LG C9 + Arc + UB820 / Multichannel PCM for DTS Blu-Ray discs

Yes, for TVs equipped with eARC, if you are getting the audio you desire from your devices, they can be connected directly to the TV. And any other device that isn’t getting the audio you desire, like the UB820, connect through the Arcana.

I dont and won’t be spending another £175 on the Arcana

Im glad it works for you guys, but i refuse to be shelling out any more. This is one of the supposed “best” AV combinations so i am expecting either Panasonic or LG to work it out. “2020 TV of the year” with one of the best UHD players on the market, in addition to the latest and greatest offering from Sonos - ridiculous that we are having to spend so much time faffing about discussing the matter.

I have an HDMI switch between my CX and Panasonic currently and can’t get LPCM for DTS tracks. 

@Laird M Malamed I used the same setup as you and am happy to report that it solves the issue. This setup is ideal because I can keep my PS5 plugged directly into the CX to take advantage of HDMI 2.1 capabilities.

In the Arcana settings, I agree that the Audio setting needs to be set to Display+eARC. When it’s set to eARC only, there is no sound obviously because the eARC port isn’t being used and when it’s set to Display, there is a lip sync issue.

Tested with Harry Potter DTS and am seeing 7.1 LPCM. I don't understand why it doesn't show 5.1 but oh well.

One question: is there a way to get the Arcana to stop displaying its settings at the bottom of the TV screen?

 @joeytvmusic97 - So glad both for confirmation and that your set up is working now! That’s also great to confirm this works for C9 and CX models of the LG. 

My thinking on the 7.1 vs. 5.1 PCM output is that Panasonics DTS to PCM decoder just does that mode. I suspect that the extra channels are silent, but that the wrapper is set up for 7.1 and that’s what displays. Given the Arc is only 5.1, if there are 7.1 channels, the Sonos is folding them into the surrounds. In any case, to my ears, positioning sounds proper which is what really matters.

Yes. If you scroll through the Arcana menus, there is an OSD section. Set that to Off (defaults is on). That should remove the overlay. You can also adjust the color and timing if you decide to keep it. See page 16 of the Arcana manual. Note that this goes back to On if you upgrade the firmware and has to be reset. (At this point, I doubt I will update the firmware for fear of breaking this set up.)

@iBoyley - to your points. Agreed on the quote of quotes. I tried to edit mine down to leave some context for feature readers, but it does a git but nuts. I wish the system would use colors to show the old posts vs. new ones. Anyway, good note, and hopefully this post handles the situation well! I just could not figure out how to quote both you and joeytvmusic97. 

Anyway, more importantly, I wonder the same thing - is there a switch or other HDMI device (maybe an amplifier?) that could help with the connectivity issue between the 820 and the LG? Using a device like the Arcana is overkill in this specific situation (although I am not unhappy about it given it works). But you are 100% accurate. The best displays (which the LG series has been for the past few years) and basically the top of the line available 4k Blu-Ray player should work flawlessly together with a leader in audio - Sonos. It’s not like there are 100 players to figure out! And LG is not even competing at the level of the Panasonic 820! Their UBK90 is akin to the lower end Panasonics. Perhaps this is really a commentary on physical media and the lack of priority this has for the AV industry.

Unfortunately this solution has created a new issue for me.

Now that I have the Panasonic connected to the HDMI IN port of the Arcana and the Arcana connected to the CX (HDMI 4) via its HDMI OUT port, I am having a very frustrating issue with CEC.

Normally, my CX will auto switch between my Apple TV (HDMI 1), PS5 (HDMI 3), and Panasonic (HDMI 4) without any issues. However, after connecting the Panasonic to the Arcana and the Arcana to the CX, I first had an issue where the CX would not auto switch to the PS5. Never had this issue before. At this point, it would still auto switch between the Apple TV and Panasonic.

After a few switches between the Apple TV and the Panasonic, however, it would not even auto switch between those two devices. I think it has something to do with the TV recognizing that the Arcana is connected to it and that’s creating an issue for some reason. Normally, I am able to rename the HDMI ports but with this setup, it shows the HDMI 4 icon as a switcher and named it “UNKNOWN” without the ability to rename it (it does not show up in the list when you go to rename HDMI inputs).

I spent some time testing different CEC settings on the TV and devices but the issue actually got worse. At one point, the CX was auto switching back to the Panasonic even when I would manually select the Apple TV.

I tried unplugging all of the HDMI cables and replugging them in 1 by 1. This didn’t help. Finally I did a hard reset of the CX and started plugging HDMI inputs back in. Started with Sonos Arc in HDMI 2, then Apple TV in HDMI 1, and PS5 in HDMI 3. I tested the auto switching at this point and everything was working flawlessly like it normally does.

Then I plugged the Arcana/Panasonic back into HDMI 4 and was happy to see that the auto switching was working as expected for all 3 devices. But then I turned the TV off and back on and the same issue that I was having before started again. First no auto switching to the PS5, then no auto switching at all.

I did a hard reset once again and followed the same steps as above. This time, however, I plugged the Panasonic directly into HDMI 4 without using the Arcana. Now I am able to auto switch between all 3 devices without any issues and this continued to function correctly even when I turned the TV off and back on.

Sigh. I hate that in order to solve the DTS issue, it cost $230 and created another new issue with CEC that I never had before. I even told myself that I could live without the auto switching (even though I am very used to it and appreciate that feature) but then I realized that I can’t live with the CEC auto switching to the Panasonic even when I manually select another device.

Looks like it’s back to the drawing board for me. I wish LG would just fix this issue.

Oh no! Bummer. I cannot say I have played around enough to test it so I could have the same issue.

I did see this too. The Panasonic auto set the name to “DVD Player” and has a switcher icon. I cannot rename it. I did not think much about that, but I see it too.

I was looking at the HDFury site again and wondering if the DR HD 4K ($99) would do the same fix as the Arcana, but I think it pretty much strips out HDCP so I am guessing the Panasonic would choke on that.

Does anyone know how to submit bugs to Panasonic, Sonos and LG? We probably should all be doing this.

I think for now, my solution is to use my PS5 for DTS discs. I am able to get 5.1/7.1 surround for DTS discs in the PS5 without any issues. PS5 doesn't support Dolby Vision but I realized that none of my DTS discs are Dolby Vision so this shouldn't be an issue, especially since most new Dolby Vision releases have an Atmos track.

This way, I can return the $200 Arcana and am able to enjoy the CX’s auto-switching capabilities. My only gripe is that I have to switch from Game mode to Cinema mode on the PS5 when I play a disc but oh well. Maybe once the PS5 is updated to support Instant Game Response, then this minor inconvenience will be taken care of.

I’m hopeful that LG will eventually fix the LPCM handshake issue with the Panasonic but I won’t count on it and I can’t spend any more time worrying about this. Time to enjoy my TV!

I chatted with HDFury’s team on their Discord server. Basically, I am using the Arcana, as I thought, just like a DR HDMI 4K - basically the way I have set it up is only fixing the EDID problem causing the handshake issue. According to the person who responded, my set up is fine to use it this way. 

Obviously, $100 more expensive is not ideal (Arcana vs. DR HDMI 4K), but again, at least it all works until we get a true fix from LG (or Panasonic if they can fix it on their end). 

That is interesting and led me to the following article. Pretty much confirms it to be a HDMI/CEC “EDID?” issue rather than something wrong with the Panasonic, or an incorrect setting on the CX.