# HDMI ARC/CEC with LG TV and Denon AVR



## danmanca

I have an LG55LW5600 LCD TV. I just purchased a Denon X3400H AVR. I've tried everything and can't seem to get either ARC or CEC to work with the TV/receiver. Prior to the Denon I had a Pioneer receiver and had it working without issues. When I check the simplink option on my TV its on but won't see the receiver. I've tried turning it off/on several times to detect but still same issue. 

Also in the Denon settings I have "HDMI Control" set to on but still it won't detect. I don't have an optical cable and would like to avoid extra cables if possible. I'm trying to get the broadcast channels to output via the ARC. Also ARC appears to be on at both the Denon and LG TV.


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## Otto Pylot

ARC/CEC issues are not uncommon. The culprit is usually CEC because of non-standardized protocols. The device mfrs are free to implement whichever protocols they want for whatever reasons they choose to do so. It can work for awhile and then have issues after an update or a change in devices. There are no updates that I am aware of that can correct ARC/CEC issues. Some newer devices allow separate controls for ARC/CEC so you can disable/enable either one independently. 

The easiest and most consistent way is to use an optical cable for audio from the SmartApps or OTA and use a programmable remote such as a Harmony for single remote control (automatically selecting the correct inputs) of your HTS. Not what you want to hear but that is probably the easiest, and less stressful way to correct your issue.


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## MackGuyver

The LG ARC implementation has driven me a bit crazy as well. Try power cycling the TV and receiver several times, even unplugging them if it doesn't work. Always use the TV remote to turn on the whole set up - the TV must turn on the receiver or it won't work. Also, most receivers have a setting for CEC control and a separate one for ARC; make sure both are configured correctly. With my TV, sometimes the ARC setting resets to TV speakers, so make sure that doesn't happen, too.


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## Otto Pylot

^^^^ I too have an older LG and just gave up on ARC/CEC a long time ago and went with an optical/Harmony remote combo.


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## danmanca

Ok, thanks for all the responses. I'll get an optical cable and run that for now. I already have a harmony remote set up and configured so should be simple. Thanks for the help.


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## Bill Shakespeare

I set up my new LG OLED B7A and Denon AVR-X3400H this weekend and discovered the ARC/CEC issue with my Harmony 665. Each time I selected "Watch TV" the remote would settle on the correct inputs, displaying my satellite receiver and then quickly change to my Blu-ray player. I couldn't solve the problem until I searched the internet. Turning off ARC and adding an optical cable fixed the issue.

My system has a 7.2 speaker array and seems to work fine with the optical cable. However, I wonder whether for Atmos systems the optical cable would pass the Atmos signal from the LG OLED to the receiver as the ARC/HDMI cable does.


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## Bill Shakespeare

This updates my post of 1/15 above. 

The LG OLED has an HDMI eARC input/output, that will transmit Dolby Atmos signals to the AVR. Of course, with the digital optical cable the Atmos signal could not be sent to the AVR. I suspected that the 7.2 signal would also be improved if I used HDMI rather than optical. In the past two weeks, I replaced my inexpensive Sony blu-ray player with an Oppo 203. Last night, not expecting the eARC to behave differently (changing the AVR inputs from satellite to blu-ray with the Harmony), I turned the ARC/CEC on in the Denon's settings. Perhaps because of the change of blu-ray players, the Denon now behaves appropriately with the Harmony remote. Eventually I may swap the old Sony into the system to see if it was the cause of the conflict with the Harmony commands. At any rate, the problem seems solved with all components functioning with the Harmony while eARC is enabled.


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## Joe Fernand

CEC - will react differently with different devices connected to the TV or AVR.

4K UHD Player - hopefully you have that connected via HDMI to the AVR rather than the TV.

Joe


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## Bill Shakespeare

Updating my update. Yes, the OPPO is connected to the AVR, as is the Directv DVR (non-4K), with high speed Monoprice HDMI cables. 

However, I spoke too soon. While the erroneous switching to the Blu-ray input ceased, subtle failures occur intermittently. The OLED reports no signal, although the DVR and AVR all indicate a signal is transmitted. Usually, that occurs when I use the Harmony to switch from the OPPO to DVR. I've found that using the Harmony to turn off all the components and then selecting the "activity" I wanted avoided the problem, usually. I'm wondering with a 7.2 non-Atmos system whether I lose anything I can hear by using the optical cable and sending a surround sound signal from the OLED to the AVR, instead of the e-ARC HDMI Atmos signal which the AVR reduces to a 7.2 distribution.

I'm also having audio drop-outs with the DVR when I skip forward. Sometimes it's easy to restore the audio. Sometimes I have to shut everything off. PITA, but I don't think it's a CEC issue. It's the handshake between the DVR and the new AVR. I'll look elsewhere in the forum, but if anyone has thoughts on how to correct the problem, I'm all ears. Especially when there's no audio.


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## Otto Pylot

It was always my understanding that if one is to use a Harmony remote, which doesn't rely on an HDMI connection like ARC/CEC, then ARC/CEC should be disabled so as to not "confuse" the system. If your tv/receiver whatever has separate controls for ARC/CEC then you could disable CEC and still use ARC. However, ALL of your devices need to have that capability. Separate control of ARC/CEC is fairly new so not all devices have that capability. I have an older LG and receiver and am not able to separate the two. It's all or nothing.

I would disable ARC/CEC altogether and then see if your issues persist. Using separate remotes is a pain but for testing purposes it might help to rule out where your issue lies.


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## Joe Fernand

There are a few AVR's which break the rule/requirement for CEC to be enabled on the AVR for ARC to work - have not tried it myself.

The norm is usually ARC or Programmable Remote rather than both being used alongside each other.

Using the Optical cable between the TV and the AVR may still allow you to access DD+ - you will need to test that out.

Joe


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## Mojito

It could help to make sure that you choose HDMI outputs and inputs on bot TV and Receiver that support ARC. Usually they are marked ARC, or the manual specifies which ones are for ARC.

As for CEC vs. Harmony, I use both. In my configuration (Yamaha 5100 and LG OLED), because there is no way in Yamaha to use ARC without CEC enabled. The good thing is that Yamaha provides a possibility to use configurable sets of setting (scenes) which can be recalled with a remote command. I created a Smart TV scene where both CEC and ARC is enabled, and disable them for all other scenes.


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## Bill Shakespeare

I disabled CEC while leaving ARC actve on my Denon receiver. That seems to have ended conflicts with the Harmony. I also changed the HDMI port on the AVR to which the DVR is connected. That fixed the audio dropout issue.

I was able to access the DD+ signal using an optical cable as well. The ARC connection provided a Dolby Atmos signal to the AVR which plays as 7.2 to my speakers. I learned over in the Denon receiver thread that the signal is contained in a Dolby digital lossy package. I thought the eARC carried a lossless signal. It will, but eARC is not yet implemented.


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## Otto Pylot

^^^^^ some optical (audio) connections can send lossy Atmos and DD+. HD Audio (DTS-MA, Dolby TrueHD, etc) is not yet available with ARC so the only real advantage of ARC at present is the elimination of an optical cable. eARC will only be available once HDMI 2.1 is fully implemented in new consumer devices. However, all of your HDMI connected devices will have to have the current HDMI 2.1 chipsets, otherwise the HDMI protocols will "fall-back" to the common HDMI protocol set (probably HDMI 2.0b). The final HDMI 2.1 specs were sent to the chip makers late last year so they probably won't appear in consumer devices until late this year or early next year at the absolute earliest.


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## bradykp

I used to have my Denon AVR x2200w set up so that both my Samsung television remote and my verizion FIOS remote would control the receiver sound instead of the television sound - and i would leave the television at 0 so sound only comes from surround sound. 

recently, my Denon shut down (it overheated) and i unplugged it. i set it up again, but now none of the remotes control the receiver sound...they work the TV sound. i swear it used to be that if i turned surround sound on, TV sound would go silent and only surround sound worked. 

anyone have any idea about this? I've had zero luck with Anynet+ or ARC.


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## Otto Pylot

bradykp said:


> I used to have my Denon AVR x2200w set up so that both my Samsung television remote and my verizion FIOS remote would control the receiver sound instead of the television sound - and i would leave the television at 0 so sound only comes from surround sound.
> 
> recently, my Denon shut down (it overheated) and i unplugged it. i set it up again, but now none of the remotes control the receiver sound...they work the TV sound. i swear it used to be that if i turned surround sound on, TV sound would go silent and only surround sound worked.
> 
> anyone have any idea about this? I've had zero luck with Anynet+ or ARC.


Disable ARC/CEC on all of your devices and see if the individual remotes work. If so, then there is nothing wrong with your devices. I would use a programmable remote like a Harmony. CEC is probably the culprit and there are no updates that can correct that. You will need to use an optical cable from the tv to the receiver for the SmartApps audio, and the Harmony for single remote control of your system. Optical will pass discrete 5.1 which is the same as ARC so you won't lose any audio fidelity.


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## Tomislav K

I found some people don't know this. Not all HDMI ports on a TV supports ARC. Make sure you are connected to the right HDMI port on a TV where ARC is written.


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## Otto Pylot

Tomislav K said:


> I found some people don't know this. Not all HDMI ports on a TV supports ARC. Make sure you are connected to the right HDMI port on a TV where ARC is written.


The ARC/eARC ports are usually labeled as such if users would bother to check the ports on their devices or RTFM.


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## Berekin

danmanca said:


> I have an LG55LW5600 LCD TV. I just purchased a Denon X3400H AVR. I've tried everything and can't seem to get either ARC or CEC to work with the TV/receiver. Prior to the Denon I had a Pioneer receiver and had it working without issues. When I check the simplink option on my TV its on but won't see the receiver. I've tried turning it off/on several times to detect but still same issue.
> 
> Also in the Denon settings I have "HDMI Control" set to on but still it won't detect. I don't have an optical cable and would like to avoid extra cables if possible. I'm trying to get the broadcast channels to output via the ARC. Also ARC appears to be on at both the Denon and LG TV.


I had a same problem. LG smart TV (Date manufactured 2015) and Denon AVR. LG TV magic remote suddenly stop to control volume control on my Denon AVR. SIMPLIO was ON, optical cable ok, hdmi/arc was connected. There was a coonection error on the HDMI input on my Denon. I think that pins was dirty but it's ok now.


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