ARC occasionally refuses to work, Panasonic TV, JBL soundbar

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sxz

761 posts

Ultimate Geek

#261370 23-Nov-2019 21:01

Hi all,

I have a 5.1ch JBL Soundbar and a 4k Panasonic TV connected via ARC.

ARC works fine about 90% of the time, but other times, the soundbar turns on and appears to work, just no sound comes out. The TV responds accordingly, buy muting the TV speakers and controlling the soundbar volume (i.e. the volume on the soundbar states its going up and down) but still, no sound comes out.

When I cycle through the soundbar sources (i.e. go to Bluetooth) the soundbar works fine. I've also tried different HDMI cables.

So the issue is either: The TV isn't sending sound to the soundbar (although it is otherwise behaving normally), or, the soundbar isn't receiving any sound (although it is otherwise behaving normally).

Usually switching them both off for 5 minutes fixes it, but (as I write this) it hasn't fixed anything.

I've also factory reset the soundbar.

Am I going mad?

sxz

761 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2359852 23-Nov-2019 21:10

OK - this time (after about 5 resets) I fixed it by slowly cycling through the TV sources.

Random, no doubt it will happen again... Any ideas?

dan

1134 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2359946 24-Nov-2019 08:30

sounds buggy, assume both devices are using latest firmware available

i would probably use a harmony remote to program a power on sequence to work around it (if it was me)

robbon44

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2360081 24-Nov-2019 13:55

It could be a cec issue in that if you also have a receiver amp connected by hdmi then the tv may be switching sound to the amp as opposed to the bar as it’s recognising an external sound device ?

I had this with my Sony tv and it kept trying to send the sound to the amp as opposed to the bar. I turned off all the sync settings and then disabled cec control on my amp.

Just a thought...

frankv

5678 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2360130 24-Nov-2019 16:12

I see something similar occasionally with my Panasonic TV & LG soundbar. Fix it by switching the TV to its internal speaker and then back to the soundbar.

sxz

761 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2360215 24-Nov-2019 21:46

It's happened again tonight, the soundbar refuses to power on unless I turn it off for about 5 minutes first.

Yes all on current firmware, and no other devices connected (other than a chromecast plugged into the TV).

robbon44

252 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2360233 24-Nov-2019 22:53

Can you connect the bar to the tv via optical ?

Also make sure you are connecting the bar to your arc hdmi input on your tv.

scuwp

3880 posts

Uber Geek

#2360234 24-Nov-2019 22:54

When I brought our soundbar the salesman recommended using optical as arc can be flakey. Never had a problem. There have been some previous threads about arc being temprimental.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

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PANiCnz

986 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2360275 25-Nov-2019 07:47

I’ve always found CEC and ARC to be temperamental. Amazing when they work but far too unreliable. Suspect there may not be a fix.

dan

1134 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2360279 25-Nov-2019 07:53

optical is a downgrade compared to ARC, but you may not notice the difference depending on the content you play, so could be a option

i would also take the chromecast out of the equation and retest to be sure.

wratterus

1687 posts

Uber Geek

#2360300 25-Nov-2019 08:32

I don't own any ARC gear but almost every time I help someone to set some up it's problematic. It's an awesome idea but just doesn't seem to be reliable enough.

dan:

optical is a downgrade compared to ARC, but you may not notice the difference depending on the content you play, so could be a option

Interested to know how optical is a downgrade from ARC? I thought optical was technically better (could handle more channels or something) but realistically there would be no difference as it's just a digital signal on both?

CokemonZ

1047 posts

Uber Geek

#2360310 25-Nov-2019 08:58

I have an LG soundbar and LG TV, and they both use LG's extended ARC called simplink (I think) and yeah - about 1 time out of about 10 it doesn't work quite right.

I hate it, and love it at the same time.

ShinyChrome

1564 posts

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#2360319 25-Nov-2019 09:05

wratterus:

Interested to know how optical is a downgrade from ARC? I thought optical was technically better (could handle more channels or something) but realistically there would be no difference as it's just a digital signal on both?

Optical has a lower bandwidth than ARC, which itself is still only capable of lossy formats. eARC fixes the bandwidth issue, but I would be pleasantly surprised if it fixes the HDMI CEC compatibility issues that seem to plague most people using it.

Once the new Shield Pro launches, I am gonna ditch ARC and my TV apps. My experience is similar, most of the time, not a problem, but without fail audio stops playing when switching from an external source (Xbox connected to AVR) to watching using an on-board app through my ARC connected TV. Like you, cycling through some sources (Chromecast seems to fix it everytime) solves the issue.

In your case, if it still an issue with the latest firmware updates and you want to throw money at it, I would go with the other suggestions: optical out and a Harmony remote.

Otherwise if it is working fine most of the time, I would just stick with your workaround.

dan

1134 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2360326 25-Nov-2019 09:14

wratterus:

Interested to know how optical is a downgrade from ARC? I thought optical was technically better (could handle more channels or something) but realistically there would be no difference as it's just a digital signal on both?

Optical is older tech, and wont work for Dolby TrueHD or DTS-HD Master Audio for example, i believe it cant do more than 2 channel PCM either.

if your just watching netflix etc it will be fine to use it. if your watching 4k REMUX's in kodi / plex / whatever then thats going to be a issue

kharris

1209 posts

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#2360335 25-Nov-2019 09:41

This happens to me occasionally when the source is set to Apple TV when I turn the TV on (never happens when the source is TV).

To fix:

Press the Apps button
Select Viera Link
It should give you the option of speaker selection there. It will be set to TV. Select Home Cinema.

I also have a favorite app button on my remote so I have attached the Viera Link app to it for easy access. Hopefully you can do the same on your model?

Kirk