Will any sound bar work on my RCA HDtv?

[Supergodman12]

[MrOracle]

Not necessarily.

I'm an Audio/Video Integrator, so this is literally what I do.

Most modern sound bars require a TV with HDMI ARC or e-ARC (ARC stands for Audio Return Channel), and older HDMI TVs, and possibly some cheaper models, may not have such ports. HDMI ARC ports support exactly the same audio formats and bitrates as TOSLink and Coaxial Digital (stereo, Dolby Digital 5.1/AC3, and DTS 5.1) - they just do it over an HDMI cable. HDMI e-ARC is a much newer standard and supports modern audio formats/codecs such as Dolby Digital Plus (which is the defacto standard for streaming services) and even formats that you generally can only get on Blu-Ray/UHD, such as Dolby TrueHD and DTS Master Audio - but DD+ is the main format that you need to care about as it's used by everything today.

Older sound bars typically used TOSLink "optical" cables, but that ancient standard doesn't support modern audio formats, and so it has been phased out of newer models.

If your sound bar is 2-channel only (i. e., stereo), then as long as your TV has a supported port, you're fine, but more advanced sound bars (that have more than just Left and Right speakers, or, say, offer support for wireless surround speakers) will usually need e-ARC today, and e-ARC HDMI ports didn't start appearing on TVs until 2018.

ARC or TOSLink is fine for stereo - but the sound bar and the TV both have to support whichever connection you're using.

Hope that made sense, but feel free to ask if you have specific questions.

[Supergodman12]

I see I'm not too familiar with HDMI ARC or e-ARC lol but my RCA HDtv does have 4 HDMI ports and it has a surround sound mode in its tv menu also it has VGA and component inputs as well as composite for like PS1 system

[Supergodman12]

It also has digital audio out on the side of it though I'm not sure what that's for

[Supergodman12]

My RCA HDtv is from 2012

[MrOracle]

Can you see the back of your TV? Look to see if one of the ports is marked ARC (only 1 port will be). Otherwise, you probably have an optical "TOSlink" output, which will glow red when the TV is on..

[MrOracle]

Your TV *should* have either an HDMI ARC port or an optical output. Some TVs have both.

[Supergodman12]

My TV is modern right if it's a RCA HDtv from 2012 right?

[MrOracle]

In the context of a tech product (which change so rapidly), a 12 year old TV is not "modern" - I would say that "modern" (in 2024 terms) began in 2018 when eARC ports were released. TVs since then haven't really added any significant audio features and probably won't for the foreseeable future.

But that doesn't matter that much - you just need to find a sound bar that your TV supports. That's not going to be all that difficult, especially if your TV at least has an ARC port.

[Supergodman12]

Well it's still considered modern to some

[Supergodman12]

Mine doesn't have arc

[MrOracle]

Well, that makes it easy. Get a stereo sound bar that supports an optical connection and you are good to go.

[Supergodman12]

You don't like a 2012 tv?

[MrOracle]

Nothing wrong with them at all. I have an even older one. But "modern" in this context would mean a model with e-ARC, which means 2018 or newer. I was just trying to give you the right advice to make sure you got a sound bar that was compatible with your TV.

[Supergodman12]

What year is your older TV?

[MrOracle]

It's a 2009 Samsung that I rescued from a garbage pile at a job. Still works!

[Supergodman12]

Wow what does it look like it's a 09 nice

[MrOracle]

More or less like this:

[Supergodman12]

It looks like mine almost

[Supergodman12]

My RCA has a 31.5 screen I think

[AviatorTom]

If the TV has an HDMI port, you should be okay. Best is to check with the experts, the people you buy the sound bar from.

[Supergodman12]

Mine has 4 HDMI ports😀

[FreyaRed]

Most recent soundbars have hdmi with ARC (Audio return channel). Just be aware, most recent TV panels have just RCA inputs and no outputs and you will need an output.

I have some painful memories as I wanted to connect a Denon receiver with Samsung LCD and this ARC function needed two firmware upgrades on receiver and TV to work together.

[Supergodman12]

My HDtv is from 2012?

[dustybiker2]

Read the sound bars manual. Sony is usually one of those companies that purposely makes their products difficult to mix equipment with. Some companies who make things like sound bars finds ways around these blocks.

[In_Trance]

Ask RCA