4 ms·

I seem to remember that one drawback of trying for a monitor plus soundbar setup (which has tempted me from time to time) was splitting modern HDMI inputs. Can

by thom 5y ago

I seem to remember that one drawback of trying for a monitor plus soundbar setup (which has tempted me from time to time) was splitting modern HDMI inputs. Can anyone speak to these issues as they stand today (to the extent that I’ve not misremembered)?

gwbas1c 5y ago
Most TVs have an ARC (audio return channel) labeled HDMI input which sends the sound back. I connected my smart TV to my receiver via the ARC HDMI port, and it sends sound back to the receiver; and I can select inputs from the receiver from my TV's remote.
zamadatix 5y ago
For literally trying to make a dumb TV out of a monitor and sound bar https://www.amazon.com/OREI-HDA-912-Audio-Converter-Extractor/dp/B07BHYXVTY/ https://www.amazon.com/OREI-HDA-912-Audio-Converter-Extracto... If you want actual OTA TV on your dumb TV https://www.amazon.com/ViewTV-ATSC-Digital-Converter-Clear/dp/B00GGVPKKC/ https://www.amazon.com/ViewTV-ATSC-Digital-Converter-Clear/d... If you have many sources consider https://www.amazon.com/Output-Switch-Switcher-Support-Control/dp/B07G34M2G7 https://www.amazon.com/Output-Switch-Switcher-Support-Contro... or getting a receiver instead of all the above (more costly). If you want to make your own smart TV look at the Shield TV with a USB TV Tuner, the extractor is probably still best for the sound bar in that case.
- thom 5y ago
  These all look good, thanks! I basically just want Chromecast/Apple TV or equivalent in an HDMI port, as high quality as possible with no weird latency issues between video and audio. I don’t mind paying for a good panel, I just don’t like the software and the slow boot times.
  - zamadatix 5y ago
    I'd definitely go the Nvidia Shield TV (2019) route, I use one for exactly that. It is a tiny box that runs Android TV (which includes Chromecast functionality plus the ability to run apps local) and even the original 2015 model is still getting updates. For control it comes with a hardware remote or you can use your phone or you can cast to it. Supports 4K HDR10, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos as well as full DRM support for Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/etc allowing it to actually receive the 4k versions (or you can just use the Plex app if that's your thing or VLC for local files). That extractor will passthrough whatever the output is and break out the audio to SPDIF for your soundbar. Overall it's on the more powerful side and has full hardware acceleration so weird latency issues but you'll want to match the audio offset in the Android TV settings to whatever the display latency of your monitor of choice is to get the audio/video timing to perfectly match (supports both positive and negative offsets in case your soundbar has its own latency problems).

by thom 5y ago

gwbas1c 5y ago

Most TVs have an ARC (audio return channel) labeled HDMI input which sends the sound back. I connected my smart TV to my receiver via the ARC HDMI port, and it sends sound back to the receiver; and I can select inputs from the receiver from my TV's remote.

zamadatix 5y ago

For literally trying to make a dumb TV out of a monitor and sound bar https://www.amazon.com/OREI-HDA-912-Audio-Converter-Extractor/dp/B07BHYXVTY/ https://www.amazon.com/OREI-HDA-912-Audio-Converter-Extracto... If you want actual OTA TV on your dumb TV https://www.amazon.com/ViewTV-ATSC-Digital-Converter-Clear/dp/B00GGVPKKC/ https://www.amazon.com/ViewTV-ATSC-Digital-Converter-Clear/d... If you have many sources consider https://www.amazon.com/Output-Switch-Switcher-Support-Control/dp/B07G34M2G7 https://www.amazon.com/Output-Switch-Switcher-Support-Contro... or getting a receiver instead of all the above (more costly). If you want to make your own smart TV look at the Shield TV with a USB TV Tuner, the extractor is probably still best for the sound bar in that case.

thom 5y ago
These all look good, thanks! I basically just want Chromecast/Apple TV or equivalent in an HDMI port, as high quality as possible with no weird latency issues between video and audio. I don’t mind paying for a good panel, I just don’t like the software and the slow boot times.
- zamadatix 5y ago
  I'd definitely go the Nvidia Shield TV (2019) route, I use one for exactly that. It is a tiny box that runs Android TV (which includes Chromecast functionality plus the ability to run apps local) and even the original 2015 model is still getting updates. For control it comes with a hardware remote or you can use your phone or you can cast to it. Supports 4K HDR10, Dolby Vision, and Dolby Atmos as well as full DRM support for Netflix/Amazon/Hulu/etc allowing it to actually receive the 4k versions (or you can just use the Plex app if that's your thing or VLC for local files). That extractor will passthrough whatever the output is and break out the audio to SPDIF for your soundbar. Overall it's on the more powerful side and has full hardware acceleration so weird latency issues but you'll want to match the audio offset in the Android TV settings to whatever the display latency of your monitor of choice is to get the audio/video timing to perfectly match (supports both positive and negative offsets in case your soundbar has its own latency problems).