@Paul+Dray wrote:
@Ellie_TV wrote:
@Paul+Dray wrote:
@Ellie_TV wrote:
@Paul+Dray wrote:
@Ellie_TV wrote:
@Paul+Dray wrote:
@Ellie_TV wrote:
@Paul+Dray wrote:
As an aside I've seen some here say their Soundbar only has one hdmi in. To be accurate if it only has one hdmi port that's an hdmi OUT (to tv) not a hdmi IN port. You could say that's me being fussy but actually it's helpful to think of it that way to understand the process for yourself. It also helps confusion for techies as they could think that saying that there is 1 hdmi in to mean that this is in addition to the hdmi out port.
This isn't correct.
Normally, for soundbars with a single HDMI port, the port is ARC or eARC so is therefore designed to be an INPUT from a TV.
No sorry you've got that wrong.
ARC simply means Audio Return Channel. So it's signal OUT from Soundbar and the TV can send audio back to the soundbar through the same hdmi cable using ARC.
Sorry, but I'm not wrong.
A single HDMI port on a soundbar is designed for receiving audio from a TV via ARC or eARC.
Any audio from the TV, be it from its built in Freeview/Freesat/Freely service, or from any device attached to the TV's other HDMI ports is sent from the TV to the soundbar.
What would the soundbar be sending out of that single HDMI port if there is no other input?
You are wrong sorry.
ARC simply allows audio that is coming from the TV or devices connected first to the TV to be RETURNED through the hdmi in cable from the soundbar. The soundbar itself is a device that you are connecting to the TV.
The confusion admittedly lies in the fact that manufacturers due to the advent of ARC eARC have stopped adding HDMI inputs to the soundbars (cheaper to build) and purely relying on ARC feature and solely using the TV's HDMI in sockets for devices.
Sorry, but nothing about what I have stated is wrong.
I have 25 years of working in the A/V industry and know how ARC and eARC works. You need to think about it in terms of the direction of the signal being sent.
A soundbar with a single HDMI port will use that ARC HDMI port to receive audio from the TV's ARC HDMI port.
A soundbar with multiple HDMI ports will use its HDMI INPUTs to receive audio and video from other devices (such as a Stream puck, Firestick or BluRay player) and use its ARC HDMI port to output the video (and audio, though it's not necessary as you are using the soundbar to actually hear the audio, not the TV speakers) to the TV.
Any other device attached to the TV or from its internal tuners/apps can be sent to the soundbar via the same HDMI ARC port, even though it is not labelled as an HDMI INPUT, it receives the audio sent from the TV.
Your mistake actually is that you are looking at it in a purely audio direction way.
The physical eARC port in the back of the soundbar is technically an output to TV that can receive RETURNED audio through the very same device input cable. Now to make things simpler for people they tend to just call HDMI ports that carry ARC as just simply HDMI ARC/eARC and drop the in/out labelling., as I say to make it simpler to understand.
It is not a mistake. The key to understanding how ARC and eARC works is to work out the direction of signal transfer.
I'm not quite sure why you are fixated on the RETURN aspect of the Audio Return Channel.
Look at the specs on this basic Polk Audio soundbar at Richer Sounds with a single HDMI ARC socket:
https://www.richersounds.com/polk-audio-react-black/#tab-specifications
It describes the inputs available as HDMI ARC and Optical Digital. If you search for the user manual this is confirmed. You press the TV input select button on the remote to hear the audio being received from the TV. It is not being returned to the TV via the same cable. What is the point of it doing that? It's already coming from the TV so it doesn't need to be sent back to it.
You still don't understand. I'm not saying it's returning from the soundbar to the tv. The RETURN is the audio being RETURNED from the TV to the soundbar via the HDMI cable connecting from the soundbar device into the tv. Think of it this way. If a soundbar only had one hdmi port and it was an hdmi in then there is no need at all for ARC/eARC as just a standard TV HDMI OUT port to a Soundbar HDMI IN port would suffice to carry audio from tv to soundbar. Which is why ARC/eARC on a soundbar is always technically an output first and foremost that can receive audio back.
as I said before a lot of these manufacturers use different terminology in certain contexts to make things simpler for people to understand.
With the greatest of respect, I understand fully what I'm talking about and your initial statement, the one I initially responded to:
As an aside I've seen some here say their Soundbar only has one hdmi in. To be accurate if it only has one hdmi port that's an hdmi OUT (to tv) not an hdmi IN port. You could say that's me being fussy but actually it's helpful to think of it that way to understand the process for yourself.
is where I believe you are causing confusion for anyone who reads it, simply because (in simple terms) a single HDMI ARC port on a soundbar is an HDMI INPUT and not an OUT (to tv) as you state.
Anyway, I'm respectfully going to leave you to it now as this is supposed to be a topic on lip sync issues on Sky Stream, not the ins and outs of HDMI ARC... I hope our conversation hasn't completely and utterly confused the living daylights out of any readers.
Have a great evening.
