Questions regarding Sound Bars, HDMI ARCs & eARCS

• 

  Hybroid on 21/03/2022 - 20:55

  +1

  1) HDMI-CEC is what you want for cross-device control over HDMI. Nothing to do with HDMI ARC. Brand is not relevant as long as they have the correct support for the protocol.

  2) Dolby Atmos does have a compressed version that can be sent over regular ARC but not many devices have this support. You're not getting the best Atmos experience on soundbars anyway, so don't think this will be an issue, but yes the vertical height will be slightly better than flat ones.

  3) That's technically fine but aesthetically may not be. Note the legs taper up towards the middle which may make it awkwardly positioned. Your call.

  Edit: 4) Ah you found HDMI-CEC. Never assume there's support on modern devices, always check product specs.

  • 

    AssBargain on 21/03/2022 - 21:02

    thanks for those info

    So if I understand correctly, both ARC/eARC and HDMI-CEC allow for the original TV remote to adjust volume, but CEC pushes that further to sync power on/off of the sound bar with the tv itself provided that they both support the protocol.

    • 

      dizzle on 21/03/2022 - 21:22

      +1

      Pretty much everything in the last 10 years will have HDMI-CEC It's become that common that it's not really mentioned anymore and ARC is the thing peopole look for.

      ARC is a different protocol (really all it is, is a two way channel which most soundbars don't need anyway unless they have extra inputs) but most if not all ARC should also be CEC enabled. However, CEC is not really a standard protocol so not everything works the same across all brands. So your LG TV SHOULD be able to control Samsung, Panasonic, Sonos, and Bose soundbars, but you may still find better integration with LG soundbars. I've even seen Samsung TVs have HDMI compatibility issues with Samsung soundbars (same for other brands). Saying that, on/off and volume should be the bare minimum that compatibility allows

      eARC gives a bigger bandwidth so should provide faster transmission speeds for things like uncompressed audio and Atmos audio.

      • 

        AssBargain on 21/03/2022 - 21:32

        great, thanks for the explaination

        I have thought about getting a LG instead of the samsung but the only one roughly comparable is the 3.1.2 SP8YA I feel like LG's offering isn't as great as samsung's, but I could be wrong.

        • 

          emblurr on 22/03/2022 - 00:05

          @AssBargain: There is two types of Atmos sound

          Dolby Digital Plus (This is made for streaming services, Disney, Netflix)
          Dolby Digital TrueHD (This is from Ultra HD discs)

          If the TV is eARC and your soundbar/receiver is eARC, you can get TrueHD Atmos
          If one of or both of the devices is ARC only then you can only do Dolby Digital Plus Atmos

          If you are gonna get a Soundbar may as well make sure it's eARC. One day when you upgrade that TV with eARC, you'll get the TrueHD Atmos.

          Personally I have a LG C1 with eARC and an Onkyo Atmos receiver with ARC.

          I have a PS5 directly into the TV for HDMI 2.1 and ARC to the receiver.
          A Panasonic 4k player directly into the receiver to do Dolby TrueHD and Dolby Vision passthrough to the TV. This is for my Ultra HD discs.

          I know most of this doesn't apply to your questions but I just felt like saying it all anyway. Currently if your only watching streaming movies then ARC is fine.

          • 

            xa on 23/03/2022 - 22:40

            @emblurr: To clarify the different "types of Atmos sound" - but using DTS as a preface first.

            DTS:X has DTS Master Audio (MA) as its core. MA has DTS as its core. Thus X can play all previous DTS versions on older equipment that don't have the newer DTS standards - for example if your video has X, but any part of your equipment (that X gets routed through) does NOT support this newest format, it will play the next best supported standard your equipment has. So it first looks for X compatibility, then MA, then normal DTS, then whatever it might fall back to (stereo perhaps).

            DTS High Resolution (HR) is inferior to MA, but better than plain DTS. I don't know if X natively supports/check HR; maybe someone else can advise, or maybe wiki it.

            Mentioned DTS first because Atmos is similar, but NOT exactly. So, Dolby Atmos has TrueHD (TH) as its core, and TH has normal Dolby Digital 5.1 (DD51) as its core in turn. So it goes Atmos > TrueHD > Digital 5.1 , like the DTS example above.

            Where Dolby is NOT exactly like DTS is Dolby Digital Plus (DDP), which is a bit different to DD51. DD51 maxes at 640kbps and 5.1 channels, whereas DDP maxes at 768kbps (may even go higher) and MAYBE a few more channels (wiki it for a better explanation). Not all equipment are DDP compatible; some MAY revert to DD51, some may just pick it up as stereo, and some may not pick it at all. Yes, it's all a big codec rabbithole. As someone else here wrote, many streaming shows do DDP, others DD51. DDP-compatible equipment will likely play DD51, but DD51-only equipment will NOT play DDP properly (DDP came out AFTER DD51).

            The end point? Whatever equipment you get (and how you connect them), make sure they have the codecs/standards you intend to listen to. Because if any one of those in the chain don't, then you'll get a lesser audio codec than intended, thus making any purchases rather moot.

            Soundbars are probably ok if you only intend to connect 1 thing to it (because of the limited inputs), and are easier (as it's just 1 unit) for almost-surround-sound. But for true surround-sound (if that's particularly important to you), best go for separate speakers (5.1 as minimums) PLUS a receiver (as emblurr wrote for example) - though obviously it won't be as aesthetically pleasing as a single soundbar (and separate speakers are hard to find these days).

            What I would like to see come out, is a package with:
            1 soundbar unit to act as a centre-speaker, with the Atmos-things to bounce those sounds off the ceiling (because I don't want to put speakers in the ceiling);
            2 left & 2 right speakers (4 in total);
            1 decent subwoofer;
            1 receiver with all the codecs (X, Atmos, Dolby Vision, HDR+, etc); and
            1 remote to rule them all. Pipe dream, right?

            PS. To complicate things further, apparently there are TVs coming out that ACT as additional speakers when connected to compatible soundbars. Samsung Q-Symphony (I thing that what it's called) comes to mind.

            • 

              xa on 23/03/2022 - 23:50

              @xa: PS. I THINK Atmos will also pick up DDP, but probably only because DDP has DD51 as its core. TH does NOT have DDP in its DNA - so think of Atmos as having 2 separate branches: {Atmos > TH > DD51} and {Atmos > DDP > DD51}.

        • 

          lint on 22/03/2022 - 10:29

          @AssBargain: The Samsung soundbar is top notch, I don't think there's much to compare with that LG 3.1.2 speakers.

          You'll generally be able to control the volume on the soundbar with the TV remote with CEC, but sometimes there can be bugs with interoperability between brands. You won't know unless you hear from someone with the same setup or you try it yourself. I don't think this should deter you from getting this soundbar though.

          In terms of your TV not having eARC, if you've got streaming apps on the TV, the audio formats for all of those work through ARC anyway, including Dolby Atmos. What you'll need to do is connect game consoles, Blu-ray players, etc to the soundbar rather than the TV to get the best audio out of them.

• 

  TheMills on 21/03/2022 - 23:38

  +1

  You can try OREI eARC 4K 60Hz Audio Extractor Converter to take full advantage of Dolby Atmos on your new SoundBar with old TV.
  https://www.amazon.com.au/dp/B094PPVKFL/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_g…