What is going on with eARC update for the soundbar HW-Q90R?

[zhspence]

Hi everyone,

I need some clarification, as to be honest the Samsung support staff are hopeless with knowing anything about their own products. 

I was on chat with support enquiring about the eARC firmware update for this soundbar, he replies to me saying it doesn't have eARC?! 

the whole reason I purchased it was because of this update, I have the LG C9 which is eARC!

if they don't provide this firmware update to allow it, then this soundbar is going back for a refund. 

[Mike_krk]

Some are pretty much sure about eARC support: https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5/TV/why-no-Dolby-Atmos-on-samsung-Netflix-App/m-p/1370334/highlig...

[zhspence]

I know, though I don’t blame them in thinking this. I too thought it when I purchased it. To then be told from different Samsung staff that it isn’t and has had no update for it.

[Mike_krk]

Yep, sure. But apart from no eARC support I'm faceing two more problems: common lipsync issue when watching 5.1/atmos netflix materials and also no sound at all when I choose "Multichannel (bypass)" as a digital out format on my Philips 55OLED854 TV. So I ended up watching Netflix movies in stereo with a $999 5.1.2 soundbar 

[zhspence]

I’m in the uk, I have the LG C9 and to be honest I have no no sync issues at all. I wanted this soundbar for its eARC function as the C9 is also eARC so I can get lossless audio. I’m not too familiar with the Philips tv’s so my comments would be superficial. In terms of LG and this soundbar they were pretty well together. Just a shame about being unable to experience the full sound that this sound system is capable of.

[Mike_krk]

Just curious, do you use any external source connected to the TV or soundbar, or it's just TV + soundbar?

[zhspence]

Nope, just soundbar directly to my C9 and I use it for all sound. Whether that’s Netflix, PS4 or Apple TV. This is why I want eARC support so much, so I can get lossless audio and all supported sound formats.

[MarceloFM]

Hi everyone,

I too own an LG C9 and the HW Q90R soundbar but do not have a BD player to test lossless audio via BD player -> TV -> eARC passthrough -> soundbar (e)ARC. The forum posts below indicate this will work fine if the eARC on the TV is On and set to PassThrough:

https://www.avforums.com/threads/samsung-hw-q90r-soundbar-review-comments.2231672/post-27253588

https://www.avforums.com/threads/samsung-hw-q90r-soundbar-review-comments.2231672/post-27415335

https://www.avforums.com/threads/samsung-hw-q90r-soundbar-review-comments.2231672/post-27253812

Lossy Atmos works fine from the TV's internal NetFlix app. From my PC, lossy Atmos and DTS-X work only when connected directly to the soundbar (the soundbar panel displays Dolby Atmos and DTS-X). But that is a different story alltogether. The TV is not passing lossy audio through to the soundbar via regular ARC (the soundbar panel does not display Dolby Atmos and DTS-X and I can hear the channels not coming from the correct speakers), so the only solution is to connect my PC directly to the soundbar. There is also the issue of this TV not supporting multichannel PCM, which LG stated will be resolved via software update in Q2 2020.

[zhspence]

Yes, I’ve seen that LG will be implementing an update to offer multichannel PCM in 2020. I’m terms of eARC passthrough, unless the soundbar is eARC too (which it isn’t) then you cannot get lossless audio as for that to work eARC has to be connected directly to another eARC supported device. I have my LG C9 on eARC but it will not passthrough lossless audio to the soundbar because it can’t decode lossless audio due to no eARC support.

[MarceloFM]

Looking forward to hearing back from Samsung on this one. There is a lot of conflicting information out there. Reviewers say eARC is supported via firmware update but many people are not getting eARC on this soundbar.

Here is another one. Apparently, Samsung have confirmed it is available since update 1006. We are on 1008:

https://www.avforums.com/threads/samsung-hw-q90r-soundbar-review-comments.2231672/post-27164994

[MarceloFM]

And another one:
https://www.rtings.com/soundbar/discussions/qkiODuRX4wvc1kHu/earc-support