How do I output sound from my Philips TV to external audio devices such as Home Theaters, Soundbars, AV Receivers, etc.?
Published on 2016-12-12
For External Sources such as HD Cable Boxes, HD Satellite Boxes, Blu-ray players, DVD players, etc.:
It is best to connect the HD Cable Box, HD Satellite Box, Blu-ray player, DVD player, etc. directly to external audio devices such as Home Theaters, Soundbars, AV Receivers, etc. For information on how to connect them together please refer to the user manuals of the respective devices.
Note: You might experience A/V Sync (Lip-sync) issues if you use the above method, in which case you will have to use audio/video lag correction features in your external audio device if they are built-in.
What about internal sources like the TV tuner itself? How do I get sound from the TV to my home theater?
For Internal TV sources which are received via the TV’s tuner such as Over the Air broadcasts, Digital Cable, etc.
1) Audio Outputs on the TV: Based on your TV model number, your TV will have either:
Coaxial Digital Audio (S/PDIF) & [Orange or Black RCA Jack]
Coaxial Digital Audio (S/PDIF) - [Orange or Black RCA Jack] and L/R (Stereo) Audio - [Red &White RCA Jacks]
While either of these connections can be used to output sound from your TV to your home theater, we recommend the digital connection if your home theater supports it.
2) Connect via Digital Connection (Recommended) Use a composite RCA cable to connect the Coaxial Digital Audio (S/PDIF) [Orange or Black RCA Jack] to the Coaxial Digital Audio (S/PDIF) [Orange or Black RCA Jack] on your external audio device such as Home Theater, Soundbar, AV Receiver, etc.
3) Analog Connection (use only if you have an older hometheater or stereo that does not have a digital audio input) Use 2 composite RCA cables to connect the L/R (Stereo) Audio[Red & White RCA Jacks] to the L/R (Stereo) Audio [Red & White RCA Jacks] on your external audio device such as Home Theater, Soundbar, AV Receiver, etc.
Notes and Helpful Information: The S/PDIF jacks on your TV & external audio devices could be labeled S/PDIF, Digital Audio, Optical Audio, TOSLINK or Digital Coaxial. They are all the same digital audio format which is S/PDIF = Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format.
What should I do if I have a mismatch of S/PDIF ports? How can I connect optical digital audio to coaxial digital audio?
Example: TV has Optical OUT but HTS has Digital Coaxial IN:
You may use an Optical to Digital Coaxial converter like the one shown here:
Example: TV has Digital Coaxial OUT but HTS has Optical IN:
You may use a Digital Coaxial to Optical converter.
What if my external audio device only has analog inputs but my TV only has a digital output?
Use a Digital Audio to Analog Audio Converter.
What is S/PDIF (or digital audio) and which is better: optical or coaxial?
Optical & Coaxial Digital connections both use S/PDIF format to transmit digital audio information
S/PDIF = Sony/Philips Digital Interconnect Format
Both are equally good and identical since they are digital.
