Sonos beam and Samsung tv

  • 16 November 2018
  • 4 replies
  • 2696 views

I’ve just bought a sonos beam and connected to my Samsung tv (model ue40es6710). The hdmi cable is in the ARC socket as advised but the tv will not allo me to select Dolby in the sound settings meaning it won’t change from PCM. My beam therefore only receives stereo. Pretty frustrating so is there a work around? Only other hdmi connections are for my sky box and my Samsung blue ray player. Any help would be appreciated.

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4 replies

I’ve read a number of threads re signal recognition issues between the Beam and Samsung TVs. The number of HDMI ports on my Samsung TV forced me to purchase a junction box through which I route all my HDMI connections—a considerable number. I haven’t experienced any of the problems listed in these threads. Now, the junction box I use comes with small remote that helps you navigate through connerctions, but most of the time it is automatic. Just an idea.
So I found out last night how to get Dolby Digital from my PS4 finally. I needed to use the Optical/HDMI adapter Sonos provides with the beam and plug that into the PS4. Then I connected an HDMI to the adapter and plugged the other end of the HDMI directly into the Beam. I had to set my PS4 Audio Output to Digital Optical and change one other setting, but I confirmed in the Sonos app that I was finally getting Dolby Digital!

Going to look into getting an HDMI splitter or some sort of adapter so I don't have to keep switching the HDMI cables for my TV and PS4 in and out of the Beam. Hopefully something similar will work for you!
By the way, the great majority (but not all) bluray discs are in DTS, not Dolby Digital. Some players (a very few) have the ability to decode from DTS to Dolby Digital, and some discs have a separate Dolby Digital track that you have to select in the disc's playback options.
With the Samsung TVs, you can't select Dolby if the current input source is not in Dolby. Most of the content coming from your sky box will be PCM. If your Samsung Blue ray player can produce dolby, then you might want to try playing that as a source. And you may want to look at want of the smart apps as a source, if it has content in dolby digital.

I'm not sure if this works, but you may try setting the input source to where the Beam is connected. I believe you'll see the dolby option available there. Ultimately though, I believe your TV will switch to dolby digital whenever the source is dolby digital.