So my 12 year old Samsung plasma TV broke and I'm in the market for a budget TV. I'm talking "only spending around $300 for a 43" to 49" 4k TV" type budget. Don't have money or a willing wife to be able to upgrade to a 4K receiver, however.

My current setup is all very outdated:

HT-R390 Onkyo receiver and surround sound speakers
PS3
Nintendo Wii
Uverse TV box

I'd like to get a 4K TV for "future-proofing" but as I understand it, I won't be able to actually watch any 4K content on it with my current receiver?? It would just be 1080p at best??

I currently have my ps3/Wii/ATT Uverse box all connected as inputs into my receiver and then the receiver is connected to my TV via HDMI out and also an optical audio port cable (though I'm not sure what, if anything, that cable is actually doing in my setup)

I guess my question is that if I get a 4K TV, could I somehow bypass the receiver for all video content yet still have the audio go through the receiver to get the benefit of my surround sound?

My ps3 is my bluray player and it's starting to show its age, so at some point I'd have to be looking at getting an Xbox one S or something so I could play 4k blurays and hopefully 4K Netflix content. Just not sure if any of that is possible if I keep my current receiver

It sounds like you already understand your limitations. You really only have to get creative (separate the audio and video) with your 4K device. All the other stuff can switch the old way.

But yeah, it's annoying. I was under the impression my HDMI receiver would be future proof for a while. Spent good money on it... The 4K limitation was an unpleasant surprise. Got a decent Yamaha 4K receiver for a little over 200.

See if your new TV and receiver supports ARC (audio return channel). It will allow the HDMI cable to send audio to the receiver.

For your current setup, it doesn't look like it will matter because nothing is 4k. Just plug everything int the receiver and go.

Say you decide to purchase something like a Roku Streaming Stick+ that has a 4k output. You would plug the Roku (or whatever 4k source) into a regular HDMI input directly on the television. Then connect the ARC enabled HDMI input on the TV to the ARC enabled ARC out receptacle on your receiver. It sounds counter intuitive. The ARC is an input in the TV but sends audio back to another source, in this case your receiver. It could be a soundbar or whatever.

If your TV have a bunch of inputs you can plug everything into your TV's HDMI inputs and just send the audio back via the ARC channel too.

it is just nicer to have everything run through one hub so you only have one menu, remote, etc to worry about.

If your receiver does not have ARC then you can get an audio extractor. Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/ViewHD-Extractor-Optical-Toslink-Converter/dp/B0755TB82Q?th=1


edit *** forgot you said ps3 is 4k. Jut plug that in where I mention the Roku

Seems my receiver doesn't have the HDMI arc as an option. Bummer. Guessing that means I'd have to use the optical audio port to hopefully send audio separately to my receiver and speakers.

Do all modern Tv's have an optical audio port?? I'm reading it's almost 30 year old technology!

Maybe double check your manual and see if there is a firmware upgrade or something.

Also the audio extractor is not the worst way to go

I think a lot of TVs have optical audio outputs. My Xbox One X does (I believe the S does too) so you shouldn't have a problem splitting the video/audio.

You can definitely make it work, just makes turning on the TV and switching sources more tedious.

A smart remote can replace the need for ARC as far as controlling sound goes. You can always run an optical switch as well if your receiver is limited on ports.

FYI, Optical will not do TrueHD or DTS-HD Master level audio, but it will do 5.1.

You have to be careful on the TV's optical. Some of them will only do 2.0 back to the receiver. My Vizio does 5.1 for the apps in the TV, but will only do 2.0 for any passthrough HDMI connected devices.

I ended up with a HDMI splitter for the Xbox One X (4K Blu-Ray), and and then did optical out for my other components. You could also do a HDMI switch with optical out if you just want 1 optical cord.

tfunk02 said:

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FYI, Optical will not do TrueHD or DTS-HD Master level audio, but it will do 5.1.

You have to be careful on the TV's optical. Some of them will only do 2.0 back to the receiver. My Vizio does 5.1 for the apps in the TV, but will only do 2.0 for any passthrough HDMI connected devices.

I ended up with a HDMI splitter for the Xbox One X (4K Blu-Ray), and and then did optical out for my other components. You could also do a HDMI switch with optical out if you just want 1 optical cord.

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Exactly the issue I ran into with my TCL TV as well. Used a similar solution.