soundbar not workng with new telly
Discussion
Long story but got a Panasonic Viera 32 recently, plus the Pana soundbar and boombox thingy. The telly had to go back (two of them in fact) for poor picture quality (very dark). Got a Philips replacement TV. Picture is better but no sound is coming through the soundbar and box even though they are 'seen' on the sources screen of the Philips.
Anybody got any ideas why that should be?
I've noticed that the sound markedly improves when selecting an HD channel (accompanied by a beep) but that's just through the TV speaker.
Seems that a degree in Engineering and Computer Science is required to work a telly these days, bring back simplicity, grumble
.
Anybody got any ideas why that should be?
I've noticed that the sound markedly improves when selecting an HD channel (accompanied by a beep) but that's just through the TV speaker.
Seems that a degree in Engineering and Computer Science is required to work a telly these days, bring back simplicity, grumble
. You're not having much luck with this TV lark Blackpuddin. 
You say that the soundbar is seen as a 'source' which sounds wrong to me as I would have thought that the TV is the source to the soundbar. Tell me which model it is and I'll have a look at the manual to try to work it out if you like while I'm vegging out in front of the telly today.
Typically I'd expect the TV to connect to the soundbar using either two cables (usually the red and white phono type) for analogue or if the TV has either optical or coax (single phono type cable) into the matching connector on the soundbar.
Might need to know exactly which TV model it is too.
You say that the soundbar is seen as a 'source' which sounds wrong to me as I would have thought that the TV is the source to the soundbar. Tell me which model it is and I'll have a look at the manual to try to work it out if you like while I'm vegging out in front of the telly today. Typically I'd expect the TV to connect to the soundbar using either two cables (usually the red and white phono type) for analogue or if the TV has either optical or coax (single phono type cable) into the matching connector on the soundbar.
Might need to know exactly which TV model it is too.
Edited by OldSkoolRS on Thursday 27th December 12:36
Thanks OldSkool, I've just spent an hour fiddling around with it, with no joy, and am wondering if the soundbar just isn't compatible with the TV, which would be very annoying if true as it would mean I've got 200 quids worth of useless black boxes, so I hope I'm wrong.
The TV is this:
Philips 32PFL6007T/12 LED HD 1080p 3D Smart TV, 32 Inch with Freeview HD & 2x 3D Glasses
http://www.johnlewis.com/231628256/Product.aspx
The soundbar stuff is this:
Panasonic SC-HTB20EB-HD 2.1 Sound Bar
http://www.johnlewis.com/231609934/Product.aspx
On the JL blurb for the soundbar it says 'ARC compatibility eliminates the need for a separate audio cable to bring sound back from a TV to your home cinema system for less clutter and better audio quality' but I don't know what that means or whether it's relevant.
When I unconnect everything and reconnect it, the TV says 'a new device has been detected' and invites me to give it a name, so soundbar then appears on the list of sources, but as you say it's not so much a source as the opposite of that. If you select that on the source list it just gives you a black screen, ie no picture. So not much use. Need for it to work with the telly, not as an option to it!
On the back of the Philips TV the separate fourth HMDI slot is specifically marked 'Digital Audio Out', but it made no difference when I connected the soundbar equipment to that slot.
TV picture comes through a Humax HD-R by the way. Looked for a second HDMI slot in case I could connect the soundbar to that but there isn't a second HDMI on it.
Thanks for any light you can throw on this! I'm way out of my depth here. I remember when you just plugged in the telly and it worked, grumble.
The TV is this:
Philips 32PFL6007T/12 LED HD 1080p 3D Smart TV, 32 Inch with Freeview HD & 2x 3D Glasses
http://www.johnlewis.com/231628256/Product.aspx
The soundbar stuff is this:
Panasonic SC-HTB20EB-HD 2.1 Sound Bar
http://www.johnlewis.com/231609934/Product.aspx
On the JL blurb for the soundbar it says 'ARC compatibility eliminates the need for a separate audio cable to bring sound back from a TV to your home cinema system for less clutter and better audio quality' but I don't know what that means or whether it's relevant.
When I unconnect everything and reconnect it, the TV says 'a new device has been detected' and invites me to give it a name, so soundbar then appears on the list of sources, but as you say it's not so much a source as the opposite of that. If you select that on the source list it just gives you a black screen, ie no picture. So not much use. Need for it to work with the telly, not as an option to it!
On the back of the Philips TV the separate fourth HMDI slot is specifically marked 'Digital Audio Out', but it made no difference when I connected the soundbar equipment to that slot.
TV picture comes through a Humax HD-R by the way. Looked for a second HDMI slot in case I could connect the soundbar to that but there isn't a second HDMI on it.
Thanks for any light you can throw on this! I'm way out of my depth here. I remember when you just plugged in the telly and it worked, grumble.
Edited by Blackpuddin on Thursday 27th December 15:17
I think you're connecting it up incorrectly.
There should be two HDMI sockets on the back of the soundbar itself? If you look closely, then you'll notice that they are not the same! One should be labelled 'HDMI In' (or words to that effect) and the other should be labelled 'HDMI Out' (or again, words to that effect).
Run an HDMI cable straight from the back of your Humax box directly to the 'HDMI In' socket on the back of the soundbar. Next, run another HDMI cable from the 'HDMI Out' socket on the soundbar to any of the four HDMI sockets on your TV (e.g. HDMI 1 in our example).
Then try it again and make sure you select the 'HDMI 1' input on your television. It should work perfectly and you don't need to bother with any separate cables.
There should be two HDMI sockets on the back of the soundbar itself? If you look closely, then you'll notice that they are not the same! One should be labelled 'HDMI In' (or words to that effect) and the other should be labelled 'HDMI Out' (or again, words to that effect).
Run an HDMI cable straight from the back of your Humax box directly to the 'HDMI In' socket on the back of the soundbar. Next, run another HDMI cable from the 'HDMI Out' socket on the soundbar to any of the four HDMI sockets on your TV (e.g. HDMI 1 in our example).
Then try it again and make sure you select the 'HDMI 1' input on your television. It should work perfectly and you don't need to bother with any separate cables.
wiffmaster said:
I think you're connecting it up incorrectly.
There should be two HDMI sockets on the back of the soundbar itself? If you look closely, then you'll notice that they are not the same! One should be labelled 'HDMI In' (or words to that effect) and the other should be labelled 'HDMI Out' (or again, words to that effect).
Run an HDMI cable straight from the back of your Humax box directly to the 'HDMI In' socket on the back of the soundbar. Next, run another HDMI cable from the 'HDMI Out' socket on the soundbar to any of the four HDMI sockets on your TV (e.g. HDMI 1 in our example).
Then try it again and make sure you select the 'HDMI 1' input on your television. It should work perfectly and you don't need to bother with any separate cables.
OK I now have an HDMI cable running from the Humax box into the 'BD/DVD AV IN' HDMI socket on the back of sound box, and a second HDMI cable running from the 'TV/ARC AV OUT' HDMI socket on the back of the sound box to the HDMI 1 slot on TV. On the TV screen I've got 'No video signal'. There should be two HDMI sockets on the back of the soundbar itself? If you look closely, then you'll notice that they are not the same! One should be labelled 'HDMI In' (or words to that effect) and the other should be labelled 'HDMI Out' (or again, words to that effect).
Run an HDMI cable straight from the back of your Humax box directly to the 'HDMI In' socket on the back of the soundbar. Next, run another HDMI cable from the 'HDMI Out' socket on the soundbar to any of the four HDMI sockets on your TV (e.g. HDMI 1 in our example).
Then try it again and make sure you select the 'HDMI 1' input on your television. It should work perfectly and you don't need to bother with any separate cables.
I'm no expert, ha ha, but it looks to me that the picture signal now has to go via the sound box to get to the TV, which doesn't seem right?
Blackpuddin said:
OK I now have an HDMI cable running from the Humax box into the 'BD/DVD AV IN' HDMI socket on the back of sound box, and a second HDMI cable running from the 'TV/ARC AV OUT' HDMI socket on the back of the sound box to the HDMI 1 slot on TV. On the TV screen I've got 'No video signal'.
I'm no expert, ha ha, but it looks to me that the picture signal now has to go via the sound box to get to the TV, which doesn't seem right?
That's definitely how it should be - the picture signal does have to go via the soundbar to get to the TV when connecting via HDMI. By running the HDMI cables as I have described, the sound should go through the soundbar and the soundbar will also pass through the untouched video signal to the television itself.I'm no expert, ha ha, but it looks to me that the picture signal now has to go via the sound box to get to the TV, which doesn't seem right?
So, your setup is now plugged in correctly by the sound of things, but you're not getting a signal on the TV for some reason. Bear in mind that you might not get any signal on the TV unless the soundbar itself is turned on - so make sure you've done that.
Try this. Turn everything off. Then turn the Humax box on, then turn the soundbar on (and press the BD/DVD button on the soundbar remote to select the Humax box as the source) and then turn the TV on and make sure that HDMI 1 is selected.
Thanks so much to you and to OldSkool. I may be imagining this but the picture seems better now too? Previously on dark content images (eg white-on-black credits at the end of a programme) the picture would go very dark. That seems to be less of an issue now. Makes me wonder if this incorrect cabling was the problem I had with the original Panasonic TVs.
Can I push my luck and ask you if either of you might know about software updates on this Philips TV? From day one when I start up the TV it has told me there's a software update and it's strongly recommended to do it, but when you select that option it just goes into a loop and does nothing. I've connected the Internet to our BT router using a normal ethernet type cable, but nowt doing.
Even if you can't help with this one, I'm very grateful for the assistance on the sound box. Thanks again.
Can I push my luck and ask you if either of you might know about software updates on this Philips TV? From day one when I start up the TV it has told me there's a software update and it's strongly recommended to do it, but when you select that option it just goes into a loop and does nothing. I've connected the Internet to our BT router using a normal ethernet type cable, but nowt doing.
Even if you can't help with this one, I'm very grateful for the assistance on the sound box. Thanks again.
I can't think of any reason that the picture should look better now (assuming that you were previously connecting the Humax directly to the TV with an HDMI cable?). Still, if it looks better to your eyes, then so much the better!
As for the TV update, the fact that the TV is 'aware' that an update is available suggests that it is correctly connected to the internet. However, the fact that it gets stuck in a loop suggests that it's having a problem connecting to Phillips' servers for some reason (could well be a problem Phillips' end, which may correct itself in time...or it may never work!)
But, there is another way of doing the update by the looks of things - by downloading the update to a blank USB stick which you then put in the USB socket on the TV. There's a link to full instructions and the correct software for your TV here. This way will give you the exact same result, but is a bit more hassle (although the instructions are fairly comprehensive by the looks of things)
As for the TV update, the fact that the TV is 'aware' that an update is available suggests that it is correctly connected to the internet. However, the fact that it gets stuck in a loop suggests that it's having a problem connecting to Phillips' servers for some reason (could well be a problem Phillips' end, which may correct itself in time...or it may never work!)
But, there is another way of doing the update by the looks of things - by downloading the update to a blank USB stick which you then put in the USB socket on the TV. There's a link to full instructions and the correct software for your TV here. This way will give you the exact same result, but is a bit more hassle (although the instructions are fairly comprehensive by the looks of things)
Edited by wiffmaster on Thursday 27th December 17:50
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