Compatibility issue between Sonos and Panasonic TV

  • 6 January 2022
  • 9 replies
  • 2419 views
R

Hello all, 

 

I got a brand new home theater set up including 1* Beam (Gen 2) with 2*One SL for surround which I’m using with a Smart LCD TV PANASONIC (TX-55A650E) plugged in through HDMI ARC. 

 

Overall the sound is pretty good, but I finally noticed that all the sounds emitted by an external source such as Playstation, Internet TV Box (which are set up either in Passthrough mode or Dolby) are actually giving standard Stereo PCM sound. 

 

The only way I found to get a Dolby or DTS signal is using the TV apps or watching movies through the USB port. Once I’m using an external source, it seems there is no way to get a dolby sounds… 

 

 Has anyone ever had this problem and if so, how did they solve it ? 

 

Thanks for your help. Julien

9 replies

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Short answer…Connect the Beam2 to HDMI eARC. Let us know if more trouble shooting is required.

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
J

Hi.  This TV seems to be from about 2015?  Panasonic have been very slow to allow multichannel sound to pass through from external HDMI inputs, and your TV certainly won’t do this.  This isn’t an incompatibility, it’s a limitation of the TV.

Your only solution really is to bypass the TV for audio.  There are two options:

  1. Get an HDMI or optical switch with an optical audio output, and connect that output to the Beam using the supplied converter.  This would limit you to DD5.1 
  2. Get an HDMI switch and an extractor capable of outputting eARC.  I use the HDFury Arcana.  This would effectively give you a TV with on eARC output, which would allow you to get DD+ on streaming and TrueHD from Blu-Rays.  This opens up the possibility of Dolby Atmos.

I hope that helps.

J

Short answer…Connect the Beam2 to HDMI eARC. Let us know if more trouble shooting is required.

This won’t work if the input is via external HDMI, which is what the OP is concerned about.  I doubt a Panasonic from 2015 has eARC either; was eARC even around then?

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Short answer…Connect the Beam2 to HDMI eARC. Let us know if more trouble shooting is required.

This won’t work if the input is via external HDMI, which is what the OP is concerned about.  I doubt a Panasonic from 2015 has eARC either; was eARC even around then?

I didn’t do any research on the TV which is why I posted …”short answer”. So thanks for clarification on the TV.

However, I noticed other posts about external devices connected to TV’s with HDMI eARC and pass-through having issues with games consoles or other externals. Ironically, I have no such issues with my Panasonic 4K Ultra HD player nor AppleTV 4K box all connected via HDMI to my LG (with pass-through enabled) connected to my Arc. So I must assume it’s something do with those other devices.

Or maybe LG manufactures a superior TV. LMAO 😂

Cheers!

 

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
J

This is very straightforward.  Panasonic TVs - even quite recent ones - don’t pass surround sound formats from any device connected to an HDMI input out over optical or HDMI-ARC.  The format doesn’t survive processing by the TV so you get stereo output.

Your answer was indeed short, but also not relevant.

AjTrek1
Userlevel 7

Your answer was indeed short, but also not relevant.

I explained why my short answer and also thanked you for researching the OP’s TV. However your response IMO about “relevancy” was rude. My apologies if I mis- interpreted the tone/context of your response 

Together Everyone Achieves More = T.E.A.M.
R

Thanks for your contribution guys, appreciated. 

 

This TV is indeed not equipped with an eArc port.. But it’s so frustrating to know that a TV set from 6 years ago, is finally not able to carry a sound format like 5.1 which exist for more than 20 years now… 

 

Concerning the solution of passing through a HDMI or Optical switch, do you know if it will let me the possibility to control the Beam with my TV remote (as it is now with the soundbar directly connected to the ARC TV port) ? 

 

Thanks for your help.

J

Concerning the solution of passing through a HDMI or Optical switch, do you know if it will let me the possibility to control the Beam with my TV remote (as it is now with the soundbar directly connected to the ARC TV port) ? 

This should not affect controlling the volume using the TV remote.  However, any control that relies on HDMI-CEC will be lost.  Even if you use a switch with HDMI inputs you will need optical out and the converter, as the Beam requires an HDMI-ARC or eARC signal, not an HDMI one.

I think Arcana preserves at least some CEC control but CEC can be a temperamental beast.

P

Hi did you manage to resolve this? I've got a beam2 plugged into my Panasonic arc port, and the most I can get out is Stereo PCM.

SPDIF is set to auto.

I've been on to Panasonic and they can't seem to find a way for me to get DD, despite the TV saying it has the capability.

 

I normally use Google TV, which again has DD capability, however when I try to turn on DD on Google TV it says device (presumably the TV) is not supported.

Id really appreciate any workaround for this.

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