Onkyo & eARC

[StephenCND]

Hello everyone. Was wondering if you could assist . I believe the Onkyo TX-NR696 supports ARC but not eARC. Trying to see if a firmware update will upgrade it to eARC but am getting conflicting info. Does anyone know one way or the other?
Thanks in advance

 

[Trebdp83]

The Onkyo TX-NR696 does not support eARC. So, no lossless audio from ARC connected TV sending audio from externally connected devices such as a disc player or game console. The Onkyo can receive and playback Dolby Atmos from a Dolby Digital +/Atmos track via ARC connection. The need for lossless audio from a gaming console that supports 4K @120 connected directly to a TV would necessitate eARC from a receiver. Not sure if there is an extractor that supports 4K @120 to connect to a console to get video to TV and audio to receiver. Oh, sorry, welcome to the forums!

 

[StephenCND]

Thank you for the prompt reply. Much appreciated. I will not be using the AV Receiver with a gaming console (slight chance I might use it with my PC). I intend to use it with my TV (LG OLED55C1 which is eARC enabled). I am hoping to pass the audio out through the receiver to some ELAC towers (with Atmos enabled speakers), center channel speakers and a sub. Same thing goes for my Pioneer turn table.

My question is really geared towards the TV: Since the TV supports eARC, but the receiver doesn't, will I have issues with Atmos ? (I'm excluding streaming services such as Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc., as my understanding is that Atmos is somehow included in the stream) . In my research, I believe I'd also have issues with any 4K/8K Blueray players, as the Onkyo TX-NR696 won't be able to reproduce Atmos as well. I'm really hoping for a firmware update on the Onkyo TX-NR696 at this point, but I won't hold my breath. If they haven't done it by now, it's not likely to happen i guess...)

 

[Trebdp83]

Because the Onkyo does not support eARC, HDMI-CEC, or Simplink in the LG TV, needs to be on to allow ARC. A UHD blu-ray player connected directly to the Onkyo will deliver TrueHD/Atmos, DTS:X tracks and other lossless codecs to the receiver with no issue. But, lossless audio will not be delivered to the Onkyo from a device connected directly to the TV. So, when watching a movie that contains an atmos track on a disc player connected directly to the TV, a lossy DD 5.1 track will make its way to the Onkyo.

 

[StephenCND]

Ou... bummer.

 

[lovinthehd]

Why would you connect the disc player to the tv in the first place?

 

[StephenCND]

Maybe I did not express myself correctly. Didn't want to imply that I would connect it to the TV.

 

[lovinthehd]

Maybe I did not express myself correctly. Didn't want to imply that I would connect it to the TV.

Then why would the avr have trouble with your lossless codecs/atmos? Maybe I misunderstood....

 

[StephenCND]

I was strictly talking about TV to receiver . In any event, thank you all for your help. Much appreciated.

 

[Trebdp83]

For streaming services, using ARC vs eARC nets you the same audio signal and ALL streamed Atmos tracks have DD+ at their core and are within the bandwidth limits of ARC. But, using ARC means having to use HDMI-CEC and that can sometimes be more trouble than it is worth depending upon the paired receiver and TV.

 

[lovinthehd]

I was strictly talking about TV to receiver . In any event, thank you all for your help. Much appreciated.

Just depends what audio you want to source from a tv...personally I just a tv as monitor as I have better app support outside the tv.