HDMI ARC port already in use

  • 2 December 2020
  • 3 replies
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I am trying to set up a Sonos Beam.  My Panasonic TV has three HDMI ports.  Only one is an HDMI-ARC port and that is already in use by my DirectTV cable box.  Apparently the other two ports do not work with Beam.  I keep getting the message that “CED not connected”.  The CEC on my TV is enabled.  Can anyone help?

If i need to use the “optical audio adapter”, then where do I plug that in?

any help would be greatly appreciated.  SONOs online instructions are weak, at best, for a neophyte trying to set up his first soundbar.

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3 replies

ratty

TV optical port → optical/HDMI adapter → HDMI cable → Beam

Or get an HDMI switch and free up the HDMI-ARC port on the TV.

buzz

The intent of HDMI ARC is to allow audio from TV Apps to play through an audio system. Assuming that only one audio system is connected to the TV, TV’s only need to provide one ARC port. CEC, or whatever it is called by the manufacturer, provides a communication protocol for components to share information about each other and transmit commands. There are a lot of problems with CEC, but when it works, it is wonderful. In many cases connecting a cable box, TV, and BEAM will just work -- without any user help. The cable box and TV remotes will control BEAM’s Volume. Even a ROKU remote can control BEAM’s Volume and you can ask Alexa to turn OFF the TV.

My suggestion is to move the DirectTV to another HDMI input and use the TV’s ARC port for BEAM.

controlav
Userlevel 7
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Your DirectTV device does not need to be connected to ARC so simply move that to a different HDMI port.

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