Samsung The Frame (UE65LS003 2018) + Sonos Beam

Hey @Blanco21 

Thank you for reaching out to the Sonos Community.

I would like for you to hook the Beam to the Frame and send us a diagnostic and reply back with the confirmation number. We want to capture the issue in the diagnostic to see what is going on.

The same for me with the frame, the problem is only when the surround are activated. It is e new problem that I never had before with my samsung The Frame.

I have experienced a very similar problem with my Samsung “The Frame” and my Sonos Beam with two Sonos One’s for surrounds. The problem only happens when streaming music, never when watching the TV. Also, the Beam plays streaming music uninterrupted if I turn off the surrounds via the Sonos app. Of course, if I unplug the Samsung HDMI input, the streaming music with the surrounds is 100% rock solid.

My Samsung “The Frame” is a model UN55LS003. I believe I bought it in 2018.

This is a super frustrating problem because all the forum discussions about intermittent surrounds seems to focus on probable RF interference. I went to great lengths to rule that out, and it was only by accident that I discovered the HDMI connection seems ot be the real culprit!

I hope that Sonos and Samsung can work this out!

@David C , this confirmation number is for almost exactly the same symptoms the OP mentioned.

Confirmation number: 926132456

Sounds like Samsung messed up their HDMI-CEC code on the Frame. Switching to optical is the solution until Samsung fix their firmware.

@controlav , you may be right - it may be Samsung’s fault. But it’s always easy to blame the other guy in these interaction points, and honestly I cannot see the evidence that a Sonos-side problem has been logically ruled out.

I have ordered a little hdmi adapter from Amazon that is supposed to block pin 13, the CEC signal pin. We’ll see if that resolves the issue. The songle is not an optimal solution because it adversely affects system volume control. The optical signal doesn’t seem to allow you to change the volume up and down.

Anyway, I don’t fully believe the problem lies solely on the Samsung side of the interaction. For one thing, there should be no signal coming to the Beam from the hdmi link when the Samsung Frame is in “art mode”. Additionally, there is no problem if the surrounds are turned off, even though the same hdmi is connected, leading me to wonder how the hdmi CEC affects the surrounds but not the Beam, itself? Finally, there is no evidence that we’re seeing short bursts of input switching as some errant CEC signal causes the Beam to think the TV is turning on? All we can actually observe is short-term signal dropouts of the streaming music source, most probably related to the surrounds.

IMO, Sonos should investigate further. This is not a case to punt to Samsung support.

Given the number of people who have reported that the issue is resolved when they strip the audio out before it reaches the TV, I, for one, am confident in pointing the finger directly at Samsung. If it was a Sonos issue, we would see similar reports across all manufacturers.

@Airgetlam, I will admit that I am ignorant about the number of people who have reported that the issue is resolved when they strip the audio out before it reaches the TV? Please clarify?

The problem I have personally observed occurs only when the Beam is playing streaming audio that specifically should not involve the TV. AFAIK services like TuneIn, Google Play Music, Pandora would never go to the TV, but rather they would play directly on the Beam. For some reason, however, these services play intermittently on the Beam if the TV HDMI cable is merely plugged in and if the Beam has surrounds connected. The TV is not the audio source, and theoretically should not be affecting how the Beam communicates with the surrounds.

I believe this is the same problem that several others have described about the way the Samsung Frame and Sonos Beam are interacting. Also, I am not in any way defending or apologizing for Samsung, whose support I believe is pathetic and irresponsible compared to the excellent effort Sonos makes. 

Nonetheless, as a scientist and a disciplined debugger, I do not yet see sufficient evidence that the Sonos device isn’t a material factor in the problem. I’m hard pressed to understand how the (probably transient and undefined) state of the inactive HDMI connection between the Beam and the TV should affect whether the Beam and surrounds operate correctly on an unrelated streaming music source.

Not arguing, just observing that the Beam’s behavior is weird in this case. I love my many Sonos systems and really just want to help get this aggravating “feature” ironed out, if possible.

Best,
Rick

There are dozens of threads. Read through this forum for the last two or three years, and you’ll see a multiplicity if folks who have had this complaint, gone with the external HDMI switch that pulls off audio, and have reported success. It would be nice if they were all in a single thread that is easy to point to, but people being people, many assume that there issue doesn’t match anyone else’s, so they open new threads. 

However, I’m merely an observer, and not a scientist, electronics engineer or the like. It’s entirely possible that the Samsung is interacting in an odd way with the Beam. I’d Argus that if Sonos had not properly implemented the HDMI CEC specs, we would see similar issues across all TVs. Since we don’t, I will continue in my belief that this is a Samsung issue, until presented with a preponderance of evidence to the contrary. I could be wrong, certainly. But a multiplicity of posts from various users make me think my assumption, which is only that, is correct. I certainly don’t own a Samsung, nor do I have the technical skills in order to confirm this scientifically. 

But I’m all for being proven wrong, as learning When I am holding a poor assumption is always a goal. I prefer to understand what is truth, and what can be proven. In this case, I’m relying completely on anecdotal evidence. But it does strike me as unusual that this issue is only with Samsung devices. 

You are unquestionably more aware than I am of the overall trends in these forums, @Airgetlam , and I appreciate that you put a lot of effort into trying to help people and make this a good support community. Thank you, sincerely!

But I think you’re talking about a different problem. I just don’t see how an external HDMI switch should/would affect streaming music from a source that isn’t even coming over the HDMI connection? This issue occurs only with music sources that come directly from the lan, not the HDMI connection.

I did spend a lot of time here searching for a solution, but the most relevant thing I found was others who appear to have the same problem. Using the songle is a non-optimal workaround, but better than nothing. Still, I’d like to be able to have my TV connected normally and also enjoy uninterrupted music from non-HDMI music sources. My guess is that the “Art Mode” of this particular Samsung TV is confusing the Beam. It may be doing something that is technically allowed under the HDMI spec but still is atypical of most TVs. It’s a little like a limbo state, not on but not really off, either.

Best,
Rick