Having trouble using your LG TV’s eARC feature? You’re not alone.
Even though eARC is technically superior to ARC, So many LG TV users (including me) continue to experience problems connecting their TV to their audio receivers.
Recently I faced a strange issue that started all of sudden with my LG TV and soundbar’s eARC connection. They both are compatible with each other and do have the eARC feature that allows for volume control from the TV remote as well as an automatic switch-on of the soundbar when the TV is turned on.
But this was not happening at all! The soundbar stopped powering on with the TV, and when it does come on, it doesn’t volume up or down as it did before.
Fortunately, in most cases, it can be solved at home without the help of a technician or telephone support. So if you also have a problem with your LG TV’s eARC feature and it’s not working with the receiver as it should be, don’t worry, you’ve come to the right place.
Here’s why your LG TV’s eARC functionality often doesn’t work with your audio receiver:
- The TV and home theater receiver does not support eARC. In order to use eARC, both your TV and receiver must support the feature.
- Your HDMI cables are not eARC-compatible.
- You have not enabled eARC on your TV and receiver.
- You have not set the audio output on your TV to eARC.
- There may be a problem with your TV or receiver.
In order for LG TVs’ eARC feature to work with audio receivers, these above-mentioned basic requirements must be met.
We’ll now dig a little deeper and see what can cause problems with eARC connections and how you can easily resolve them.
See Also: LG TVs Optical Audio Out Not Working? Here’s What To Do
Common reasons why eARC may not be working on an LG TV
The eARC feature on LG TVs is a great way to enjoy your favorite movies and shows in high-quality audio via your receivers like a soundbar, home theater, or other audio systems, but it can sometimes malfunction.
If you’re having trouble getting your LG TV’s eARC working properly, here are some common causes:
- Outdated firmware: Make sure that the firmware of your LG TV is up to date. You can check for updates by going into the settings menu and selecting “Software Update” or “System Updates” (depending on the model).
- Incorrect audio output settings: Check that you have selected “eARC” as the audio output format in your TV’s settings menu. This will ensure that all sound from connected devices goes through eARC rather than another type of connection like HDMI ARC or optical cable.
- Incompatible device connections: Ensure that any external devices connected to your LG TV via HDMI cables support the eARC format, otherwise, they won’t be able to communicate with each other correctly.
- Temporary Glitch: Another possible cause that can cause trouble while using eARC on your LG TV is a glitch in the TV or receiver settings as sometimes the firmware or software of either device causes interference with each other and doesn’t properly work.
How To Troubleshoot eARC Connection on LG TV?
Basically, the major issue with LG TVs eARC, which even I personally experienced, is the soundbar stops powering on with the TV and when it does power on, the volume doesn’t go up and down as it used to.
Moreover in other cases, When the TV was turned on, some users reported that the sound simply went to the internal speaker, and they had to manually switch back to eARC by going to the TV’s settings.
Although manually enabling the eARC feature from TV settings after turning on the TV sometimes solves the issue, it’s not always the case since even with eARC turned on manually, it doesn’t pass audio to the soundbar via eARC or in short, it doesn’t detect the soundbar at all.
Note: Since this is an eARC connection issue, regardless of the audio device you use such as an amplifier, soundbar, home theater, or other audio receivers, the problem is the same.
Verify TV Settings
First and foremost, Ensure that you know about the required TV settings and they are set up correctly.
Here’s how the TV settings should be when using eARC:
- All Settings > Sound > Additional Settings (eARC should be enabled).
- All Settings > Connection > Device Connection Settings > Sound Out should be set to “HDMI ARC”.
- Under All Settings > Sound > Additional Settings > Digital Sound Out select “Pass Through“.
Restart HDMI-CEC
If your LG TV’s eARC feature is not working despite the correct settings as described above, the first step is to turn off HDMI-CEC on your receiver.
- To do this, enter the setup menu and select ‘turn off’ for HDMI-CEC.
- Afterward, exit out of the setup menu. Then turn it back on again by selecting ‘on’ in the same menu.
- This process may take a few seconds as your receiver will need to re-detect any connected devices before connecting correctly with your LG TV’s eARC feature.
Use Universal Remote With Receiver
Actually, It is unknown why this occurs, however, I have also checked that the eARC connection between the receiver and TV doesn’t get glitched when a Universal Remote Control is used with the audio receiver.
Switch HDMI Port
Along with other mentioned solutions, this also works and you should switch the HDMI port where your receiver’s HDMI cable is connected to the TV.
Quick Tip: Don't worry, All LG C series ports are eARC enabled and you can try all of them.
This can be done by unplugging the device that is connected to the eARC port and then plugging it into a different HDMI port.
Basically what this does is that it resets the connection and a fresh eARC connection gets established between the Audio system and TV.
Then, test if this has resolved your issue – if not, you may need to investigate other potential solutions such as updating drivers or resetting settings on both your TV and external device.
See Also: Does HDMI Cable Affect Sound And Picture Quality?
Power Cycle
Most of the time, the eARC connection glitches, and when it is reset, it starts working again, which is why power cycling both your TV and receiver is another working method.
- To do this, simply unplug the power cable from the wall outlet for 3 minutes before plugging it back in.
- This will reset both devices and hopefully fix any connection issues between them.
- It is important that while performing a power cycle, all HDMI cables remain connected so they can reestablish their connections when powered on again.
Disable Quick Start+
This might look like another strange way to deal with this issue, but it is true that disabling the Quick Start+ on your LG TV solves minor eARC issues.
So, If you’re encountering issues with your LG TV’s eARC not working, disabling the Quick Start+ feature in the General Settings may do the trick for you.
Note: Even though this will fix the issue of your eARC not functioning correctly, it does come at a cost; there will be an increase in startup time for your TV.
To disable Quick Start+, navigate to General -> Additional Settings -> Quick Start+.
Note: With Quick, Start+ disabled, and eARC still enabled, you should see that the eARC connection working as expected.
If this doesn’t resolve the issue then check out other possible solutions like making sure all devices are updated with the latest firmware or ensuring that all audio settings are set correctly within each device’s menus.
Bonus Tip: In order for eARC to work properly, you need to always turn off the TV first, then the receiver. When you turn on the TV, you should first turn on the receiver, then the TV.
See Also: How To Fix LG TVs Automatic Volume Changing Issue Easily?
Before wrapping it up, here’s some basic information related to eARC and the ARC which you might find useful.
Let’s see the difference between Audio Return Channel (ARC) and Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC).
Basically, Audio Return Channel (ARC) is an HDMI technology that allows your TV to send audio data upstream to an A/V receiver or sound bar.
Enhanced Audio Return Channel (eARC) on the other hand, is a newer version of ARC which supports higher-quality audio formats such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS HD Master Audio.
Also, eARC is not supposed to require the use of an HDMI CEC handshake to operate. Instead, eARC utilizes only the Ethernet HDMI channel over which codec negotiation and media delivery are supposed to happen.
It also provides additional features such as Lip Sync Compensation, allowing your TV to automatically adjust audio delay so that it matches video playback more accurately.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the eARC is a big improvement over its predecessor, ARC, and LG’s C series along with other high-end TV models do support the eARC in all ports.
It is common for the eARC connection between the TV and the Audio Receiver to get glitched either through automatic firmware updates or by settings conflict. This results in a non-functioning eARC feature, such as when the TV is turned on, the receiver won’t turn on, the sound won’t pass through the eARC, and instead will only come from the speakers on the TV, etc.
Most of the time, it can be fixed by modifying the settings, doing minor troubleshooting like resetting the connection, or sometimes disabling certain features like Quick Start+, which has been reported as the cause of the bug.
I have mentioned these problems in detail along with a solution that I researched while dealing with this problem on my LG C9 TV. I hope the above guide will help you.
