link] button.

You can select whether to use the TVs speakers or the Surround sytems speakers:

Speaker Selection
------------------------------Home Cinema
------------------------------TV

Select Home Cinema. This should automatically turn on the Surround system when the TV is turned on, I think.


(I don't have this system, this is just from the manual.)

[bungly]

Thanks everyone I will try these things when I get Home
Someone here has just told me I don't need the optical cable as the hdmi lead will carr both video and sound if both are arc compatible

My Heads Hurting now.
If thats right why didn't panasonic tell me when i paid £20.00 for the cable from their shop.

[chrisjr]

HDMI is normally unidirectional. It will carry audio TO the TV but not back again. Though I believe there is a newer standard that does include return audio, stand to be corrected on that one.

But under normal circumstances if you want the audio from the TV's built in tuner to come out of the home cinema system you need a separate audio connection.

OK done a bit of research. HDMI ver 1.4 has provision for a return audio path. But I would be surprised if either of your devices were 1.4, more likely 1.3 which doesn't have the return path. 1.4 is very new so probably not a lot of stuff out there yet supporting it.

[gomezz]

You should instead ask why did the Panasonic shop charge you £20 for an optical lead when a £5 lead from elsewere would work just as well.

[Tassium]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bungly

Thanks everyone I will try these things when I get Home
Someone here has just told me I don't need the optical cable as the hdmi lead will carr both video and sound if both are arc compatible

My Heads Hurting now.
If thats right why didn't panasonic tell me when i paid £20.00 for the cable from their shop.

In the manual for the TV it mentioned you will need both the HDMI cable and the optical cable for it to work.

In the downloaded manual it's on page 71.


I've seldom seen a more complicated user guide!