Will 2018 Sony TVs support HDMI 2.1 for eARC audio?

[psychopomp1]

Hi,
I'm thinking of buying the Sony HT-X8500 Dolby Atmos Soundbar for my 43" Sony XF8096 TV when this soundbar is released next month. The HT-XF8500 supports Dolby Atmos which I guess only works through eARC HDMI. Now my XF8096 TV currently supports HDMI ARC but not eARC so I guess I won't get Dolby Atmos quality sound through that soundbar. But does anyone know if the older TV's such as the XF8096 will eventually get a firmware update so that they support HDMI 2.1 so that eARC (& therefore Dolby Atmos) can be supported on such TVs?
Cheers

 

[zAndy1]

Hi,
I'm thinking of buying the Sony HT-X8500 Dolby Atmos Soundbar for my 43" Sony XF8096 TV when this soundbar is released next month. The HT-XF8500 supports Dolby Atmos which I guess only works through eARC HDMI. Now my XF8096 TV currently supports HDMI ARC but not eARC so I guess I won't get Dolby Atmos quality sound through that soundbar. But does anyone know if the older TV's such as the XF8096 will eventually get a firmware update so that they support HDMI 2.1 so that eARC (& therefore Dolby Atmos) can be supported on such TVs?
Cheers

You can pass Atmos audio from eg Netflix via normal ARC as it's passed in a DD+ wrapper, it's not uncompressed full fat Atmos but it's the only kind of Atmos the built in apps support at the moment so no need for e-arc specifically

 

[psychopomp1]

Thanks. So i'm guessing a 2.0 HDMI cable will give compressed Atmos audio at present but if/when the ARC port on my TV can be upgraded to eARC (eg through a firmware update) then I would require a 2.1 HDMI cable to get proper full fat Dolby Atmos? And is there a huge difference in audio quality between compressed Atmos & uncompressed/full-fat Atmos audio?
Cheers

 

[zeppelino]

Only select 2018 models were updated to earc. I don’t think your XF will be updated.

What sources do you have that do Atmos?

 

[psychopomp1]

My Xbox One X has the Atmos app installed and some Netflix titles support Atmos, so would be great to get some speakers which support this. My lucidsound LS35X headphones also support Atmos through the Xbox.

 

[zeppelino]

If you go with that soundbar then simply connect Xbox directly to its in port and connect tv via the arc port. You’ll then get Atmos via the Xbox and via inbuilt Netflix app.

 

[psychopomp1]

If you go with that soundbar then simply connect Xbox directly to its in port and connect tv via the arc port. You’ll then get Atmos via the Xbox and via inbuilt Netflix app.

Thanks. I'm currently using the Sony SF150 soundbar, this is connected to the TV through the ARC port, the TV is connected to the Xbox via HDMI, and I'm getting audio from the Xbox to the soundbar without any issues. Could I not connect the new soundbar in exactly the same fashion? The X8500 would simply replace my SF150.

 

[desinho]

Only models with the new chipset can do eARC (AF9, ZF9, XG95, XG85, AG9 and of course the ZG9 but it has HDMI 2.1 anyway) ...

 

[zeppelino]

Thanks. I'm currently using the Sony SF150 soundbar, this is connected to the TV through the ARC port, the TV is connected to the Xbox via HDMI, and I'm getting audio from the Xbox to the soundbar without any issues. Could I not connect the new soundbar in exactly the same fashion? The X8500 would simply replace my SF150.

You can but you may not get Atmos from the Xbox

 

[psychopomp1]

You can but you may not get Atmos from the Xbox

If I had to connect the Xbox One X directly to the new soundbar, would this even be possible considering there are only 2 HDMI rear ports on the Xbox, the 'HDMI out to TV' port & 'HDMI In from sat/cable'?

 

[zeppelino]

If I had to connect the Xbox One X directly to the new soundbar, would this even be possible considering there are only 2 HDMI rear ports on the Xbox, the 'HDMI out to TV' port & 'HDMI In from sat/cable'?

Connect the out to tv to the in port on the soundbar. Then the out goes to the tv - this’ll send picture from the Xbox to the tv but also get sound from the tv.

 

[psychopomp1]

Connect the out to tv to the in port on the soundbar. Then the out goes to the tv - this’ll send picture from the Xbox to the tv but also get sound from the tv.

Thanks. Dumb question I know but will the above setup still send video from xbox to tv considering the xbox is not connected directly to the TV, ie is the soundbar able to pass through video from the xbox to the TV?

These are the available ports:

Sony X8500 soundbar:



Xbox One X:

 

[zeppelino]

Yes, the bar can pass video to the tv. It will also receive audio from the tv and it’s apps.

 

[psychopomp1]

Sorry another dumb question. It seems the HDMI ports on my Xbox One X are v2.1 and so is the 'HDMI In' port on the X8500 soundbar. From the Soundbar manual:



Does this mean that in future, I should be able to get full fat/uncompressed Dolby Atmos audio (Dolby TrueHD?) audio on the soundbar, provided it is connected to the Xbox directly and a 2.1 HDMI cable is used? (for certain xbox playback only of course) If so, is it worth buying a 2.1 HDMI cable now to future proof the connection between the Xbox and the soundbar?

Btw I've ordered the X8500 soundbar, its due to be released by Amazon on 4th April. Not cheap at £350 but obviously I have 30 days to return it in case I'm not happy with it.

Cheers

 

[zeppelino]

Your Xbox doesn’t have hdmi 2.1. 2.1 has not even been certified yet - how old is that model?

Microsoft may be able to add some features of 2.1 to the hdmi ports on your Xbox but likelihood is they won’t - why would you upgrade to next gen if they did so?

You don’t need 2.1 to get full Atmos where it’s available. Most full Atmos is disc based so to get it from the disc you connect the source to the soundbar and the soundbar to the tv.

 

[psychopomp1]

Your Xbox doesn’t have hdmi 2.1. 2.1 has not even been certified yet - how old is that model?

Microsoft may be able to add some features of 2.1 to the hdmi ports on your Xbox but likelihood is they won’t - why would you upgrade to next gen if they did so?

You don’t need 2.1 to get full Atmos where it’s available. Most full Atmos is disc based so to get it from the disc you connect the source to the soundbar and the soundbar to the tv.

I have the latest Xbox One X, which was released in Nov 2017. According to this article the HDMI port(s) on it now support HDMI 2.1, making it the first device to officially support HDMI 2.1:

Xbox One X Gets HDMI 2.1 Compatibility, Making It Virtually Future-Proof

 

[zeppelino]

It’s not listed by Microsoft so take this with a pinch of salt.

All the features mentioned in the article don’t actually need 2.1.

Also, vrr is redundant unless your tv supports it - which it doesn’t. ALLM is not a must have and again your tv doesn’t support it. All allm does is automatically switch the tv into game mode

 

[andy1249]

I have the latest Xbox One X, which was released in Nov 2017. According to this article the HDMI port(s) on it now support HDMI 2.1, making it the first device to officially support HDMI 2.1:

Xbox One X Gets HDMI 2.1 Compatibility, Making It Virtually Future-Proof

A learning opportunity here.
Note that guys name from the article and ignore everything he writes in future.
Hes an idiot that has no clue what hes talking about.

HDMI 2.1 is a new chipset.
Its impossible to put new chips in your xbox with a software update.
At best you can shoehorn a couple of software features in, thats all , but your xbox is not, and never will be, a 2.1 device.

You will have to buy a new one for that when it comes along.

 

[psychopomp1]

Thanks guys. Looking at this video where a Xbox rep at CES 2019 talks about HDMI 2.1 on the Xbox One X, it seems at least some of the features of HDMI 2.1 are (or will be) available on the Xbox:

 

[andy1249]

Thanks guys. Looking at this video where a Xbox rep at CES 2019 talks about HDMI 2.1 on the Xbox One X, it seems at least some of the features of HDMI 2.1 are (or will be) available on the Xbox:

He talks about two minor bandwidth features ( VRR and ALLM ) from 2.1 that they were lucky enough to be able to fit into the xbox.
Two 2.1 features, but they dont make the xbox 2.1

Also note the piece at the start showing the “ prototype “ Ultra HDMI cable.
Ultra is the proper name for the new cable.
HDMI Numbers never apply to cables as they refer to chipsets only.
As the guy says, There are no genuine Ultra cables yet because the CTS was not ready.

That Belkin cable that the idiot in the article mentioned is a fake.
Its impossible for it too have been Ultra certified last june when it went on sale because the Ultra “ Compliance Test Specification document was not ready.

It has only just become available so there wont be any genuine Ultra cables for a while yet.
Right now, the best you can get are still “premium” certified.

 

[psychopomp1]

Thanks andy. Ignoring its eye watering price, is this a 2.1 ready 'certified' cable? It seems to have an ethernet channel and supports speeds of up to 48Gb/s.

Ultra HD High Speed HDMI® Cable (2018)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Ultra-High-Speed-Cable/dp/B07GVQKJ9W

 

[andy1249]

Thanks andy. Ignoring its eye watering price, is this a 2.1 ready 'certified' cable? It seems to have an ethernet channel and supports speeds of up to 48Gb/s.

Ultra HD High Speed HDMI® Cable (2018)

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Belkin-Ultra-High-Speed-Cable/dp/B07GVQKJ9W

No , as said , those are fakes.
Genuine ones, when they arrive, will carry the official logo from HDMI.org and will most likely have a QR code which you can scan with your phone to take you to a copy of its cert.
See here for official logos.
HDMI :: Manufacturer :: HDMI 1.4 :: Finding the Right Cable

 

[psychopomp1]

You don’t need 2.1 to get full Atmos where it’s available. Most full Atmos is disc based so to get it from the disc you connect the source to the soundbar and the soundbar to the tv.

So does that mean full Atmos doesn’t need the full 48 Gb/s bandwidth of 2.1, and instead can run over 2.0 using up to 18 Gb/s bandwidth?

 

[zeppelino]

So does that mean full Atmos doesn’t need the full 48 Gb/s bandwidth of 2.1, and instead can run over 2.0 using up to 18 Gb/s bandwidth?

Bingo.