TV & Home Theater

[TurkiNatto]

I've got my sony 65 A8F and I am very concerned about its compatibility with the Dolby atmos soundbar HT-ZF9 through ARC cable

Please advice me

[Sam-BBY Retired: Social Media Specialist]

Hello TurkiNatto,

Welcome to our community.  As far as I can tell, this soundbar should be compatible with your TV.  What specific concerns did you have?

[TurkiNatto]

Connection with my TV. I mean can I use it with full features when I connect it to my TV

[bobberuchi]

Greetings, 

You certainly selected an amazing TV. I was just over at a Magnolia store near my office during lunch and looked at one of the new Sony OLED TV's

Is your concern regarding the HDMI Arc coming out of your TV and the sound bar being HDMI eArc?

eArc is the newest format for communication between the TV and devices.  eArc is 100% backwards compatible with your TV set.  This is in preperation for the new HDMI 2.1 format.

There is supposed to be a firmware upate available for the A8F to eArc which you may be able to get from your TV interface.  If you cannot find it I would suggest contacting Sony directly.

eArc is essentialy a method of providing uncompressed audio to your audio device from the TV. I have read that standard arc is 1 Mbps and eArc is 38 Mbps

The update may not be availble yet.

[TurkiNatto]

Exactly. My concern is about HDMI Arc port between my TV and the soundbar

[TurkiNatto]

Exactly. My concern is about HDMI Arc port between my TV and the soundbar.

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate it

[bobberuchi]

You should check your updates on your TV occasionally to see if the eArc is available or it may alert you automatically

I would appreciate a re-post when you find out details about it as I am considering the same TV or A9F

[TurkiNatto]

I will update you if issue resolved

[mr2yc]

Hello TurkiNatto,

I am System Designer with Magnolia and I think I can be of some assistance to you. I am curious as to the method you are using to connect the system; as the way you connect, and the devices that you use for content could limit the capabilities of audio such as Dolby Atmos for the time being.

Are you planning on using the TV as your source or do you have another source that is originating the feed? (AppleTV, Roku, gaming system, etc)

While the Z9F does feature eARC, the only need to use that feature is if the TV is the origination device. Conversely, if the Z9F soundbar is connected with both HDMI in and out (similarly to an AV receiver) the bar will decode the audio format from the source, such as Atmos, and then pass the video signal up to the TV.

In my experience, this provides a "best case scenario" solution as the TV is no longer having to run the source application and can do what it does best and provide you a phenomenal picture! While this does require the use of a secondary device, it is the way I typically recommend a system to be designed.

The other major benefit here is your A8F, while it may support eARC soon, currently does not. However, plenty of secondary devices such as AppleTV already support Atmos over HDMI.

I hope this helps you along your way!