What am I doing wrong? Apple TV 4K and a soundbar

[alm99]

Not sure what I am doing wrong. My equipment

Sony 75” c90j
Apple TV 4k
Vizio Sb3651e6 sound bar
Full size HomePod

When I connect the ATV to the Sony eARC input I have the option of Dolby Vision 4K but no way of using my sound bar, only the tv speakers. If I follow Apple’s direction by running an HDMI cord to the input on the sound bar and then a HDMI cord to the eARC input on the Sony, I’ll get sound through the soundbar but then my only video resolution available is 1080p. 4K options are gone.

If I try using my HomePod as an audio source instead, I get the check mark that it connects. However, it doesn’t matter if I try and a play video from Netflix, Hulu, etc the video will not play. It’s stuck on a single frame. I can scroll through the video at the frames will change but never play.

What am I doing wrong?

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Have you tried:

• AppleTV HDMI into a non-eARC (or regular) HDMI jack (like HDMI 1, HDMI 2, etc),
• TV eARC jack OUT to Soundbar?

What you are trying to do here is push video + audio direct from AppleTV to TV, the TV will then "keep" the video part to display on the screen but forward the audio part to the Soundbar.

If your TV works like mine, hooking soundbar to ARC is going to make the TV "know" to send any AUDIO it gets to that soundbar (as if the soundbar becomes the TV's default speakers). If it doesn't do this automatically, you may have to look through your TV's sound menu options to manually tell it to use the soundbar instead of the built-in speakers.

While I don't know the specifics of your TV or that bar, I'm about 85% confident this setup will work for you.

Some soundbars do "need" video & audio sent through them and then video on to TV, but that puts you at the mercy of Vizio circuits forwarding up to full 4K HDR video through the soundbar to the TV. Vizio is not exactly known as "premium" hardware, so it may be limited to 1080p OUT, regardless of what is pushed through it.

In my recommended setup to try, you are basically making the soundbar the END of a chain instead of a middle link (asking it to ONLY play the audio). An added benefit of this setup is that if you have OTHER sources (cable/satt, blu ray player, game consoles, etc) to hook to another HDMI jack on the TV, its sound should also flow on to the soundbar when you watch that source. If you have several other sources, not many soundbars have enough HDMI "IN" jacks to handle more than 1 or 2 sources. This audio-forwarding should also work if you can hook up an antenna for local TV over the air.

As to the HomePod issue, I think the same solution will resolve that one too: instead of connecting AppleTV to TV via your eARC jack, try HDMI 1 or HDMI 2, etc (non-eARC). That will have your AppleTV push:

• video directly to your TV
• audio to your HomePod

Now here, unless AppleTV does NOT forward audio down that HDMI cable too, your TV will probably want to play audio on something (and won't automatically "know" that HomePod is covering this task). So you may also hear audio on either your TV speakers or both soundbar (hooked to eARC) AND HomePod unless you go into the sound/audio menu to "turn off" TV speakers and/or turn them down to zero volume.

Update: I took a peek at both TV and Soundbar manuals and I'll UP my confidence to about 94% now. The Vizio instructions read a little weird, so you might first try:

• Sony ARC out to Soundbar HDMI IN and, if that doesn't work
• Sony ARC out to Soundbar HDMI (ARC) OUT.

I suspect that second option means EITHER HDMI OUT OR HDMI ARC but is easily misinterpreted. Odds are pretty good the Sony TV will "magically know" to forward audio on to the Soundbar when connected correctly. But again, you may have to go into Sony audio options to "turn on HDMI ARC" and/or switch a setting from (using) "TV Speakers" to "Soundbar."

 

[-Gonzo-]

The problem you have is with the soundbar as is doesn’t support 4KHDR/DV.

If you want 4KDV and sound through the sound bar then you’d need to connect the ATV into another HDMI port and the soundbar into the eARC

 

[alm99]

Have you tried:

• AppleTV HDMI into a non-eARC (or regular) HDMI jack (like HDMI 1, HDMI 2, etc),
• TV eARC jack OUT to Soundbar?

What you are trying to do here is push video + audio direct from AppleTV to TV, the TV will then "keep" the video part to display on the screen but forward the audio part to the Soundbar.

If your TV works like mine, hooking soundbar to ARC is going to make the TV "know" to send any AUDIO it gets to that soundbar (as if the soundbar becomes the TV's default speakers). If it doesn't do this automatically, you may have to look through your TV's sound menu options to manually tell it to use the soundbar instead of the built-in speakers.

While I don't know the specifics of your TV or that bar, I'm about 85% confident this setup will work for you.

Some soundbars do "need" video & audio sent through them and then video on to TV, but that puts you at the mercy of Vizio circuits forwarding up to full 4K HDR video through the soundbar to the TV. Vizio is not exactly known as "premium" hardware, so it may be limited to 1080p OUT, regardless of what is pushed through it.

In my recommended setup to try, you are basically making the soundbar the END of a chain instead of a middle link (asking it to ONLY play the audio). An added benefit of this setup is that if you have OTHER sources (cable/satt, blu ray player, game consoles, etc) to hook to another HDMI jack on the TV, its sound should also flow on to the soundbar when you watch that source. If you have several other sources, not many soundbars have enough HDMI "IN" jacks to handle more than 1 or 2 sources. This audio-forwarding should also work if you can hook up an antenna for local TV over the air.

As to the HomePod issue, I think the same solution will resolve that one too: instead of connecting AppleTV to TV via your eARC jack, try HDMI 1 or HDMI 2, etc (non-eARC). That will have your AppleTV push:

• video directly to your TV
• audio to your HomePod

Now here, unless AppleTV does NOT forward audio down that HDMI cable too, your TV will probably want to play audio on something (and won't automatically "know" that HomePod is covering this task). So you may also hear audio on either your TV speakers or both soundbar (hooked to eARC) AND HomePod unless you go into the sound/audio menu to "turn off" TV speakers and/or turn them down to zero volume.

Update: I took a peek at both TV and Soundbar manuals and I'll UP my confidence to about 94% now. The Vizio instructions read a little weird, so you might first try:

• Sony ARC out to Soundbar HDMI IN and, if that doesn't work
• Sony ARC out to Soundbar HDMI (ARC) OUT.

I suspect that second option means EITHER HDMI OUT OR HDMI ARC but is easily misinterpreted. Odds are pretty good the Sony TV will "magically know" to forward audio on to the Soundbar when connected correctly. But again, you may have to go into Sony audio options to "turn on HDMI ARC" and/or switch a setting from (using) "TV Speakers" to "Soundbar."

Thank you for your help, I think I finally got it. Dolby Vision is working and sound is coming out of the sound bar.

I moved the HDMI from the ATV to the HDMI 1 input on the Sony. Ran HDMI from the Sony eARC HDMI 3 port to the HDMI ARC port on the Vizio sound bar. It’s confusing because the ARC port on the Vizio is clearly labeled as HDMI Out.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Yeah that Vizio labeling IS confusing. As I mentioned at the end of my prior post, I think they mean HDMI Out OR HDMI ARC but left out that "or."

What you should find now is that if you hook ANYTHING else up to other HDMI ports on the Sony OR use the antenna input for over the air channels- which can be some quality HD by the way- all sound will get redirected to that soundbar. With that setup, Vizio is basically (default) taking over for your TV's speakers (and should be an audible upgrade for all video sources you might send to your TV, not just AppleTV stuff).