Congratulations on the purchase of your new Toshiba Fire TV!  Or maybe you have owned it for a while and this is a belated congratulations.  Either way, the best quality TV viewing experience is not only about the picture but also the audio!  There are a few options for optimizing sound including HDMI ARC.  You may be wondering; how do I use ARC on my Toshiba TV?  Does it even have it?

Your Toshiba Fire TV should have HDMI ARC.  All smart TVs on the HDMI 1.4 standard will have HDMI ARC.  Since HDMI 1.4 was introduced in 2009 it is likely your Toshiba Fire TV has it, especially given the Fire TV was introduced in 2014.  Lastly, check the HDMI ports on the side or back of the TV as it will usually be labeled “HDMI ARC”.  

Fantastic!  We have determined that your TV has HDMI ARC.  This is good news, I think?  You are likely wondering what it means for you to have this.  You are probably thinking “I have a lot of stuff I did not know existed and still do not care that it does.”  Well, not to despair, this feature does have benefits that we will cover in the next short few minutes for you!

Why You Need HDMI ARC

Now let us talk about why this matters and why you should care!  Let us be honest, all you want to do when your day is over is relax.  You do not want to put a lot of effort into something after expending energy all day long.  The good news is once you understand the benefits of HDMI ARC it will actually save you aggravation in the long run in several ways:

  • You will need fewer cables for your home entertainment setup.  Who does not love the idea of fewer cables?  You can maximize the use of your soundbar or another audio amplifier.  Related to fewer cables, you can get the most out of your high-quality set up in an easy way.

Fewer Cables Means More Happiness

We have all been or are currently in one place when it comes to home electronics; a (not) magical place called “cable land”!  The back of many home entertainment setups very likely includes at least one cable for every day of the week.  The number of cables can easily multiply when trying to ensure every device utilizes an external audio amplifier i.e. a soundbar.

Maximizing Your Audio Amplifier

If you guessed “using HDMI ARC” in response to the previous question, congratulations!  See the host for your special prize.  The beauty of HDMI ARC is that when you connect a wire from your audio amplifier to the HDMI ARC it will automatically output sound from all other devices connected to the TV through the amplifier.  You do not need separate wires connecting the amplifier to each of your devices.  Happy days!

If you care about home decor and not needing a plant or something else to cover up the huge nest of wires behind your TV, this is likely music to your ears.  It will still not fully reduce your wire habit if you have many devices connected but it is a start!  Sounds great, right?  No issues at all?  Well, as with everything else there are some potential issues to watch out for.

Possible Issues

The first and most noticeable issue could be something with the setup.  In a lot of cases, simply connecting the wires between your audio amplifier and TV will work.  However, if it does not work automatically then you may be hunting through the settings of all of your devices to make sure they are recognizing the audio amplifier through the TV and this may be time-consuming.

Another potential issue could arise after you have been using this setup for a while.  Even if the initial setup worked perfectly, over time as you connect new devices or your existing ones age, you may find that they disconnect from the TV and you have to set them up again.  Restoring your devices to factory default settings and reconnecting the wires may help fix this.  

Conclusion

HDMI ARC is a nice feature on your Toshiba Fire TV that will simplify your setup and allow you to maximize your audio amplifier products.  Now it is time to turn on your favorite action movie and crank up the sound!