HDTV, Blu Ray and Sound Bar Setup Question

[eventemposwing]

Hi all,

Newly registered, and I was hoping someone can help with a quick answer to a question - it does sound stupid but I hope someone can help!

Just upgraded from 11-year old CRT Sony TV and ancient home theatre system to all the new kit, as the digital switchover is happening in my region from August.

So whilst I was at it, I went the whole hog and bought:

Panasonic TX-P42V20B plasma
Panasonic DMP-BD75 EB-K blu Ray player
Panasonic SC-HTB500 SoundBar with wireless Kelton Subwoofer

Also bought all the necessary HDMI v1.4 High Speed cables with ARC capability etc.

My question is about connecting these 3 items (I won't even go into the wifi connections for TV or ethernet for blu ray just yet - one thing at a time )

So if someone can help please:

Obviously the plasma gets connected to the aerial port on the wall so that I can watch TV.

And I make it that I should - using the HDMI v1.4 High Speed cables with ARC capability:

1. Connect HDMI-in ARC port on back of plasma, to HDMI-out ARC port on back of SoundBar

2. Connect HDMI-out port on back of blu ray, to the HDMI-in port on SoundBar.

If this is correct, how does the signal from any movie I play on the blu ray get transmitted to the TV (since the blu ray is not directly connected to the plasma)?

Or does the Soundbar transmit the signal onwards to the TV anyway, since the two ARC ports on plasma and soundbar are connected?

Thanks - I know its a silly question but I hope someone can help! Sorry for sounding daft.

 

[AV COM]

As you suspect, the soundbar is simply passing the audio signal through to the TV, although this would be the case without ARC too. ARC refers only to the audio returning from the TV sort of "the wrong way" back down the HDMI as it were. This is an option you can disable if you wish on most AV receivers although I'm not familiar with the Panasonic bars, check your user manual / menu and there may very well be an option to turn this off.

On a related note all HDMI cables support ARC, there is no need for a specific cable to use it - only a requirment that both your devices support it.

Hope this helps.