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TV no longer showing volume level with beam

  • 19 December 2023
  • 10 replies
  • 1651 views

When I first set my Sonos beam up to my LG TV I could adjust the volume of the system using either of my tv remotes (LG remote or Virgin Media remote). The TV would show the bar indicating the volume level. Recently, despite not changing any settings the TV no longer shows the volume indicator. The remotes still control the volume but without showing what level it’s currently at.

 

The TV doesn’t have an e-arc input, only arc but the audio is set up through Simplink on the TV. Whether playing audio from my Virgin STB or Xbox it sounds fine but is frustrating that the level is no longer shown like it has done for months previous. 
 

is this a remote issue or recent update? Any help would be appreciated. 
 

I have three LG TV’s at Home and when the CEC protocol (Simplink) is controlling their volume I just see a + / - volume indicators flash up on screen (the display varies slightly by TV Model) - never seen a volume level show up, unless the Simplink feature is disabled. I assume it’s an LG ‘by design’ matter. I think a number of TV’s manufacturers do this too. 

See screenshot attached from one of the LG TV’s here.


I would accept that if it had always been the case but since I set it up a month ago it’s been giving me a volume level every time I change the volume. Only today has it changed to not include the bar. 


Then there likely was some sort of firmware to your TV in the background. Sonos has never sent an overlay or frankly, any video to the screen when there is anything else playing. 


I would accept that if it had always been the case but since I set it up a month ago it’s been giving me a volume level every time I change the volume. Only today has it changed to not include the bar. 

I probably won’t convince you in that case, but over several years since 2019, I have had the Beam (gen1), Beam (gen2) and the Sonos Arc in use (at some stage) with our main Living Room LG C9 OLED TV and not ever seen a ‘numbered’ volume-level display, unless CEC was perhaps not enabled on the TV …and as I’ve upgraded over-time, I’ve moved the Beam (gen1) and then the Beam (gen2) to two other LG TV’s now in other areas of the Home and both those TV’s also just show a + / - display too … I can only think something was perhaps not working correctly with your TV, but if you think otherwise, you are perhaps best to speak with LG customer support.

I agree with @Airgetlam in that as far as I’m aware, Sonos do not send a volume control overlay to the TV. It’s down to the TV itself what it displays when CEC/Simplink is enabled. If you’re convinced you’ve seen a different display, then it’s probably best to speak with LG CS and perhaps see what they say about the matter.


I’ve seen the Volume indicator come and go and I’m not sure who to blame. I suggest that you unplug all HDMI cables to the TV and power-down the TV and BEAM for at least two minutes. Power-up the TV and BEAM before connecting the HDMI cable between the units. After the TV and BEAM discover each other, connect other devices to the TV, if any.


so I guess the bottom line here is that you cannot get numbers on the TV after hooking up Sonos.


That would be up to the TV manufacturer, and not Sonos. 


so I guess the bottom line here is that you cannot get numbers on the TV after hooking up Sonos.

I’ve never had a specific number displayed but i have a circular wheel which shows the level of the system when i turn it up or down (screenshot showing the bar when changing volume). I lost this momentarily as mentioned above and it changed from the bar to just + and - so i didn’t have a visual display. To solve it I unplugged the Sonos to reset then turned it back on again which resulted in the bar coming back. This proves that it was the Sonos system causing it and not any update from my LG TV but i’m glad it’s back now. 

 


Sorry, but no. It shows that the CEC computer inside your TV set wasn’t processing the data properly. 

Sonos does not send data as an overlay to video on a TV set. 


I agree with @Airgetlam … most tv manufacturers apparently don’t spend much work on their CEC programming. In the past there weren’t so many functions as today and now it’s much more complex to get this work with a lot of different devices. But as the central unit in the row the tv has to manage this. 
Imho the manufacturers have to do some homework.