Is your Panasonic TV cutting the audio when using external speakers or soundbars, having intermittent audio over HDMI, and wishing to know how to fix it?
Panasonic TV sound issues over HDMI are among the biggest problems users face, and despite tinkering with audio settings, resetting, and replugging the cable, the issue persists.
Even though there can be multiple reasons for this, in this guide I am going to discuss all the possible reasons as to why it happens, how you can fix it at home, and how you can identify if it is a hardware issue.
In Panasonic TVs, audio cuts out mostly when there is a faulty HDMI cable, loose connection, or the TV’s audio settings that glitch. To resolve the problem, check the TV’s audio settings, inspect the output connection, and try connecting the soundbar to the different TV outputs.
You might have already tried troubleshooting and a few tweaks may have worked for some time until the issue reappears again. In that case, you should go through this guide and you will discover what is causing the sound to cut out on your Panasonic TV.
What Causes Sound Cut Out On Panasonic TV?
From incorrect audio settings to loose or faulty TV or Soundbar cables to overheating, there are many reasons why sound will drop out and will work for a few minutes and then stop until you restart the TV.
Here are the most common causes of sound dropouts and intermittent audio on your Panasonic TV:
- Incorrect Audio Settings
- Faulty Cables
- Overheating
- Faulty External Sound Speaker or Soundbar
To narrow down the exact cause of the problem, you will have to do some trial and error. When you have determined whether it is the TV or an external source (such as a speaker or soundbar), you can then investigate further.
To get to the bottom of the issue and resolve it, I have outlined the below steps. You will need to follow them one by one in the same order, so as not to miss the cause.
How To Solve Panasonic TV Sound Cut Outs / Dropouts / Intermittent Audio?
In most cases, the intermittent Panasonic TV sound problem is caused by incorrect audio settings, such as Dolby Audio or compressed audio settings, and once the settings are tweaked, the issue is resolved.
The first step to fixing it is to make sure that your TV’s audio settings are correct, that they have not been tampered with recently, and then the external audio (Speaker or Soundbar) needs to be checked separately followed by the cable replacement and changing the TV output.
Following are the steps you can take in order to fix the intermittent sound on your Panasonic TV
- Reset the audio settings on your Television
- Power Cycle of TV
- Tweak Audio Settings
- Consider switching HDMI ports on the AVR
- Replacing a new HDMI cable or Optical Cable
- Disable HDMI-CEC
- Try external source (Soundbar or Speaker) on different device
Following the above initial steps will help you narrow down the issue a bit and you might be able to find the root cause and fix it.
Reset Audio Settings on Panasonic TV
Audio settings on Panasonic TVs cannot be restored to factory default, and in order to accomplish this, you must perform a hard reset of the TV in order to reset the audio settings to factory default.
- Select [ MENU ] on the remote.
- Using [ the Up Arrow or the Down Arrow ] select “Setup”, then press [ OK ].
- Choose [System] with [Up Arrow or Down Arrow], then press [OK].
- Select [Factory default] by pressing either the up or down arrow, then hit [OK].
- Then select [Yes] and press [OK].
Switch Audio Input Source
If you have another source device, like a DVD player or Blu-ray player, try that. If it too drops out, then the TV is the suspect. If it doesn’t drop out, then the soundbar or external speaker is the suspect.
It may also be worth trying to connect the external speaker or soundbar to a different TV to see if the dropouts persist there.
A different HDMI port or optical cable instead of HDMI on the TV should also be tested to see if that makes a difference.
When it comes to audio settings like Dolby Atmos or any other compressed uncompressed audio if you have enabled them, turn them off and make sure it is on the plain stereo (often known as PCM or LPCM). The worst-case scenario is that it is a hardware issue.
Wrapping It up
These audio dropouts can be annoying and spoil our viewing experience. Very rarely are they due to a hardware fault, and most of the time is due to minor glitches and incorrect settings or malfunctioning cables.
I’ve covered all the possible causes of audio dropouts, as well as solutions, which you can try and it might help you to fix the dropouts on your Panasonic TV.
Furthermore, regardless of the TV model, these solutions can be applied to Panasonic Viera and Plasma TV as both have similar audio settings that can be fixed with the above steps.
