HDMI ports dilema for BRAVIA KD55AF8BU

[grsteve93]

Apologies if this is covered elsewhere but I'm not knowledgeable enough to decipher it if it is.

I'm awaiting delivery of my new BRAVIA KD55AF8BU bundled with a Sony UBPX800 4K blu-ray player and Sony HTZF9 Soundbar.

I'll also be connecting in a Virgin V6 box and Apple TV gen 5, both of which output 4k.

My thinking was to connect them all to the TV and use the ARC port for the sound bar so it works regardless as to which source is playing.  

I'm now confused by the tech spec that only HDMI ports 2/3 support 4k (and 1 of those is the ARC) so does that mean that effectively only 1 of my 4k devices will actually play 4k?

Surely I've got that wrong?  But am otherwise confused as to what the difference ports 2/3 have over 1 & 4 and what's the best device to plug into which to get the best experience.

All advice welcome.

[LightFoot]

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@grsteve93 wrote:

Apologies if this is covered elsewhere but I'm not knowledgeable enough to decipher it if it is.

I'm awaiting delivery of my new BRAVIA KD55AF8BU bundled with a Sony UBPX800 4K blu-ray player and Sony HTZF9 Soundbar.

I'll also be connecting in a Virgin V6 box and Apple TV gen 5, both of which output 4k.

My thinking was to connect them all to the TV and use the ARC port for the sound bar so it works regardless as to which source is playing.  

I'm now confused by the tech spec that only HDMI ports 2/3 support 4k (and 1 of those is the ARC) so does that mean that effectively only 1 of my 4k devices will actually play 4k?

Surely I've got that wrong?  But am otherwise confused as to what's the difference ports 2/3 have over 1 & 4 and what's the best device to plug into which to get the best experience.

All advice welcome.

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Hi @grsteve93  

Don't worry you will get 4K on all 4 HDMI ports, but only 2/3 support Enhanced Mode (4K 60p 4:2:0 10bit, 4:4:4, 4:2:2). You probably wont notice any difference between 8bit and 10 bit colour. You have to switch on Enhanced Mode, it is off by default.

Connecting your HT-ZF9 (I highly recommend the SA-Z9R rear speakers) to HDMI 3 means that with ALL inputs you can enjoy HT-ZF9 sound. So you should use the two HT-ZF9 HDMI inputs for two of your devices which naturally input into the HDMI 3 Enhanced port.

For example I have:

Sky Q 2160p 10bit -> HT-ZF9 (1) -> TV HDMI 3 (ARC)

UBP-X800 -> TV HDMI 2 and I get sound on the HT-ZF9 via ARC. (This was recommended by Sony, see below).

I used to have UBP-X800 -> HT-ZF9 (2) -> TV HDMI 3 (ARC). The UBP-X800 wouldn't show its Menu while it was set to resolution 4K although all 4K disk displayed OK. The HT-ZF9 has had a couple of firmware updates since I last tried so may be OK now.

[grsteve93]

Fab, thanks @LightFoot 

that’s good to know!

I am getting the surround sound speakers too and am really looking forward to the set up compared to my aging system.

my thinking for plugging in all the devices to the TV and using the ARC to the soundbar means, with Bravia Sync, that my one Sony Remote will control all the Sony devices, but also means it’s just the 1 source selection (which will help my wife who gets confused by all the remotes).

if I connect soundbar +1 to the TV and the other 2 to the sound bar, won’t I have to select the soundbar as a source on the Tv then choose the input to the soundbar separately?

I really appreciate your feedback. 

[LightFoot · Accepted solution]

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@grsteve93 wrote:

Fab, thanks @LightFoot 

that’s good to know!

I am getting the surround sound speakers too and am really looking forward to the set up compared to my aging system.

my thinking for plugging in all the devices to the TV and using the ARC to the soundbar means, with Bravia Sync, that my one Sony Remote will control all the Sony devices, but also means it’s just the 1 source selection (which will help my wife who gets confused by all the remotes).

if I connect soundbar +1 to the TV and the other 2 to the sound bar, won’t I have to select the soundbar as a source on the Tv then choose the input to the soundbar separately?

I really appreciate your feedback. 

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Hi @grsteve93   

Bravia Sync passes through the HT-ZF9 for Sony devices. So if you connected UBP-X800 -> HT-ZF9 -> TV you could still control the UBP-X800 with the TV Remote. HDMI Control (If switched on) should control all your inputs for you. As an example, Apple TV -> HT-ZF9 (2) -> TV. With everything off simply switching on the Apple TV will switch on the TV and set its input to HDMI 3 which then switches on the HT-ZF9 and changes it to Input (2). The TV Remote controls the volume of HT-ZF9.

It is probably best to experiment once you have everything. I don’t have any of these issues because I use a Harmony Elite universal remote.

Enjoy 

[rooobb]

In general term the limitation is there, but in your specific configuration it is not a real problem.

You have to consider that you HTZF9 soundbar features 2 Full bandwith passthrough HDMI input, so you lose one port on the tv (the ARC one) but got two in there for a total of 3

Futhermore, your UHD BD player can still play most of the UHD BD on any HDMI of the tv, since the limitation is only for the bandwidth of 4K HDR and 50/60 fps and most of the movie use 24 fps that is supported on any port (even in 4K HDR)

last but not least, in case you still need other ports let say for a console you could make use of an HDMI hub.

So you have plenty of options 

PS oops already got a good solution from @LightFoot