audio from TV into soundbar

This is most likely the a very common setup right now. Sound is retransmitted from TV into the soundbar via eARC/ARC HDMI port.

This also means that any device connected to your TV will be also retransmitted into the soundbar.

In this case, TV can be the source of the audio that is transmitted into an external sound system using ARC / eARC. Connecting any media box to your TV will send audio to the TV first and then pass it to your soundbar.

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Unfortunately, not all TVs can retransmit sound via eARC if an external soource is used and will limit you just to the output of the built in applications, please check specifications before your buy.

If you have an older ARC (non eARC) you can still benefit limited set of features or you can add eARC “on the side”.

Note: It is worth mentioning, that you could potentialy use your smart speakers as if they were TV-soundbars - it convinient especially when you use a projector that is somewhere in the back of your room and have no cables for front speakers. You can read more about the theater mode.