Does Samsung ever intend to update the firmware for eARC?

[Micheal_Knight]

Good morning all, I hope that someone from Samsung reads this but I have been chasing a problem with eARC for roughly 12 weeks now with no resolution or case updates in sight.

I speak with Samsung support every two or three days but absolutely nothing.

I don't know why I spent so much money on the Q950ts when its basically not doing what it says.

Someone...anyone...help!

Thanks.

MK

[mdiiorio]

Just to confirm in case you don't know, but this is official What eARC is and how to set on Samsung Smart TV | Samsung Levant and it means that Samsung is doing false advertising.

[Dmitrij F]

Hello everyone!

I see that some of you have the same problem as I but I could not find a solution in those posts. Hope someone cam help.

My TV Q80T and my Soundbar Q70T do not work together. They are connected via original HDMI cable through eARC port (which works fine as far as I can tell). Sound from TV works, sound from Soundbar works, but when I switch on TV+Soundbar the sound only comes from the Soundbar. Sometimes the sound comes from both for half a second or so and then TV sound disappears leaving only Soundbar sound.

Support does not know what to do. All they did was a full service reset of TV and reset of Soundbar which obviously did not help.

Software of TV and the soundbar are all up to date. Tried original cable and 2.1 HDMI cable.

[El Vikingo]

I am sorry to be the bearer of bad news. However, i must say that there is NO solution. For some reason all the televisions from 2020 are defective. The eARC port does not work. The reason the sound pops or is intermittent is because I see 'automatic' it tries to connect in vain with this technology before resorting to ARC. As the connection should be under the specified and advertised eARC, it continues to attempt a connection.

It does not matter how you connect your television to whatever device, it will not work. The best option is to disable eARC and use the normal HDMI connection. This limits the sound to DD+, without Atmos. But, it offers a reliable connection. Unfortunately, our trust in the advertising is unfounded.

Hopefully, an update to the firmware may help this situation. However, none of the updates have done so until now 

[Micheal_Knight]

Hi all, not that there has been an update to this absolutely appalling problem but something I thought id share.

Just yesterday I decided to try running the Playstation 5 instead using eARC but directly into my AV Amplifier (Yamaha RX-A3080) 

The only reason I was connecting the Playstation 5 directly to the TV was to take advantage of what the PS5 does graphically. But since most games are only outputting at 4K/60 and my amplifier will pass this signal through I thought what the heck.

But one think I noticed is that if I select Dolby Digital in the Playstation 5 audio output settings I get the exact same signal passed to the AV amp whether the Playstation 5 is connected to either the TV and using eARC or directly to the AMP.

This leads me to believe that the TV does pass bitstream via eARC. Whether connected to the TV or the AMP directly the audio displayed on the AMP is ATMOS/DTHD. 

So I think the TV does at least pass the relevant signals back through eARC.

Thoughts?

P.S. The popping is still absolutely ridiculous when using Netflix on the TV App, it makes me so mad this issue still isn't fixed.

[Matt055]

I got slated on here for posting what fixed mine 

I just ordered some officially rated 8k hdmi leads and used them to connect to my sound bar and now with Earc on it works fine and has not skipped a beat in 6 months since I did it. Also if you watch Netflix on your pa5 on the pass through the sound will be fine but that’s not a solution in my eyes but the cables where as my Netflix and prime app don’t get stuttering sound any more 

[El Vikingo]

@Matt055 the reason you got slated is that many people have commented that using high-quality certified cables does not solve a hardware problem in the 2020 line of televisions. Perhaps you would like to share the brand / shop so we can boost your publicity 😁

Incidentally, I think the only real solution is using an Nvidia shield. In Spain, Amazon do not work with HBO. So, that omits the Firestick. By the way, I have noticed a better quality in picture and sound on the Firestick connected directly to my receiver. 

Good luck to all

[Matt055]

Well clearly it is not a hardware problem if the leads fixed my issues

and I work in purchasing not selling my friend the leads came from a corner shop called Amazon I will let people do Their own digging for a certified cable I have nothing to sell or gain just trying to help 

them issues nearly resulted in me retiring the. tv and returning it after two engineer visits from Hughes where I purchased the tv from 

anyway I’m all right Jack my audio is crystal clear atmos on Netflix app 😊

[El Vikingo]

I am delighted for you. I just wanted to add that in my case, I bought premium cables by Primewire, stated for 8K and with excellent independent reviews and they make no difference.

I would like to open the question out as I still find it hard to believe that the cable is the solution. No offence intended

Has anyone else solved the problem with cables?

What brands of cable have you tried?

[Matt055]

I feel your pain, I was pulling my hair out and could only get it to work when pass through on my ps5 the built in apps glitched all the time with sound. 

i am pleased it worked for me and hoped it would for others 

mine where certified ones off Amazon made by a company called Stouchi 

once I used these it worked. I also reset the tv and connected everything like an out the box start up of the tv and plugged in each item as instructed with the new cables 

i didn’t just swap cables and see I wanted to do it from scratch 

I really hope this helps someone else 

[Micheal_Knight]

I havent tried a specifically marketed 8k cable but I have tried many different cables and they made zero difference. 

I think I will just open another case with Samsung and push for an upgrade.