Adding HDMI ports to your TV .... and soundbar setup?

JustAnotherSaver

I bought the Sonos Beam in the Black Friday sale and haven't yet gotten round to setting it up. Just had a quick look on YouTube and note very few ports on the rear, one being a HDMI port.

First question is does the soundbar connect to the TV or does it connect to the BT Youview box? I'm guessing TV since if it was the BT box then that'd be no good for the DVD player for example. So i may have just answered my own question but i better check first.

Secondly, I have 4 HDMI ports on my TV. They're all occupied.

I have the BT box (1)

DVD player (2)

Wii U (3)

Amazon Firestick (4)

Now 3 of those don't actually need to be in at all times but somewhere along the line it can get a bit PITA plugging and unplugging.

I wasn't sure if there was a thing as a HDMI splitter so i gambled and had a look on eBay. The ones i saw looked a bit chunky and not the discreet thing i was hoping for but hey ho. Is adding more HDMI ports to your TV as simple as plugging in one of these splitters or may they not work? Since when i select the input as HDMI2 for example, how will it know whether i want to call on my DVD player or my Firestick?

flashg67

Ideally the sound bar should be direct into an HDMI port on the tv as you suggest. I have the same hdmi port issue and bought an autoswitching HDMI hub. It works 99% of the time but occasionally I have to get up and press its button. I use it for the 'least used' devices - (in my case DVD player and a Roku stick) so it's rarely an issue anyway.
Make sure you get an HDMI switch or hub. A splitter just splits an HDMI output into two, say for a pc with two displays.

jsmith9

Connect the soundbar to your TV using an optical cable.

Boxman

jsmith9 said:

Connect the soundbar to your TV using an optical cable.

Alternatively IF you have the appropriate sockets on both your tv and sound bar connect by an HDMI cable via eARC.  The sound bar will then switch on and off automatically when you turn the TV on and off and the volume can be controlled with the TV remote.  No optical cable required then.
Connect the DVD directly to the sound bar to free up the eARC socket on the TV (stand to be corrected but think that's the way to do out).

jsmith9

Boxman said:

jsmith9 said:

Connect the soundbar to your TV using an optical cable.

Alternatively IF you have the appropriate sockets on both your tv and sound bar connect by an HDMI cable via eARC.  The sound bar will then switch on and off automatically when you turn the TV on and off and the volume can be controlled with the TV remote.  No optical cable required then.
Connect the DVD directly to the sound bar to free up the eARC socket on the TV (stand to be corrected but think that's the way to do out).

Yes, definately the best solution but downside is it uses a precious HDMI port on your TV.

JustAnotherSaver

Ok this talk of arcs and opticals has landed in the field 10 miles away after it shot straight over my head i'm afraid.

As for what I do understand ... There's only 1 HDMI port that is really needed in reality and that's the one for the BT YouView box. We've not played the Wii U in ages, the Firestick is watched as and when and for the most part we stream or Plex our movies so that rules the DVD player out mostly.

Regards the HDMI switch/hub, how does this work? I have 4 HDMI ports on my TV so when i select input on the remote i get the option of HDMI1-4.

If i add a hub/switch and connect more than that ... say my BT TV is in HDMI1 and the hub is now in HDMI2 and in to that hub is my DVD player and Wii U. I select HDMI 2 ... how do i select what shows on the TV?

Regards how to set it up properly or best etc... I don't know if my devices have whatever it is you mention.

Soundbar: https://www.sonos.com/en-gb/shop/beam.html

TV: https://www.panasonic.com/uk/support/discontinued-products/televisions/tx-58dx750b.html

If that helps?

debitcardmayhem

HDMI input 2 on the TV is ARC (Audio Return Channel) connect that to the Sonos and all sound from the TV will go there

jsmith9

As @debitcardmayhem says. However, this will use one of your HDMI ports. If you don't want to do this, then use the optical port on the TV and connect it to the SONOS using the adapter supplied (optical->HDMI). You will lose some functionality but will save using a HDMI port.

JustAnotherSaver

Will there be a difference in audio quality if I go the optical route? And what functionality will be lost? 

Its no major deal to have the soundbar connected via hdmi so I can do that. Still curious about the hdmi hub situation I asked about. I may just remove whatever I don't need and plug in whatever I do but would still like to know. 

And thanks for the info. 

Uptown_Boy

Shouldn't be any loss of audio quality using optical. As to functionality - I don't know. I suspect they're meaning the ability for the sound bar to turn On/Off in conjunction with the TV - which means you'd instead need to turn each On/Off separately.

jsmith9

Yes as previously stated if you go the HDMI route then when you turn the TV on the soundbar will turn on etc

if you go via the optical route then you will have to turn the soundbar on/off separately or leave it powered on