HDMI eARC is the only audio port on your TV that matters, yet most people plug their soundbar into the wrong one

Published Oct 6, 2026, 3:00 PM EDT After a 7-year corporate stint, Tanveer found his love for writing and tech too much to resist. An MBA in Marketing and the owner of a PC building business, he writes on PC hardware, technology, and Windows. When not scouring the web for ideas, he can be found building PCs, watching anime, or playing Smash Karts on his RTX 3080 (sigh). HDMI has been the predominant way to connect streaming devices and soundbars to TVs for decades. With HDMI ARC's introduction in the late 2000s, the standard further simplified the TV-soundbar connection, eliminating the need for a separate audio cable between the two. A few years later, HDMI eARC ports started appearing on smart TVs, allowing you to enjoy native content from your TV in uncompressed audio on your soundbar. A potential hiccup is that many people still don't use an HDMI eARC port to connect their TV to the soundbar. They keep using older HDMI ARC ports, either out of habit or because they don't realize the eARC port has greater bandwidth. Modern lossless audio requires the right HDMI port (and cable) to function as intended. It's easy to assume all HDMI ports on your TV are identical You pay dearly if you use the wrong port Unlike what you might think, most users aren't too excited about diving into HDMI specifications before they can start enjoying their new TV and sound system. This naturally opens the door for a "wrong" connection, where the user plugs in their soundbar into the first spare HDMI port they find on the TV. The probability of this port being a standard HDMI ARC port is high, since most TVs still have a single HDMI eARC port. The difference between an HDMI ARC and eARC (enhanced ARC) port is the maximum bandwidth. The former supports only about 3 Mbps, while the latter can carry up to 37–38Mbps. This extra bandwidth is necessary to send uncompressed audio, such as Dolby Atmos and DTS:X, to your soundbar. This means HDMI eARC ports are the only ones people should consider when streaming modern content on expensive soundbars. Most soundbars make HDMI eARC a non-negotiable Most people don't have premium soundbars The more practical reality of the HDMI ARC vs. eARC situation is that most people can't do without at least one eARC port on their TV. Picture this: if your soundbar has both HDMI in and HDMI out ports, you can plug your streaming device into the HDMI in port and connect the HDMI out to your TV. You're essentially bypassing the TV's HDMI setup, so whether it has an HDMI eARC port becomes immaterial—just your soundbar just needs one. Most people, however, don't enjoy this luxury. Budget soundbars still feature only HDMI out ports, forcing people to connect their streaming device directly to the TV. This makes an HDMI eARC port on the TV essential if you want to route lossless, uncompressed audio to your soundbar. If you don't have an external streaming device and use your smart TV's built-in apps instead, HDMI ARC is enough to handle the compressed Dolby Digital Plus audio from streaming apps. However, as soon as you add a 4K Blu-ray player or media server, eARC becomes necessary for a premium audio experience. The HDMI cable matters just as much as the port Don't reuse old HDMI cables Even if your TV has an HDMI eARC port, the wrong cable can cause unexpected issues with lossless audio and video. Regular HDMI 2.0 cables, even those rated for 18 Gbps, may not fully support uncompressed audio, depending on the cable quality and length. You should aim for an Ultra High Speed HDMI cable, which officially supports 48 Gbps of bandwidth, enough for lossless video and audio formats. Cables rated "HDMI 2.1" don't necessarily mean anything, since you can't tell the supported bandwidth or whether other features are properly implemented. The "Ultra High Speed HDMI" specification guarantees that you're buying a higher-grade cable instead of random inferior ones simply labeled "HDMI 2.1." HDMI eARC should not be treated as a luxury in 2026 Some manufacturers still skip an HDMI eARC port on modern TVs, especially on budget and lower mid-range models. Since most people rely on streaming apps, standard HDMI ARC ports are enough. That said, brands shouldn't get away with skipping a key HDMI feature in 2026. More and more people are building their own media servers at home, and eARC is a must to enjoy lossless audio and video.