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Hi folks,

Apologies I advance if this has been asked before!

I’m looking at upgrading my TV and adding a Sonos Arc to my setup. I’m keen to get Dolby Atmos up and running with the sub and two Ones in the rear.

The piece I’m a little confused about is the number of eArc ports I will need on the TV.

I understand that I’ll need a TV that supports eArc and that I’ll have to connect the Arc to the TV via an eArc enabled HDMI port. That piece is clear.

But if I want to play Atmos content from my Apple TV 4K, do I also have to connect the Apple TV to the TV via a port that supports eArc?

I ask this as many TVs I’m looking at only have one eArc enabled HDMI port. It’s not until you get into high end TVs you see multiple eArc HDMI ports!

Thanks in advance,

Chris 

One earc is all that is needed for the arc 

Rest plug in to the other hdmi

One earc is all that is needed 

That’s great news!

For my understanding then, in my example about, how does the Dolby Atmos content get from AppleTV to the TV if the port it’s connected on doesn’t support eArc?

 

Apple tv uses the other hdmi and pass through to the arc

Only one eARC port is needed.  Your AppleTV and other sources will send video and audio through normal HDMI to your TV.  The TV then sends audio via the eARC port to your Sonos Arc.

Because TVs are not always consistently processing the audio correctly, or the TV doesn’t even have an eARC port, many people add an HDFury Arcana to their setup.

 

https://hdfury.com/product/4k-arcana-18gbps/

 

The Getting Started tab shows several options for connecting everything together.

All Other HDMI ports in a TV set will also feed the ARC/eARC port, so you connect your Sonos device to that one (most TVs have only one), and the rest of your devices to other HDMI ports. The TV’s electronics do the rest. 

Thanks for all your help! 👍🏻

One earc is all that is needed 

That’s great news!

For my understanding then, in my example about, how does the Dolby Atmos content get from AppleTV to the TV if the port it’s connected on doesn’t support eArc?

 

It isn't the case that eARC ports can handle Atmos but HDMI ports cannot. eARC can send audio out as well as receive it. It is about direction, not format compatibility. 

One earc is all that is needed 

That’s great news!

For my understanding then, in my example about, how does the Dolby Atmos content get from AppleTV to the TV if the port it’s connected on doesn’t support eArc?

 

It isn't the case that eARC ports can handle Atmos but HDMI ports cannot. eARC can send audio out as well as receive it. It is about direction, not format compatibility. 

Ok, but my current (non-sonos) setup has my tv connected to my sound bar via hdmi using ARC. Does that mean then (in layman’s terms) that the ARC standard is what lets audio be sent out from the TV and eARC enhances that to let more complex audio (such as Atmos) be sent?

Your source devices don’t send an ARC signal. 

Technically, all HDMI ports accept an HDMI signal. It’s the responsibility of a system in the TV to strip the normal audio signal from the HDMI input, and send it back out via a port labeled either ARC or eARC. 

eARC allows greater bandwidth than ARC, but both use an HDMI cable. Unfortunately, there are different kinds of HDMI cables, often not labeled, or poorly labeled. The one shipped by Sonos is appropriate for the bandwidth necessary by eARC. 

Your source devices don’t send an ARC signal. 

Technically, all HDMI ports accept an HDMI signal. It’s the responsibility of a system in the TV to strip the normal audio signal from the HDMI input, and send it back out via a port labeled either ARC or eARC. 

eARC allows greater bandwidth than ARC, but both use an HDMI cable. Unfortunately, there are different kinds of HDMI cables, often not labeled, or poorly labeled. The one shipped by Sonos is appropriate for the bandwidth necessary by eARC. 

 

To add to what Bruce is saying, ARC stands for Audio RETURN channel. Audio sent out from sources don’t use ARC as they are not returning audio, they send out the audio as normal along with video.   It’s only TVs, and devices like Arcana designed to mimic a TV, that will send out audio via ARC and eARC channels.

 

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