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ChadB
ChadB
Trending Lyricist I
November 22, 2017
Question

Apple TV 4K + LG OLED55C7P + Playbar/etc. + Belkin Ultra High Speed HDMI Cables

So I recently invested in the LG OLED55C7P, which is gorgeous. I can now run my individual HDMI sources (Cable, Apple TV 4K, Xbox One 😵 to the TV, and audio out through optical to the playbar and beyond. All was good for video and sound - 5.1 for each source, and I didn't need a splitter (I used the Octava before, with my old TV).

In reading about Dolby Vision, etc., I saw that Apple recommended the Belkin Ultra High Speed HDMI cable. I saw conflicting opinions, but I wanted to use the best that I could, so I bought the cable and stuck it between the Apple TV and the TV. Boom - I started getting the 'Unsupported Audio' error in Sonos. I recycled power for everything, tweaked the TV audio output settings, tweaked the Apple TV audio output settings, and no luck. So, I swapped the good old HDMI cable back in, and life is fine.

So my question is - does anyone have perspective on why this cable, which I'd assume would be backward compatible, would have issues? The TV (2017 model) can pass through Dolby Digital/DTS multichannel via Optical, and it works fine with the non-Belkin cable between the Apple TV and it. I'm still getting Dolby Vision via the Apple TV with the old cable, so I don't seem to have lost anything, but it didn't make sense to me, so I figured I'd ask the experts!

Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
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    49 replies

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    ChadB
    ChadBAuthor
    Trending Lyricist I
    November 28, 2017
    Very interesting. I feel dumb for not having thought about this. The input that I have to cycle through in order to re-gain audio is HDMI 2 (even though I'm using optical out to my Playbar), which happens to be my Xbox. That's the one input that has never had trouble. The Webos audio menu doesn't differentiate between ARC and Optical (it's the combo choice). You're right, but that has to have something to do with it. I'm not relying on ARC for anything right now, as I don't have a receiver in the middle, but that's got to be an important part of the equation here.
    marksawbo
    Trending Lyricist II
    November 28, 2017
    Interesting comment Moosh and even more interesting that it seems to have solved your problems. Funnily enough, I did think of it yesterday, as it just so happens my Nvidia Shield is in the HDMI 2 port. However, I switched it to HDMI 1 and 3, tried it and it worked for a while then cut out again after as usual.

    I ordered the newer version of the Nvidia Shield which arrives today. I will re-test the HDMI theory and see if the same happens. My HDMI Audio Extractor has also just arrived so I am hoping that will be the complete solution regardless. I would rather stay away from the pass through of the TV as it has been unreliable from the get go. Everything running through optical is preferred.
    ChadB
    ChadBAuthor
    Trending Lyricist I
    November 29, 2017
    Ok - so, with the extractor between the Apple TV 4K and the TV (optical out to soundbar via the optical splitter), I have one improvement: the sub-second audio delay/sync issue is finally gone. I'd tried everything to fix that to no avail.

    However, I still have the issue of having to cycle through HDMI 2 (X1X) when switching to or from HDMI 1 (Cable) or 3 (Apple TV) or else I lose audio.
    marksawbo
    Trending Lyricist II
    November 29, 2017
    Damn. My extractor didn’t work either. It passed the video through perfect but sound was a no go.

    What’s the delay issue that was fixed?

    I tried playing with the inputs paying attention to what Moosh said but it’s made no difference. It’s a very strange issue.

    I have moved the inputs around as follows;

    HDMI 1 - Nvidia Shield (Optical from TV into splitter)
    HDMI 2 - Virgin (Optical into splitter)
    HDMI 3 - PS4 Pro (Optical into splitter)

    If I’m watching the Shield the 5.1 works, then if I switch to the Virgin and back the 5.1 doesn’t work yet stereo does. I think have to switch through HDMI 3 and back to HDMI 1 to get 5.1 to work again. So odd and no explanation. Even tried not using HDMI 2 all together but no luck.
    ChadB
    ChadBAuthor
    Trending Lyricist I
    November 29, 2017
    Shoot, that stinks. The delay issue was the audio/video sync (video ahead of audio) - it's a notorious issue for Apple TV 4K + LG OLED users. Something happens at the TV level which is insurmountable without lowering settings to stereo (2.1), even if you use the native LG Audio sync settings.
    marksawbo
    Trending Lyricist II
    November 29, 2017
    Okay so I did some reading last night and found a couple of threads on the AV forums. Basically this is 100% a firmware issue with the TV. We’ll have to wait and see if it gets fixed.

    I’m annoyed that my extractor didn’t work as would have preferred full optical set up but it may also be the HDMI issue of the TV stopping this from working.

    I’m going to call LG today to report. More people who report it the better.
    marksawbo
    Trending Lyricist II
    November 29, 2017
    LG said they are aware of the issue but have ‘no information’ regarding a fix timescale.
    ChadB
    ChadBAuthor
    Trending Lyricist I
    November 29, 2017
    Ugh - thank you
    marksawbo
    Trending Lyricist II
    December 7, 2017
    Just a quick update. I replaced my TV yesterday for dead pixel issues. I received a new November 2017 build. Previous TV was August 2017. The firmware pre-installed was 3.60 something. The 5.1 works perfectly on all sources with no issues. Confirms it is 100% a firmware issue. I just wont update until they fix it.
    ChadB
    ChadBAuthor
    Trending Lyricist I
    December 7, 2017
    Ha - that's interesting. It's unfortunate that you had the pixel issue, but I'm glad to hear that the audio problem is resolved.
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