HDMI ARC (older standard)

HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) is the original HDMI audio-back feature (HDMI 1.4+). It lets your TV send audio back to a soundbar or receiver over the same HDMI cable that delivers video.

Limitations vs eARC

• Compressed audio only – Dolby Digital 5.1, DTS 5.1, PCM stereo
• No lossless Atmos, DTS-HD Master Audio, or 24-bit / 192 kHz PCM
• Limited to ~1 Mbps bandwidth

When ARC is enough

Most streaming services (Netflix, Prime Video) actually encode audio in Dolby Digital 5.1 – ARC handles this fine. If you don’t play 4K Blu-rays with lossless Atmos tracks, ARC is functionally equivalent to eARC for your use case.

Upgrading

For future-proofing, look for HDMI eARC (available on the Fosi Audio S3).