Question

Sonos Arc (Dolby Atmos) with 4K Projector vs. TV


I have been waiting to upgrade my old Gen 1 Play:5s, and when the new products were launched yesterday I used my upgrade 30% off discount to preorder a pair of Sonos Fives and the Arc Surround Set.  Our home has a theater room that I have been waiting to build out, and now the time has come.

 

Originally I had thought about installing a 4k projector since we have enough room for it, however I’m unsure how the eARC connections and Dolby Atmos would work in this type of a setup.  It seems like I would have to buy some type of receiver to handle all of my inputs and ideally output eARC to Sonos and a video signal to the projector—not sure if this type of a setup exists.

 

It seem like the easier route would be to go with a TV with eARC support like the LG C9 where everything can connect to the TV and the Dolby Atmos audio goes to Sonos.

 

Does anyone have recommendations on the best setup to take advantage of Dolby Atmos with Sonos Arc?


This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

34 replies

Userlevel 1
Badge

I’m in same boat with a projector. Is there a AV receiver or HDMI splitter that would work to pass the ARC audio in a setup with ATV 4K?

HDMI switches don’t currently create either ARC or eARC signals. They do split off an optical signal from an HDMI input. But that is maxed out at Dolby Digital (5.1) due to bandwidth on optical. 

There is a device being worked on to create eARC signals, being discussed here, but it isn’t to market yet. 

Any HDMI switch with an optical output must be fed a Dolby Digital signal to work with Sonos. They can’t transcode a DTS, Dolby Digital Plus, or Atmos signal. 

Glad i found this thread. I was also hoping to go for atmos in my setup with projector and Arc but doesn’t look possible yet. Thanks for info.

We've had some discussion in the Arc announcement thread about using it with a projector. The problem is connecting it.

As @Airgetlam pointed out, there are precious few projectors that do ARC. None that I know of do eARC.

There are a few main reasons.

1) people who own projectors tend to use AVRs with dedicated HDMI In/Out, since it is more a space for enthusiasts who would frown at an Atmos soundbar. 

2) In addition, projectors do not have internal tuners or apps that output audio, so another reason they don't need ARC.

3) More generally projectors were never designed to be HDMI hubs like TVs are. They were never intended to handle a lot of different inputs, or route or transcode audio.

4) projectors are currently limited to 4K. There is just no need for the bandwidth of HDMI 2.1 that also brings eARC.

So for now, your best bet is to go with a TV that neatly passes through everything on ARC or eARC.

Userlevel 1
Badge

I have projector, Sonos base and a HDMI spitter which split the video to projector and the audio to playbase via coaxial cable. Is there any such HDMI splitter available to pass through DD+ or Atmos via HDMI arc ?

newbie here but been looking to hook up 4k ultra short throw projector with the new Sonos ARC to achieve atmos.  Projectors like the Vava 4k (https://www.vava.com/products/4k-ultra-short-throw-laser-projector-1) and Optoma P1 (https://www.optoma.co.uk/product-details/uhz65ust) have eARC HDMI connections. 

Would these not allow for Atmos pass through say from an Apple TV 4k box > into the projector > and then into the Sonos ARC?  I’ve seen the Vava website says it doesn’t support ATMOS but it’s not clear if that refers to the native built-in HK soundbar vs passthrough via eARC…

 

I don’t know of any projectors that do any version of ARC, either HDMI-ARC, or eARC. 

So, I concur with your second thought, although I’m not familiar enough with that specific TV set to know its capabilities. 

Understand where you’re coming from. My Vizio won’t pass Dolby Digital Plus either, but even with regular old Dolby Digital, I’ve found the Arc to be an upgrade from the PLAYBAR. I’m waiting on the new device too, but enjoying the Arc in the meantime. 

That LG C9 supports Atmos via TrueHD via eArc.  

https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/lg/c9-oled

That’s all you would need for Atmos all the way up to Atmos via TrueHD sources.  Note: Atmos via TrueHD is is only available via 4k Blue-Ray.  Streaming sources, if they have Atmos, send it via DD+.

Hold off Just for now.

Its the 17th of June 2020 and I purchased an arc last week and it is so far no go.

The Arc may not work with a projector

My config is this

A Yamaha receiver. A Sonos Arc. A Epson HD projector

Before last week I had a Yamaha receiver with surround sonud passive speakers powered by the Yamaha, and the Epson projector. all has worked fine for years

The problem

We cannot get any signal from the receiver to be recognised by the Arc.

First try

The Yamaha has a single HDMI ARC output, so I used a 18GBPS splitter to send 1 signal to the projector and one to the arc. The projector works on either of the splitter outputs, but the arc does not recognise any signal from any output. during the sonos arc setup its says “no signal found”

 

Second try

The dealer I purchased the sonos arc from gave me a new $6000 Dual HDMI Output receiver to try. I took it home and no luck. Again the projector works in either HDMI output, but the sonos arc says “no signal during the setup. The receiver has eArc outputs

 

What does work?

I can successfully complete the wireless setup and get music through the sonos arc. but thats it. In the last week I have gone through the factory reset process about 20 times but no luck

 

What next?

I have returned the sonos arc to the dealer and they are working on it. A senior onsite engineer was there and said that it probably wont work, as the TV pass thru senario is different than the splitter or 2 hdmi output senario and new HDMI protocols are really tricky

I’ll keep you posted

My guess is the Sonos Arc will get a firmware update later down the track, but don’t expect the projector and Sonos Arc to work right now

 

@jgatie Does that mean that streaming devices, like a newer Apple TV, connected to the LG C9 would not be Atmos compatible with the Sonos Arc?

 

Not sure.  The latest Apple TV 4K does have Atmos support.  The Arc will decode Atmos with TrueHD, DD+, and Dolby MAT.  There seems to be some confusion as to whether Apple TV 4K does these codecs or converts to multi-channel PCM.  I’d check with Apple.  

Last night I contacted HDfury about the vertex2 to see if it would allow me to send an AppleTV signal to an Epson 5050ub projector while At the same time sending Dolby Atmos from the Apple TV to the Sonos arc…

their tech support said:  

No there is no solution in the world for Sonos currently, we will have one by the end of the year.

 

Nope. Passthrough just means it can forward audio on the normal audio channel. ARC isn't even mentioned, and that is what is needed.

We need a switch that can do what a TV does - take the incoming audio channel on one HDMI-IN, and return it over ARC on another HDMI-IN, to which the Arc is connected. So far, there is no such thing.

Userlevel 1
Badge

In the end I’ve gambled somewhat on the HDfury Vertex2 which allows splitting from one source to two outputs, each with separate EDIDs negotiated on the link, and with explicit support for eARC and de-embedding Atmos.

I’ve got a JVC DLA-NX and the following pushed me over the edge into committing to the gamble:

used by JVC projector owners to apply their own gamma curves for HDR content and allow their projector's dynamic iris to work with HDR content

https://www.avforums.com/reviews/hdfury-vertex-review.15094

 

I’ll try and track down the conversation mentioned by @Sjoop1985 and see if this was a proposed approach.

Badge

 

I have both a LG OLED TV and the LG HU80ka Projector and have been doing tests over the weekend.

The TV is amazing. Everything worked on Atmos, the sound is amazing and you are able to watch it with light during the day.

The Projector is were I enjoy the movies the most. 120”, and very good quiality if there is no light in the room. Regarding Atmos, from the FireStick I get Atmos on DIsney Plus, Tidal and Prime. Not on Netflix or AppleTV. There are 2 possible workarounds for Netfix. Buying the Cube form Amazon or installing Kodi and the add-on on the Fire Stick. The AppleTv does not detect immersive sound so all I can get from it is 5.1

Hope this helps.

Userlevel 2

HD Fury is now taking preorders for a product that will give eArc abilities to projector setups!

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

I have a new optoma 4k projector and I was unable to make it work with Sonos Arc.

 

I have a Sony blu-ray player (this is my source system), in the back of the player I have two HDMI outputs (one audio/video, and one audio only), both can be used simultaneously.

 

The HDMI audio/video goes to my projector (works fine).

 

The HDMI audio goes to ARC. For some reason it doesn't recognize this as an audio source, and doesn't play any audio. 
 

To make sure this setup works, I tried connecting the HDMI audio cable to my TV as an input (it doesn't have video, just audio), but it works.


The issue is with the Sonos ARC... it won't let me setup the Sonos ARC (using the app) because it expects an audio return channel signal from TV (which I don't have).

So, what I did was to set the Sonos ARC with my tv directly using audio return channel and it works.

Then, I unplugged the TV and go back to my original setup (notice this time the Sonos Arc is succesfuly setup in the app), however it won't play audio. Now, if I use the optical cable to hdmi adaptor from blu ray player to the sonos arc it works, but i don't want to use optical.

Why sonos arc doesn't support HDMI audio only? Why does it has to come through a eARC source only?

Hi all,

Thought I’d share how I’m getting on with my new Arc and trying to get it working with a projector (optima uhd40).  I’ve had some success albeit a little messy.

Sony Bly-ray player (ubx700) HDMI AV out to projector for visuals. Secondary HDMI Audio our to HDMI input on Sony TV (KD 55S).

HDMI ARC out from telly to Sonos Arc.

Seems to work and sync is fine.

Main issue is telly has to be on and it annoyingly has graphics on it saying video is output on one channel and video on another.  Screensaver doesn’t help as it cuts audio.

Also, no atmos but will save that faff for another time / telly upgrade / HD Fury Arcana.

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

Is it possible to pass the video content through a projector and the audio through a tv connected to Sonos arc. I thought of using a hdmi matrix to use projector and tv as a video and an audio output respectively and 4K laptop as an input.

Certainly worth a try. There’s no reason I can think of that the signal from the TV would be any different whether or not you had a projector attached. It’s not part of the equation, from the Sonos side of things. 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-1155w-7-2-ch-with-dolby-atmos-4k-ultra-hd-hdr-compatible-a-v-home-theater-receiver-black/5761206.p?skuId=5761206
 

Would this receiver potentially work? I’m guessing no, but trying to find a creative way to make my current home theater setup work with an Arc (it really sucks how few options there are for people with projectors who want Sonos systems). 

Badge

Glad I found this thread - was just about to click buy on an Arc.  From what I’ve read above I can’t get Atmos - is this correct?

Current set up is:

Devices into a 4x2 Matrix.

Matrix HDMI 1 out to 4k projector.

Optical out to Sonos Playbar.

The matrix has a second HDMI out so I thought I’d be able to pump that into the Arc HDMI, but from what I now understand this won’t work as it doesn’t carry eARC.

Is this correct?  Thanks

 

Regarding the HDMI,Is it regular ARC or no ARC at all?

Glad I found this thread - was just about to click buy on an Arc.  From what I’ve read above I can’t get Atmos - is this correct?

Current set up is:

Devices into a 4x2 Matrix.

Matrix HDMI 1 out to 4k projector.

Optical out to Sonos Playbar.

The matrix has a second HDMI out so I thought I’d be able to pump that into the Arc HDMI, but from what I now understand this won’t work as it doesn’t carry eARC.

Is this correct?  Thanks

Userlevel 1
Badge

I don’t think so, I think it is because the way ARC or eARC outputs the sound. For reference what I did, which is really kludgy is take a Samsung TV I had that had eARC (tu8000) then ran a HDMI matrix splitter with two outputs. One to projector and one to Samsung, then Samsung eARC back to the Sonos Arc. It works for Atmos, but is messy.

 

 

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/sony-1155w-7-2-ch-with-dolby-atmos-4k-ultra-hd-hdr-compatible-a-v-home-theater-receiver-black/5761206.p?skuId=5761206
 

Would this receiver potentially work? I’m guessing no, but trying to find a creative way to make my current home theater setup work with an Arc (it really sucks how few options there are for people with projectors who want Sonos systems). 

 

HDMI switches don’t currently create either ARC or eARC signals. They do split off an optical signal from an HDMI input. But that is maxed out at Dolby Digital (5.1) due to bandwidth on optical. 

There is a device being worked on to create eARC signals, being discussed here, but it isn’t to market yet. 

Any HDMI switch with an optical output must be fed a Dolby Digital signal to work with Sonos. They can’t transcode a DTS, Dolby Digital Plus, or Atmos signal. 


Thank you.  Guess I’ll be waiting for a solution or sticking with Playbar and 5.1.