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arc / optical question

  • 10 February 2022
  • 17 replies
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Edgie70
Userlevel 2
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Hi team hope you can help 

I have a Samsung TV and sky+ hd , I use it to watch standard BBC / itv / Ch 4 and Ch 5 and sky channels 

Using the TV speakers everything is fine , no audio issues at all 

The day I got the beam , connected via arc after an hour I got audio stutter / jitter whatever it's called , went ok for a week then same happened again ! It's been like that for about 2 months .

Diagnostic numbers don't show any issue apparently 

I've reset the TV , reset and restarted the beam & surrounds , restarted the sky box , 2 days later same issue .

I'm now trying the optical adapter ( old Yamaha bar was connected via optical and was always fine ) so I'm seeing how this goes , been 2 days and fingers crossed lol 

If the beam is ok on optical but has issues on arc could it still be a beam issue ? The way the beam handles the arc signal ? 

I know that it points to a TV arc issue but just wondered .

A guy on the Samsung community had the same issue as me with his Samsung TV and Samsung soundbar via arc , he bought a new TV , connected bar to his new Sony TV via arc and problem cured .

https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/tv/occasiional-choppy-distorted-sound/td-p/678508

2 Videos of the issue 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ytoOfgbTOt6GZWXLl1yIA6r5WD9uQwQo/view?usp=drivesdk

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1x-ygLE5szPH_4w7UYVjl_kCjHyuQqp7K/view?usp=drivesdk

Thanks 

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Best answer by Edgie70 9 March 2022, 20:15

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17 replies

melvimbe

Most of the cases that I’ve seen have been issues with the TV, but not impossible for it to be an issue with the Beam.  Those sort of issues would come up in the diagnostic though, so if Sonos told you they didn’t see anything, I expect it’ll be an issue with the TV.

 

Does the issue happen consistently, or does it depend on the content you’re watching?  Perhaps it’s fine for PC stereo, not has issues with dolby digital 5.1.

Danny
Edgie70
Userlevel 2
Badge +7

Most of the cases that I’ve seen have been issues with the TV, but not impossible for it to be an issue with the Beam.  Those sort of issues would come up in the diagnostic though, so if Sonos told you they didn’t see anything, I expect it’ll be an issue with the TV.

 

Does the issue happen consistently, or does it depend on the content you’re watching?  Perhaps it’s fine for PC stereo, not has issues with dolby digital 5.1.

Thanks for your reply , yes Sonos said they couldn't see anything in a diagnostic I spoke to them about , it happens every few days roughly .

The TV was on pcm at first , still did the issue on pcm until I changed it to hdmi input bitstream and output to Dolby digital , I mainly watch via sky , the odd hour long show on prime seems fine but it just may not happen at that time , it can literally just happen , them I scramble for my mobile to video it lol when it does it if I rewind sky it's not present 

I presume of it was a beam issue causing it then it would show in a diagnostic number ??? 

Thanks 

Edgie70
Userlevel 2
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Quick update , using optical and I've just had the issue again diagnostic number is 229412560 if anyone could check it please , thank you

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @Edgie70 

Thanks for your post!

If you haven’t already tried, I highly recommend unplugging your TV from power for a couple of minutes - this will restart the TV software in a way that Standby simply won’t do, and this can often help with this issue.

If that doesn’t help, I recommend connecting the Beam to the Sky box with the optical cable. If this immediately prevents the issue from happening then you’ve found the source of the problem - the TV’s handling of the audio stream. Unfortunately, in this state you will only get TV audio through the Beam if the source is Sky.

Finally, if you still get the same issue when the TV has been bypassed, I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team and inform them of your test results.

If you happen to have a second TV in the house, I recommend testing the Beam with it.

I hope this helps.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
bockersjv
Userlevel 7
Badge +21

I had the same problem with a Samsung TV.  Audio was coming in after the video, which is the opposite to the available corrections in the TV software.  It was a common complaint for the Samsung Model.

I solved it by running an optical splitter with remote and using the optical out from my Sky Q box and Blu-ray player to my Playbase.

Then I changed to a Panasonic TV and no longer needed the Optical splitter :) 

Edgie70
Userlevel 2
Badge +7

I had the same problem with a Samsung TV.  Audio was coming in after the video, which is the opposite to the available corrections in the TV software.  It was a common complaint for the Samsung Model.

I solved it by running an optical splitter with remote and using the optical out from my Sky Q box and Blu-ray player to my Playbase.

Then I changed to a Panasonic TV and no longer needed the Optical splitter :) 

Thanks for your reply unfortunately that doesn't sound like the same issue that I'm having 

Edgie70
Userlevel 2
Badge +7

Hi @Edgie70 

Thanks for your post!

If you haven’t already tried, I highly recommend unplugging your TV from power for a couple of minutes - this will restart the TV software in a way that Standby simply won’t do, and this can often help with this issue.

If that doesn’t help, I recommend connecting the Beam to the Sky box with the optical cable. If this immediately prevents the issue from happening then you’ve found the source of the problem - the TV’s handling of the audio stream. Unfortunately, in this state you will only get TV audio through the Beam if the source is Sky.

Finally, if you still get the same issue when the TV has been bypassed, I recommend you get in touch with our technical support team and inform them of your test results.

If you happen to have a second TV in the house, I recommend testing the Beam with it.

I hope this helps.

Thanks , I've reset the TV and restarted it many times , I currently have the optical from the sky box to the beam , I only get audio that way but I still have the hdmi from the sky box to the TV to get picture , TV speakers turned off . Actually had another weird issue last night , sound suddenly went off ( picture ok ) turned sky box off then on and sound came back on . Everything is just too complicated lol 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Understood.

Apart from last night (sounds like a different issue, nothing to worry about unless it becomes regular), is your current setup an improvement over having the Beam connected to the TV?

 

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Edgie70
Userlevel 2
Badge +7

Understood.

Apart from last night (sounds like a different issue, nothing to worry about unless it becomes regular), is your current setup an improvement over having the Beam connected to the TV?

 

Fingers crossed it's not done the audio issue yet and it's been connected to the sky optical since last Saturday night 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Fingers crossed it's not done the audio issue yet and it's been connected to the sky optical since last Saturday night 

Then I think the issue is with the TV’s handling of the audio feed. This can sometimes be caused by additional devices that are connected to the TV, though this is typically only an issue when the audio device is connected via HDMI. It would be worth testing with only the Beam and Sky box connected to the TV, if that wasn’t already the case.

If your Sky box is the only input source you use, it may just be easier to leave everything as it is now.

 

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Edgie70
Userlevel 2
Badge +7

Fingers crossed it's not done the audio issue yet and it's been connected to the sky optical since last Saturday night 

Then I think the issue is with the TV’s handling of the audio feed. This can sometimes be caused by additional devices that are connected to the TV, though this is typically only an issue when the audio device is connected via HDMI. It would be worth testing with only the Beam and Sky box connected to the TV, if that wasn’t already the case.

If your Sky box is the only input source you use, it may just be easier to leave everything as it is now.

 

Thanks Corry , only other device is a fire TV box box that's turned off at the wall switch , if it is the tv I'll get another TV because I don't want to keep having to use my £3 remote control for the beam lol 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @Edgie70 

Now this is only a guess, but HDMI can supply power - not enough to power the entire Fire TV box, but it might be enough to get a response from the circuits that respond to CEC. Try disconnecting the Fire TV box from the TV.

I wouldn’t give this a high probability of working, but it’s better than buying a new TV!

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Edgie70
Userlevel 2
Badge +7

Hi @Edgie70 

Now this is only a guess, but HDMI can supply power - not enough to power the entire Fire TV box, but it might be enough to get a response from the circuits that respond to CEC. Try disconnecting the Fire TV box from the TV.

I wouldn’t give this a high probability of working, but it’s better than buying a new TV!

Thanks Corry , I'll try that after I've finished testing the optical from the sky box , quick question though , would you say a TV with arc or eArc would be  better , especially if I'm connecting the beam to it ? Thanks 

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Hi @Edgie70 

would you say a TV with arc or eArc would be  better , especially if I'm connecting the beam to it ? Thanks 

A Beam (Gen 1) should connect to ARC, but will function on eARC with eARC turned off in the TV settings (it may also work with eARC turned on).

A Beam (Gen 2) should connect to eARC in order to receive MAT Atmos (uncompressed), but will also function on ARC with compressed Atmos (DD+ (Atmos)).

Basically, I wouldn’t make the connection type the main concern when choosing a new TV, except for future compatibility. Look to picture quality and cost.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Edgie70
Userlevel 2
Badge +7

Hi @Edgie70 

would you say a TV with arc or eArc would be  better , especially if I'm connecting the beam to it ? Thanks 

A Beam (Gen 1) should connect to ARC, but will function on eARC with eARC turned off in the TV settings (it may also work with eARC turned on).

A Beam (Gen 2) should connect to eARC in order to receive MAT Atmos (uncompressed), but will also function on ARC with compressed Atmos (DD+ (Atmos)).

Basically, I wouldn’t make the connection type the main concern when choosing a new TV, except for future compatibility. Look to picture quality and cost.

Thanks , I have a beam gen 2 , tbh I've pulled the trigger on a new TV , the beam 2 has been fine directly connected to the sky + box for over a week now and the issue I was having hasn't shown up so hopefully connecting the beam 2 back on the eArc connection on this new TV will be ok , even though I only have sky+ hd .

Bought this TV 

https://ao.com/product/43pus8536-philips-tv-silver-86581-108.aspx

Corry P
Userlevel 7
Badge +18

Bought this TV 

https://ao.com/product/43pus8536-philips-tv-silver-86581-108.aspx

Nice.

"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen." - Albert Einstein
Edgie70
Userlevel 2
Badge +7

Quick update on this issue , in the end I bought a new hisense A7G TV , it's been ok now for 2 weeks so I would say the issue was the Samsung TV .

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