Yes, you read it correctly: a standard HDMI cable will not work to connect a soundbar to a television. You must have HDMI ARC or (High Definition Multimedia Interface Audio Return Channel) to connect the soundbar to your TV, as a simple TV HDMI port is just for ‘input’ and does not support ARC.
Do sound Bars need a special HDMI cable?
HDMI cable Most soundbars and TVs have an HDMI port. Keep in mind you need to use an HDMI ARC or eARC cable and port. If you don’t have this, you’ll need an optical cable in addition to an HDMI cable. With an HDMI 2.0b cable, you can transmit the sound of your television to your soundbar.
Can I connect soundbar to normal HDMI?
If your TV supports ARC (Audio Return Channel), you can connect your TV and soundbar using an HDMI cable, so audio from your connected devices will play on the soundbar.
Can I use normal HDMI cable for HDMI ARC?
While many TVs auto-detect devices with ARC capability, others require you to turn on the feature manually. Finally, just plug in your stuff. This is dead simple; any HDMI cable will work. The only thing to keep in mind is that the ARC-enabled port needs to be connected to your external audio device.
Do sound Bars need a special HDMI cable?
HDMI cable Most soundbars and TVs have an HDMI port. Keep in mind you need to use an HDMI ARC or eARC cable and port. If you don’t have this, you’ll need an optical cable in addition to an HDMI cable. With an HDMI 2.0b cable, you can transmit the sound of your television to your soundbar.
Is there a difference between HDMI and HDMI ARC cable?
While a regular HDMI connector is only able to transmit video images, ARC has an added function that allows you to transmit audio from a TV back to the source, like a receiver or soundbar. This means you only require a single 2.0b cable in order to transmit both video and audio signals.
What cable is best for soundbar?
1. HDMI. An HDMI cable is by far the best way to hook your soundbar up to your TV.
What happens if I don’t have an ARC HDMI?
You won’t get sound from just your tv to your sound bar if you don’t have HDMI ARC/Optical/Digital Coax, if all you want is just tv sound. If you’re connecting other devices to the bar, you’ll get video out to tv and sound to the bar from the devices. Example: No sound from over the air tv without those connections.
Is it better to connect soundbar with HDMI or optical?
Both cables can be had pretty cheap. The biggest difference is that HDMI can pass higher-resolution audio, including the formats found on streaming services such as Dolby Atmos and DTS HD Master Audio. These formats can’t be transmitted across optical. In terms of simplicity, HDMI also passes video signals.
How do I know if my HDMI cable is ARC?
Are all HDMI cables the same?
Although there are different HDMI standards, with HDMI 2.0 being the most recent, there are only two HDMI cable standards: Standard and High Speed. Standard is out-of-date now and supports lower resolutions; High Speed supports everything, including the HDMI 2.0 standard, which gives you 4K TV at 60fps (Ultra HD).
What if my TV doesn’t have HDMI ARC or optical?
Maybe you just want to downgrade your sound experience. Suit yourself. There are many ways to avoid using HDMI or optical connections. You can connect wirelessly with Bluetooth, or use a 3.5 mm AUX cable, RCA cables, or even an auxiliary device that converts coaxial cable to another kind of connection.
Do you need a 4K HDMI cable for a soundbar?
The connection in your TV or receiver is what needs a specific HDMI version (4K). You don’t need them for the soundbar.
Should I use 4K HDMI for soundbar?
You don’t need 4K HDMI for a soundbar. A standard HDMI cable will deliver 4K content, including audio. You don’t need special 4K HDMI cables to enjoy 4K audio. Remember, the sound replicated is only as good as the source.
Which HDMI cable is best for audio?
An HDMI cable that supports 4K resolutions will support ARC. Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC) is a feature of HDMI 2.1. It supports full-resolution audio signals, meaning it supports Dolby Atmos and other uncompressed sound formats. If your components support eARC, use a high-speed HDMI cable with Ethernet.
What’s better for sound bar HDMI or optical?
The biggest difference is that HDMI can pass higher-resolution audio, including the formats found on streaming services such as Dolby Atmos and DTS HD Master Audio. These formats can’t be transmitted across optical. In terms of simplicity, HDMI also passes video signals.
Do sound Bars need a special HDMI cable?
HDMI cable Most soundbars and TVs have an HDMI port. Keep in mind you need to use an HDMI ARC or eARC cable and port. If you don’t have this, you’ll need an optical cable in addition to an HDMI cable. With an HDMI 2.0b cable, you can transmit the sound of your television to your soundbar.
What can I use if I don’t have an HDMI ARC port?
If you TV does not have ARC port then you will have to use optical, as normal HDMI port does not support both way data transfer for audio to go out of it.
How do I connect my soundbar to my TV without HDMI ARC?
When you connect an external device to TV (without ARC) and Sound Bar, connect the HDMI cable (sold separately) from the external device to the TV. Then, connect the external device to the Sound bar using an optical cord (sold separately). If you want to connect to just the TV, then the HDMI connection is unnecessary.
Why is my soundbar not working with my TV?
If you’re using an analog connection, make sure the TV volume is turned up. If the TV’s analog audio output is set to “variable” and you’re getting no sound from the soundbar, try turning the TV’s volume up. If the TV is turned down all the way, you’ll hear no sound even if the soundbar is set to full volume.
Why do soundbars have HDMI?
So why do Soundbars have HDMI (or even HDMI eARC for that matter – our top 7 list)? HDMI cables relay both video and audio signals between source media and a Soundbar. Because you need only one cable, HDMI allows you to achieve quality sound and picture without having to use multiple cords to do so.
How do I get my TV to recognize my soundbar?
To get your TV to recognize a soundbar, you must connect the output on the TV to the input of the soundbar, then modify the audio output settings on your TV to match. You can connect the TV and soundbar using HDMI ARC, a digital optical cable, AUX, or by using Bluetooth if the feature is available.
