Enabling CEC on your TV for Beam

  • 20 July 2018
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Sonos Beam, the smart, compact soundbar for your TV is now available. We've collected some of the best resources for Beam in the thread here so that it'll help you find the answers you might be looking for. You can also find good information about Sonos home theater on our Home Theater Megathread. Learn more about Beam on our announcement post here and on the shop at Sonos.com.

This thread will help clear up most issues you might see with CEC and HDMI, which Beam uses to send commands to your TV such as “Turn on the TV” and “Turn off the TV.” Beam also follows commands such as “Turn it up” and “Mute,” applying them to the TV volume. See our Beam setup and basics page here or our article on setting up the Beam for more information.

To use these commands, Beam must be connected to your TV’s HDMI-ARC input, and your TV needs to have HDMI-CEC enabled. HDMI-CEC is sometimes referred to as:
  • Samsung: Anynet+
  • LG: SimpLink
  • Sony: Bravia Link
  • Phillips: EasyLink
  • Panasonic: Viera Link
  • Insignia: INlink
  • Hitachi: HDMI-CEC
  • Toshiba: REGZA-LINK or CEC Control
Voice control for your TV will not work if Beam is connected via the optical adapter.

Many TVs will have these commands turned off by default and you’ll need to enable CEC control to use it with Beam. You may find some commands working while others fail. In some cases, Beam may not be able to discover your TV, to begin with. If you’re having trouble setting up the Beam or getting any of the voice commands to work, we have some steps to start with.

Check that your Beam is connected to the HDMI-ARC port of TV. Sometimes it’s just a problem with the cable or its connection, so make sure that’s plugged in on both sides and connected to the HDMI-ARC port. Also, make sure that your TV does have HDMI-ARC (you need this or you won’t hear any audio from the TV on Beam) and that the cable you’re using for Beam supports CEC.

Try using a different HDMI-ARC CEC enabled cable. Sometimes it really is just a bad cable.

Confirm that the CEC settings are correct per the TV manual. Not all TVs call it the same thing. See the list above. We’ve collected the basic settings for most TVs that we’ve seen, but they will vary between models sometimes, even within the same manufacturer:

Hisense:

Go to the Sound menu. > Select Advanced Audio Settings. > In the TV Speaker & ARC setting, turn on ARC First.

Insignia:

For Insignia TVs, you'll want to make sure under Settings > INlink that you have INlink Control Turned on and that Audio Receiver is selected.

LG

Turn on Settings > Sound > Sound Out to External Speaker: (Optical/HDMI Arc)
Also, for some TVs you may need to go to the Smart/Home menu > Select 'my apps' > SIMPLINK icon > Turn on.

Philips

Open your Philips TV's Installation menu > Select Preferences > Turn on Master EasyLink > Turn on HDMI-ARC.

Samsung:

Open your Samsung TV’s System > Turn on Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) Please note that this option may be also in Expert Settings. If you can't turn off the TV using the CEC commands, make sure you have Auto Turn Off enabled in the Anynet+ settings too.

Sharp

Open your Sharp TV's System menu→ Select HDMI Function. → Turn on CEC & MHL Control.

Sony

In the Sony TV's Home menu, go to Sound Settings > Switch Speakers to Audio System
NOTE: The setting above also may be in the Quick Menu or Options Menu, depending on the model of Sony TV.

TCL

System Settings Menu > Select Control Other Devices (CEC). > Turn on HDMI ARC. > Turn on System Audio Control.
Alternatively, go to System Settings Menu > Select Control Other Devices (CEC) > Turn on System Audio Control.

Toshiba

Enable ARC (For older TVs): Open your Toshiba TV's Preferences menu > Select REGZA-LINK Setup. > Turn on REGZA-LINK. > Turn on Amplifier Control.
Alternatively, open your Toshiba TV's Preferences menu > Select REGZA-LINK Setup. > Turn on Amplifier Control.

Enable CEC (For newer TVs): Open your Toshiba TV's Settings menu > Select Options > Select HDMI CEC Control Setup. > Turn on HDMI CEC Control.
Alternatively, open your Toshiba TV's Settings menu → Select Options → Select HDMI CEC Control Setup → Turn on Amplifier Control.

Vizio

Open your Vizio TV's System menu > turn on CEC Function > turn on System Audio Control (if available). This could be under the TV's System menu > Turn on System Audio Control.


Disconnect the Beam from HDMI. Then turn off the TV (make sure it’s fully off and not asleep), then reconnect the Beam to the HDMI-ARC port.

Disconnect all of the other devices from the HDMI except for the Beam and then set up the Beam. If you have other CEC-enabled HDMI devices, you may want to turn CEC off on them if you don’t use those functions. This could also be done by using an HDMI cable that doesn’t support CEC on other devices.

Sometimes other devices will try to take over CEC from the Beam, or the TV will stop listening for some reason. You may need to double check settings if it used to work and stops. The last step, disconnecting all of the other devices, is a good way to check this.

Contact the manufacturer. If everything looks right, but CEC commands seem to be sending and the TV isn’t responding, reach out to the manufacturer of the TV, there may be software updates or a known issue with the TV that is preventing CEC from working correctly.

If you’re still having trouble, feel free to give us a call or join a thread here on the community and we’ll help take a look at your setup.

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