TV sets have evolved over the year. They have become slimmer, resolution and pictorial quality has improved massively, and truth be told, the future of TV set looks insanely promising with an 8K display on its way. But unfortunately, we can not say the same about the audio department of the evolving world of TV sets. Because smart TVs are designed to be very flat, their speakers and sound system will equally come out flat. This in turn negatively affects the quality of sound such speakers can produce. In some cases, the sound barely reaches the audience because the inbuilt speakers are not positioned for an optimal sonic experience. It gets worse if the speaker is embedded on the rear of the TV blaring sounds backward.
What is a Soundbar
A Soundbar is a rectangular loudspeaker that serves as an alternative to the poor audio quality of a smart TV. Soundbars supports louder audio, precise placement of sound, impressive bass response, wireless music playback via Bluetooth, dialogue enhancement.
How to connect a soundbar to the TV
HDMI
HDMI is definitely one of the best options(cable) to consider for connecting soundbar to TV, this is because they’re able to carry large amounts of uncompressed digital audio data, and can work effectively with any sound system from 5.1 to 7.1 surround sound.
NOTE- Because HDMI ports on smart TVs are input only, meaning they can only receive data from whatever device they are connected to, If you want to connect your soundbar using an HDMI cable, you’ll have to make sure your TV set supports ‘HDMI-ARC‘ (Audio Return Channel) which allows audio to travel in both directions along the cable.
Digital Optical or Digital Coaxial Cable
If your soundbar doesn’t have an HDMI port, you can also make use of a digital coaxial or a digital optical cable. These cables are capable of transferring digital audio up to 5.1 surrounded sound. The digital coaxial cable has a circular connector while the optical cable has a square connector. Before you get any of these cables, make sure your TV supports these types of cables, most smart TVs support optical cables but very rarely support coaxial cables.
Headphone Jack
Headphone jacks are also decent options to consider for soundbar connection. To get quality sound, you’ll need to adjust your volume, bass and treble settings to your desired level.
