It might not be important for you, but it could be important for those who are asking about it. Not everyone wants to connect their devices directly to their earc capable soundbar, some soudnbars including the HW Q90R have just a few HDMI ports, not enought ports for some people. Taking advantage of a Connect box is the logical thing to do, being able to connect devices directly to the tv without having to sacrifice atmos is a big deal.
And not eveyone wants to be plugging and unplugging stuff from the soundbar just to be able to enjoy atmos. I have 6 devices that are atmos capable but only 2 can be plugged on the soundbar, what do I do with the rest? Im tired of plugging and unplugging devices all because samsung decided to forget to update the tv to eARC that could allow passthrough. For those that have just 2 devices thats ok, connect them directly to the soundbar and youll have atmos, but the convenience ends and the inconvenience beggins when you exceed the amount of devices that you can connect to the soundbar.
And regardless of that, it its pretty lame from samsung to back away from a promise on which they sold a product. They should had never mention anything about an eARC update for these tv lineups and people would be ok and happy and some people including myself would have opted for a diferent tv and thats it, but the fact that they promise the eARC update to atract potential buyers looking for this feature and create expectations on their customers is what has people upset and asking about the update. Many of the people asking for this right now would have purchase a diferrent tv if samsung wouldnt have promie the update. People know about Samsung Qleds great image quality, i love it, but thats not enought for me, i also want the eARC as many others also want. I really wish sasug proves me wrong and comes with this update soon, i still owe hallf of what this tv cost me and have 10 more months of montly payments to remind me that I dont have eARC.
So anyways im glad that you @denodan are happy with the tv and it fullfills your needs but as to me I could be happier paying for another tv with earc and avoiding trips to the tv to plug and unplug devices. It almost a reminiscense of the times when there were no remote controls and people had to stand up and walk to the tv to change channel lol.
My temprary solution was to buy a headset to be able to get atmos on the xbox, and connect the apple tv to the earc port on the soundbar and as for the other devices I have to keep pluging and unplugging. Kudos for samsung commitment to convenience and customer satisfaction. Thats how great companies that are capable of creating great products are left behind, when they dont understand the needs of the customers and worst lie about their products.
... View more