HDMI ARC Audio Return Channel discussion thread

[petetherock]

HDMI Audio Return Channel is something that can be useful but also causes a fair number of issues.

This thread aims to discuss and trouble all related issues.

What is HDMI ARC? And What Does It Do For Your HDTV? | HD Guru

ARC, or Audio Return Channel, is one of the most useful technologies since the arrival of HDMI itself.
The problem is, most people have no idea it exists, what it’s for, or how to use it. Worse, manufactures rarely explain its advantages, or how their products implement it (if at all).
All about ARC, it’s coolness and quirks, after the jump.

Audio Return Channel is a feature built into the latest versions of HDMI (1.4, and presumably future versions). In its most basic description, ARC sends audio from the TV back down the HDMI cable to something like a soundbar, home theater in a box, and even a few A/V receivers.
Previously, this two-way data transfer only carried handshake info, to tell the source things like “yep, I’m a TV” and “nope, I’m not stealing your content,” or CEC control data. CEC, or Consumer Electronics Control, let you control multiple devices with one remote… in theory and as long as they were connected with HDMI and had the CEC feature. This never worked in reality as well as it did on paper, with cross-brand compatibility being hit or miss. ARC uses aspects of CEC, letting you adjust the volume on a soundbar, for example, with the TV remote. In most ARC products, the soundbar and TV essentially act as one device, with just a single button push to power them both on (no programming required).
The basic ARC functionality, sending audio out of the TV, varies in potential and implementation. On one level, it can send audio from internal TV sources (like the HDTV tuner, or built-in web streaming apps).
On another level, it can send out the audio from other HDMI sources (presumably to a soundbar). In this instance, your TV becomes the central hub, with all sources plugged into it.
This would be the natural way most people, at least those without receivers or HDMI-switching soundbars, would have their systems set up anyway. Adding a soundbar would require no further setup than one new HDMI cable. The TV switches all the sources, and the audio for each one (BD player, cable box, etc), would get sent to a soundbar or HTIB.
The next further level has the TV converting analog audio sources to digital, and sending that to a soundbar. This is less necessary in this digital age, but for those with legacy sources like VHS, this can be useful.

 

[petetherock]

Useful how to links:

These are the steps that you will need to take to enable ARC (Audio Return Channel)

• Make sure your audio receiver is ARC compatible and your TV is ARC compatible.
• Ensure that you have an HDMI 1.4 cable that is multi-directional
• Use HDMI 1 on your TV and it will need to be plugged into the HDMI OUT of the receiver
• Change Digital Audio on your TV to Dolby Digital
• Turn off the TV internal speakers
• Turn CEC on
• Ensure the receiver is in TV control and is in discoverable mode (You may have to reference the manual for your receiver or contact the manufacturer of your receiver)
• Search for the device under CEC menu
• This will unlock System Audio Control (under CEC), turn to ON and enjoy ARC!

How To Connect And Setup ARC (Audio Return Channel) On Your HW-D550 Sound Bar : | Samsung


https://us.en.kb.sony.com/app/answe...to-use-the-audio-return-channel-(arc)-feature.

1. Connect one end of a high quality, high-speed HDMI® cable to the TV Out ARC connection of the receiver.
   
   NOTE: Low quality cables that are not labled high-speed will not be able to provide the ARC function.
   
   
2. Connect other end of the HDMI cable to the HDMI ARC input on the TV.
   
   
3. Set the HDMI Control setting on the receiver to ON.
   1. Press the Menu or Home button on the receiver remote. NOTE: The menu should displayed on the TV screen. If not check you connections.
   2. Select Settings.
   3. Press Enter.
   4. Select HDMI Control or CTR.HDMI.
   5. Press Enter.
   6. Select ON or CTRL ON.
   7. Press Enter.
4. Set the Control for HDMI setting on the TV to ON.
   
   NOTE: The following steps show how to adjust this setting on a Sony® TV. Refer to the supplied manual, if the steps are different for the TV being used.
   
   
   1. Press the Home or Menu button on the TV remote.
   2. Select Settings or Setup
   3. Select HDMI.
   4. Select Control for HDMI.
   5. Select ON.

 

[petetherock]

How To Setup And Connect ARC (Audio Return Channel) On Your 3D Blu-ray AV Receiver : Blu-ray Systems | Samsung

What is it?

Traditionally two cable connections have always been needed, an audio cable from your TV to your AV receiver to send TV audio and a video cable from your AV receiver to your TV to send video. ARC (Audio Return Channel) changes this by eliminating the need to use two cable connections; instead all you need is one HDMI connection.
To use ARC you will need the following:

• • A High Speed HDMI Cable connected from your TV to your 3D BD AV receiver, for instructions see page 2.
  • An ARC compatible TV (often reads 'ARC' by HDMI input)
  • Anynet+ enabled on the 3D BD AV receiver and TV
  • ARC enabled on the 3D BD AV receiver and TV

Getting Started

Before following the steps below verify the 3D BD AV receiver is powered on and your TV is set to the input where the 3D BD AV receiver is connected. Also check that your 3D BD AV receiver remote is set to BD-RX mode by pressing the BD-RX button on the remote, otherwise the receiver won't respond to the remote control.
Note: If your 3D BD AV receiver is not set to the BD/DVD input, the menu will not display. Press the Input Select button on the 3D BD AV receiver remote until the receiver display reads 'BD/DVD' mode.
Enabling Anynet+

The default setting for Anynet+ is 'On'. If it has been disabled or to verify the setting, follow the steps below.

1. Using the right and left arrow buttons move to Settings and then press enter.
   

1. Using the top and bottom arrow buttons move to System and then press enter.
2. Using the top and bottom arrow buttons move to Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) and then press enter.
   

1. Using the top and bottom arrow buttons move to On and then press enter.
2. You are returned to the System Menu.Notes:
   
   • • Anynet+ is not available if the HDMI cable you are using does not support CEC.
     • Depending on your TV, certain HDMI output resolutions may not work. Please refer to the user manual of your TV.

Enabling ARC

The default setting for the ARC function is 'Auto'. If it has been disabled or to verify the setting, follow the steps below.

1. Using the right and left arrow buttons move to Settings and then press enter.
2. Using the top and bottom arrow buttons move to Audio and then press enter.
3. Using the top and bottom arrow buttons move to Audio Return Channel and then press enter.
   

1. Using the top and bottom arrow buttons move to Auto and then press enter.
   • • Auto: Listen to TV sound from the 3d BD AV receiver speakers
     • Off: Turn the ARC function off.

1. Press the Exit button on the 3D BD AV remote to exit the menu. The Home Menu is displayed.Notes:
   
   • • If Anynet+ is off, the ARC function is not available and the menu option will appear grayed out.
     • The ARC function on your TV may also need to be enabled, see the accompanying literature included with your TV or check out the TV settings menu.
     • Using an uncertified HDMI cable may cause incompatability and ARC may not work correctly.

 

[kcng1974]

Correct way to connect StarHub STB, Blu Ray Player, AV Receiver

Hi all expert,
I have some problem when connect all those devices together, here is my devices list:
1. StarHub HubStation HD
2. Sony Blu Ray Player
3. Yamaha RXA1030 AV Receiver
4. Samsung LED TV.

The way I connect is:
BluRay Player connect to AV HDMI IN 1
StarHub connect to AV HDMI IN 2
AV HDMI OUT connect to LED TV HDMI IN (ARC)

Now the problems are:
1. When I switch on the TV (with TV remote), the AV will switch ON together, but not the StarHub STB.

2. And after I switch on the StarHub STB or I leave it ON always, the AV sound will always auto switch to Audio 1 (which is the sound from TV via HDMI ARC), not the sound from StarHub (HDMI)
I cannot connect the AV - TV with normal HDMI, because I would like to output the TV sound to AV when I watching the YouTube from TV, but most of time I still hope the AV can auto switch and stay in StarHub (HDMI) channel after switch on.

I hope someone which similar setup that can work perfectly. Please do share all the suggestion, or any need to buy additional IR Blaster.

Thanks a lot!

 

[mirfarali]

HDMI Arc acting wonky

Hi,

This is my first post here so please go easy on me. I recently upgraded my living room hardware and got a samsung UA55F6700 and a philips soundbar HTB7150. I had been researching for a while and was happy to see both had HDMI Arc features. That would allow me to avoid a lot of cables.

Anyway after plugging in the right cables in the right slots I realised that the HDMI Arc would not work. Tried different cables but still the same. The soundbar would not detect the TV when I tried to audio map it.

After banging my head around a lil I figured out why. The HDMI Arc would work if there is no other HDMI deviced plugged into the TV but as soon as I plugged in my Tv Box, it would disappear. I find that pretty silly because then I cant use any HDMI ports on my Tv and my soundbar has only one HDMI port (which is the Arc one).

Anyone else facing this issue? Would love some advice.

 

[enrell69]

arent u spose to plug in the hdmi from the set-top to the soundbar, then from the soundbar to the tv via ARC?

 

[kalviper]

arent u spose to plug in the hdmi from the set-top to the soundbar, then from the soundbar to the tv via ARC?

apparently he's soundbar only have 1 HDMI port and its the ARC one.

OP, There should be more connection on your sound bar. What are they?

 

[Tuakong]

i have an LG Ultra HD TV with ARC on HDMI2.
When I the monoprice HDMI cable to the Philips 9100 SB HDMI ARC Out, there is no sound.
In the end, I connected optical cable instead and disabled the ARC connection.
So now, when I watch TV, the sound goes to the SB but when I playback movie from my HTPC, there is still no sound. have to use BT instead during HTPC playback.

Could it be that the LG is not compatible with the Philips SB?
My LG TV has 4 HDMI inputs:
HDMI 1 - STB / Audio to SB via optical ok
HDMI 2 (ARC) - Apple TV (since I m now using optical connection) / Audio to SB via optical ok.
HDMI 3 -PopCorn / Audio to SB via optical ok
HDMI 4 - HTPC / Audio to SB via BT only

 

[mirfarali]

Thanks for all the help guys. I sort of stumbled onto the solution to the problem after getting in touch with both samsung and Philips customer service. I had followed the instructions to the T about activating the ARC feature but no avail.

What I then did was that I powered on my other HDMI device (TV Box) plugged into the TV and immediately the ARC started working alright. So what I figured out was that ARC will work as long as the other HDMI deviced connected to the TV are On or in standyby mode. Not sure how that affects anything but something new I learnt.

 

[mirfarali]

i have an LG Ultra HD TV with ARC on HDMI2.
When I the monoprice HDMI cable to the Philips 9100 SB HDMI ARC Out, there is no sound.
In the end, I connected optical cable instead and disabled the ARC connection.
So now, when I watch TV, the sound goes to the SB but when I playback movie from my HTPC, there is still no sound. have to use BT instead during HTPC playback.

Could it be that the LG is not compatible with the Philips SB?
My LG TV has 4 HDMI inputs:
HDMI 1 - STB / Audio to SB via optical ok
HDMI 2 (ARC) - Apple TV (since I m now using optical connection) / Audio to SB via optical ok.
HDMI 3 -PopCorn / Audio to SB via optical ok
HDMI 4 - HTPC / Audio to SB via BT only

I dont think there should be a problem of compatibility. My suggestion would be to disconnect everything other than the ARC connection between the soundbar and the TV then configure it. Once that is working then reconnect all the the other HDMI devices linked to the TV and keep them powered on. Not sure if having them on standby power would work as well but you could try and let us know.

 

[Tuakong]

I dont think there should be a problem of compatibility. My suggestion would be to disconnect everything other than the ARC connection between the soundbar and the TV then configure it. Once that is working then reconnect all the the other HDMI devices linked to the TV and keep them powered on. Not sure if having them on standby power would work as well but you could try and let us know.

I connected the STB and HTPC to the SB HDMI1 and 2 with the ARC connected to the TV and it works.

Will connect the Apple TV and Popcorn to an HDMI Switch to see if the SB can support a HDMI switch
If cannot support HDMI switch then have to connect the devices to the TV HDMI ports instead then connect optical cable to the SB.
thereafter, will need to switch between ARC and Optical on the SB when using different devices

 

[kalviper]

Just one point to note. Most if not all smart TV will not pass through 5.1 audio through HDMI.

i.e. STB/HTPC ----HDMI----TV---HDMI----SB = no 5.1

Only way to get 5.1 is to;

STB/HTPC ----- HDMI----SB-----HDMI(ARC)----TV

Can go and search online whether your tv can pass through 5.1 audio. Maybe yours can. Best way to verify is still to play a 5.1 movie and test yourself whether there is 5.1

 

[Tuakong]

Can Optical cable and ARC be connected from TV to SB co-exist i.e. switchable depending on the source?
I tried to copnnect some devices to TV-HDMI and playback via optical cable and it couldnt. Only 1 output source can be connected.

Anyone can confirm?

 

[Tuakong]

Just a quick update that the philups 9100 can support the monoprice HDMI switch.
However, the Popcorn cannot be connected via the switxh . if direct connection its OK

So, ARC connection finally works after 2 months of playing around

 

[mirfarali]

Just a quick update that the philups 9100 can support the monoprice HDMI switch.
However, the Popcorn cannot be connected via the switxh . if direct connection its OK

So, ARC connection finally works after 2 months of playing around

Congrats

 

[stamina]

Hi guys, I have this query on HDMI ARC feature.

If I were to do the following:

Switching off both tv and soundbar via remote control.
Then switch of main switches.
Then switch on main switches.
Then switch on tv via remote control

Should the soundbar be automatically be paired and switched on as well?

 

[86technie]

Hi guys, I have this query on HDMI ARC feature.

If I were to do the following:

Switching off both tv and soundbar via remote control.
Then switch of main switches.
Then switch on main switches.
Then switch on tv via remote control

Should the soundbar be automatically be paired and switched on as well?

Depending whether did you set HDMI Device control at your TV to On.
If you did turn this on, when you turned on the soundbar not the TV first.
Both the TV and soundbar will turned on automatically.

 

[stamina]

I thought so. I have a Samsung UHD 55KS7000. When I switch on my main switch, then switch on my tv using remote. My soundbar did not switch on automatically.

My soundbar will be switched on automatically when switching on TV via remote only when my main switch is not switched off.

Anyone else have any thoughts on this?

 

[eflash]

HDMI ARC help needed

Hi to all

I am experiencing problems connecting LG OLED C7 tv to yamaha soundbar YAS-107 via HDMI ARC. It was high-speed HDMI cable, 2nd USB port of TV which was the ARC point and to HDMI ARC point in soundbar.

I have enabled SIMPLINK on the tv, optical/arc sound out option on tv, hdmi mode on soundbar and yet no sound came out. Optical connection works.

Anyone has same issue between the two devices or how do I check if either equipment ARC function is malfunctioning? Any solution please?

Thank you in advance.

 

[eflash]

sagu suggest you try selecting “PCM” and not “Auto” for your Digital Sound Out and see if you can hear the audio

#sagusuggest

Tried. Doesn't work too. No sound, the tv remote is also unable to control soundbar volume, in both pcn and auto.

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