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The Infamous Audio Return Channel (ARC)

6K views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  tractng 
#1 ·
Since ARC is a topic of great interest and great confusion on here, I decided to start a thread devoted to it. I wanted to see if I could get clear cut answers to the following questions from both the HDMI Specification organization and from Panasonic (TC-P55VT60 in particular):


* Does the HDMI 1.4 spec allow ARC to pass 5.1 audio from a TV's ARC HDMI port to an ARC-enabled AVR?

* Does the HDMI 1.4 spec allow an ARC HDMI port to pass audio to another HDMI port on the same TV?


In poking around the Panasonic knowlegebase, I did find an interesting comment to the effect, "Since the TV is Stereo, any multichannel signals will be converted to Stereo before being passed upstream to the AVR." Hmmm, good one, I thought.


Anyway, I'll keep you posted. And remember, what I will post here is not opinion, its input directly from the two agencies mentioned above (if I get any).


Scott
 
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#2 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Oakley  /t/1501837/the-infamous-audio-return-channel-arc#post_23997318


Since ARC is a topic of great interest and great confusion on here, I decided to start a thread devoted to it. I wanted to see if I could get clear cut answers to the following questions from both the HDMI Specification organization and from Panasonic (TC-P55VT60 in particular):


* Does the HDMI 1.4 spec allow ARC to pass 5.1 audio from a TV's ARC HDMI port to an ARC-enabled AVR?

* Does the HDMI 1.4 spec allow an ARC HDMI port to pass audio to another HDMI port on the same TV?


In poking around the Panasonic knowlegebase, I did find an interesting comment to the effect, "Since the TV is Stereo, any multichannel signals will be converted to Stereo before being passed upstream to the AVR." Hmmm, good one, I thought.


Anyway, I'll keep you posted. And remember, what I will post here is not opinion, its input directly from the two agencies mentioned above (if I get any).


Scott

Sorry to take so long getting back to this....I heard from the HDMI society just last night. The answers to the above two items, from Panasonic and HDMI are:


* Yes, ARC will pass the same 5.1 formats as SPDIF (Dolby and DTS).

* Yes, Panasonic TVs (at least 2013 models) will pass ARC audio from one TV port to another.


Scott
 
#3 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Oakley  /t/1501837/the-infamous-audio-return-channel-arc#post_24093488


Sorry to take so long getting back to this....I heard from the HDMI society just last night. The answers to the above two items, from Panasonic and HDMI are:


* Yes, ARC will pass the same 5.1 formats as SPDIF (Dolby and DTS).

* Yes, Panasonic TVs (at least 2013 models) will pass ARC audio from one TV port to another.


Scott

One more clarification:


* Per HDMI society, ARC does NOT support DTS HD Master Audio or Dolby TrueHD.
 
#4 ·

Sorry for bumping this topic, but I joined the forum looking for an answer to this.

 

As a recent VT60 owner, I want to buy a Home Theater in a box, but then I heard that if you connect the Home Theater to the Panny Plasma using the Optical cable, then the sound will come out in stereo on the Home Theater. I want to have my bluray and consoles hooked up to the TV, disable the TV's speakers and have the sound coming out from the Home Theater. But if the sound is going to come out in stereo and not 5.1/7.1, then there's no point in having the Home Theater for that set up. (unless I hook everything to the Home Theater directly, but I don't want to do that.)

 

So.

 

I now see that there's another option, to connect it to the ARC HDMI port. So, to get a clear and cut answer: Will I get actual 5.1 sound from my bluray and consoles if I connect the Home Theater to the TV using the HDMI cable on the ARC port? Or will it also be in stereo only?

 

Thanks in advance!
 
#5 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Oakley  /t/1501837/the-infamous-audio-return-channel-arc#post_24093488


Sorry to take so long getting back to this....I heard from the HDMI society just last night. The answers to the above two items, from Panasonic and HDMI are:


* Yes, ARC will pass the same 5.1 formats as SPDIF (Dolby and DTS).

* Yes, Panasonic TVs (at least 2013 models) will pass ARC audio from one TV port to another.


Scott

It would be good to hear from someone using ARC, because the 2013 Panasonics do not pass DD5.1 or DTS from HDMI inputs to SPDIF. They only do it for the apps and USB input.
 
#6 ·

Yes, that's what I've read. If you conect a bluray/videogame console to the TV and then connect a Receiver with the optical cable, it will only output stereo to the Receiver.

 

I want to know if it outputs 5.1 (or whatever) using the HDMI ARC port.
 
#7 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ReyVGM  /t/1501837/the-infamous-audio-return-channel-arc#post_24126087


Sorry for bumping this topic, but I joined the forum looking for an answer to this.


As a recent VT60 owner, I want to buy a Home Theater in a box, but then I heard that if you connect the Home Theater to the Panny Plasma using the Optical cable, then the sound will come out in stereo on the Home Theater. I want to have my bluray and consoles hooked up to the TV, disable the TV's speakers and have the sound coming out from the Home Theater. But if the sound is going to come out in stereo and not 5.1/7.1, then there's no point in having the Home Theater for that set up. (unless I hook everything to the Home Theater directly, but I don't want to do that.)


So.


I now see that there's another option, to connect it to the ARC HDMI port. So, to get a clear and cut answer: Will I get actual 5.1 sound from my bluray and consoles if I connect the Home Theater to the TV using the HDMI cable on the ARC port? Or will it also be in stereo only?


Thanks in advance!

In my opinion, you are better off connecting your BluRay directly to your Home Theater in a Box.
 
#8 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by ReyVGM  /t/1501837/the-infamous-audio-return-channel-arc#post_24126774


Yes, that's what I've read. If you conect a bluray/videogame console to the TV and then connect a Receiver with the optical cable, it will only output stereo to the Receiver.


I want to know if it outputs 5.1 (or whatever) using the HDMI ARC port.

I am using ARC via HDMI between a VT60 and a Marantz SR5005 and get what I perceive to be 5.1 output. The restriction (Stereo vs 5.1) is not ARC or HDMI, its the TOSLINK connection some insist on using. Its only capable of SPDIF output, not 5.1.
 
#9 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Scott Oakley  /t/1501837/the-infamous-audio-return-channel-arc#post_24332810


I am using ARC via HDMI between a VT60 and a Marantz SR5005 and get what I perceive to be 5.1 output. The restriction (Stereo vs 5.1) is not ARC or HDMI, its the TOSLINK connection some insist on using. Its only capable of SPDIF output, not 5.1.

Similar setup and results here, VT25 and SR5006.


ARC has mostly worked flawlessly for the past 2+ years.
 
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