Lg TV optical sound

[wjwren]

I've just bought an LG 43" TV and connected it to my Samsung sound bar via optical. The volume doesn't change. I've selected the sound as "optical" in the setup but still it won't adjust. Can the TV control the sound bar?

[mickyh7]

We had this.
After hours of messing around.
Neither the Virgin or LG remote would work, so had to use the Samsung Sound Bar remote.
The bar wasn't that much better than the TV sound anyway, so it's in the loft now!

[Lucid_AV]

The Optical signal level out from the TV won't alter wishbone the TV volume control no matter what you do. This isn't a mistake or a problem with the settings. Optical isn't designed with this kind of volume scaling. To do that would require complex resampling of the audio signal and it would reduce the sound quality to worse than AM radio at typical listening volumes.

The answer is either use the sound bar remote or buy a sound bar that can learn to respond to the IR signal for volume from the TV. That way the control is altering the amplifier volume in the sound bar rather than what you expect which is changing the optical signal level.

If those two things aren't options then buy a universal remote where the command for TV volume can be replaced by the sound bar codes.

Edited by Lucid_AV on Sunday 3rd April 22:02

[theboss]

Does the soundbar not support HDMI ARC?

[wjwren]

Yes to above hdmi arc - if I used a hdmi cable would this solve my problem? Thanks

[Largechris]

wjwren said:

Yes to above hdmi arc - if I used a hdmi cable would this solve my problem? Thanks

In my case the sound was noticeably better with optical than HDMI, but that’s on a full 5.1 system. May not be noticeable on a sound bar. It’s a cheap test.

[Sheepshanks]

I think it'd work fine if the TV was Samsung too - I guess the Samsung TV remote can control their soundbar. So as suggested above, probably unlikely, but maybe it's possible to link the LG remote to the Samsung soundbar.

Wonder if you can have optical for the sound but control it using HDMI ARC?

[mickyh7]

Sheepshanks said:

I think it'd work fine if the TV was Samsung too - I guess the Samsung TV remote can control their soundbar. So as suggested above, probably unlikely, but maybe it's possible to link the LG remote to the Samsung soundbar.

Wonder if you can have optical for the sound but control it using HDMI ARC?

This definitely.
I found out later, that all manufacturers want to take charge!
Bit like Samsung messages continually trying to boot out Facebook messenger!

[Lucid_AV]

Optical and HDMI ARC are both capable of stereo PCM and Dolby Digital, so there shouldn't be any difference In sound quality between the two. In order to get ARC working you'll have to check that HDMI control is enabled on both the TV and the sound bar.

Any difference in sound quality may well be due to the separate menu settings for each. If the optical was set to Bitstream but the HDMI ARC was limited to PCM stereo, and the sound bar was using Dolby ProLogic decoding (or worse, some in-house algorithm to fudge together a 5 channel surround effect) to make a simulated surround effect with the ARC signal then that could explain a difference.

[mickyh7]

Lucid_AV said:

Optical and HDMI ARC are both capable of stereo PCM and Dolby Digital, so there shouldn't be any difference In sound quality between the two. In order to get ARC working you'll have to check that HDMI control is enabled on both the TV and the sound bar.

Any difference in sound quality may well be due to the separate menu settings for each. If the optical was set to Bitstream but the HDMI ARC was limited to PCM stereo, and the sound bar was using Dolby ProLogic decoding (or worse, some in-house algorithm to fudge together a 5 channel surround effect) to make a simulated surround effect with the ARC signal then that could explain a difference.

Great Post Mate.
That's Crystal clear now.

[wjwren]

I've tried an HDMI and it works great! Thanks all

[mickyh7]

wjwren said:

I've tried an HDMI and it works great! Thanks all

What? With the TV remote???

[OutInTheShed]

mickyh7 said:

Lucid_AV said:

Optical and HDMI ARC are both capable of stereo PCM and Dolby Digital, so there shouldn't be any difference In sound quality between the two. In order to get ARC working you'll have to check that HDMI control is enabled on both the TV and the sound bar.

Any difference in sound quality may well be due to the separate menu settings for each. If the optical was set to Bitstream but the HDMI ARC was limited to PCM stereo, and the sound bar was using Dolby ProLogic decoding (or worse, some in-house algorithm to fudge together a 5 channel surround effect) to make a simulated surround effect with the ARC signal then that could explain a difference.

Great Post Mate.
That's Crystal clear now.

In English:
It's a cheap Korean telly, ideal for watching sitcoms, in Korean.
clystal crear.

[mickyh7]

OutInTheShed said:

In English:
It's a cheap Korean telly, ideal for watching sitcoms, in Korean.
clystal crear.

Ouch!
Racist?
I wonder where the Sound Bars are made?
Muppet.

[theboss]

I just went from toslink to HDMI ARC for my two channel system connected to LG TV

There doesn't seem to be any loss sound quality wise, if anything its better

And the TV volume buttons now control the sound level on the audio device.

That's why I suggested it

[Lucid_AV]

OutInTheShed said:

In English:
It's a cheap Korean telly, ideal for watching sitcoms, in Korean.
clystal crear.

Nothing to do with it being Korean, or cheap. It's just the way optical works. The signal level is fixed. It can be altered in the way required to make a sound bar change volume if connected that way.