Sony is killing me (Only 2 HDMI 2.1 on the A95L)

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Blackstone

2[H]4U
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Mar 8, 2007
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Sony is just killing me here. The A95L QD-OLED will clearly be one of the best , if not the best, TV of 2023. However, STILL, only 2 HDMI 2.1 ports.

Can I get around this with some kind of a HDMI 2.1 switcher so I can make one HDMI 2.1 input into like 4? I know I'm going to have more than 2 devices that need the bandwidth eventually. I really want this 77 incher for my family room this year, but the port thing is a problem. Meh.
 
yup, you can use a switcher or a receiver.
ps: this is normal, its usually 2x2.1 and 2x2.0
 
ND40oz said:
What really sucks is one of them is the ARC port as well, so you basically only have one 2.1 port if you use ARC for audio. But yes, either buy an HDMI switch or get a receiver that has the inputs you need.
Click to expand...
Brilliant idea to use second HDMI 2.1 port for ARC
eARC definitely could not be passed through any other port like HDMI 2.0. Too little bandwidth for sending audio 🤪
 
Anyone knows if MediaTek Pentonic 1000 SoC in A95L capable of outputting 4K 144Hz Dolby Vision HDR Gaming?
2023's 55" QD-OLED 2.0 panel from SD is 4K 144Hz, perhaps this new SoC can get the most out of it.
 
Maybe you guys could help me understand. If you have that one 2.1 port, which would, in my case be used for the ps5. Could I use let's say a zidoo on one of the 2.0 ports and have it passthrough dolby vision to the tv and dolby atmos to the soundbar via eArc? Or does the 2.0 HDMI port not allow Dolby Atmos passthrough.

I appreciate all the help, in advance. It just seems the more I read the more confused I get about these ports and uses for them.
 
Blackstone said:
Sony is just killing me here. The A95L QD-OLED will clearly be one of the best , if not the best, TV of 2023. However, STILL, only 2 HDMI 2.1 ports.

Can I get around this with some kind of a HDMI 2.1 switcher so I can make one HDMI 2.1 input into like 4? I know I'm going to have more than 2 devices that need the bandwidth eventually. I really want this 77 incher for my family room this year, but the port thing is a problem. Meh.
Click to expand...
Here you go

https://www.marantz.com/en-us/product/av-receivers/vs3003
 
gyrene2083 said:
Maybe you guys could help me understand. If you have that one 2.1 port, which would, in my case be used for the ps5. Could I use let's say a zidoo on one of the 2.0 ports and have it passthrough dolby vision to the tv and dolby atmos to the soundbar via eArc? Or does the 2.0 HDMI port not allow Dolby Atmos passthrough.

I appreciate all the help, in advance. It just seems the more I read the more confused I get about these ports and uses for them.
Click to expand...

Dolby Vision works on all the ports of my A80J, I don't see why the A95L would be any different. Atmos passthrough works to my Sonos Arc as well. PS5 is in port 4 and the Arc is in port 3. I use the latest Apple TV 4k in port 2 for all my streaming though and not a zidoo but looking on their site, they're only HDMI 2.0 anyway.
 
ND40oz said:
Dolby Vision works on all the ports of my A80J, I don't see why the A95L would be any different. Atmos passthrough works to my Sonos Arc as well. PS5 is in port 4 and the Arc is in port 3. I use the latest Apple TV 4k in port 2 for all my streaming though and not a zidoo but looking on their site, they're only HDMI 2.0 anyway.
Click to expand...
Thank you so much for breaking that down for me. For the last few months, all I have been doing is reading and trying to understand everything, and things started to meld together. So, as yourself, ps5 in port 4 eARC to soundbar or receiver, then zidoo or appletv4k on HDMI 1 or Hdmi 2; and with that I'll have no problem with Dolby Vision and Atmos going to the soundbar, perfect.

Again thanks. Now all that's left is for it to come out and look at the reviews.
 
gyrene2083 said:
Thank you so much for breaking that down for me. For the last few months, all I have been doing is reading and trying to understand everything, and things started to meld together. So, as yourself, ps5 in port 4 eARC to soundbar or receiver, then zidoo or appletv4k on HDMI 1 or Hdmi 2; and with that I'll have no problem with Dolby Vision and Atmos going to the soundbar, perfect.

Again thanks. Now all that's left is for it to come out and look at the reviews.
Click to expand...

Yeah, avsforum has a huge about the A80J but there are specific settings for the HDMI modes to get things working as expected.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/20...cussion-thread.3208007/page-129#post-61255975

I let the TV and PS5 negotiate their own settings and that seems to have worked but you can manually set them as well if the TV doesn't do it automatically.
 
ND40oz said:
Yeah, avsforum has a huge about the A80J but there are specific settings for the HDMI modes to get things working as expected.

https://www.avsforum.com/threads/20...cussion-thread.3208007/page-129#post-61255975

I let the TV and PS5 negotiate their own settings and that seems to have worked but you can manually set them as well if the TV doesn't do it automatically.
Click to expand...
Yeah I've been following AVS Forums particularly the S95C, G3 and A95L threads. So much information I think it can be overwhelming for an ole timer like me that only had a 13" black and white tv. LOL
 
XoR_ said:
Brilliant idea to use second HDMI 2.1 port for ARC
eARC definitely could not be passed through any other port like HDMI 2.0. Too little bandwidth for sending audio 🤪
Click to expand...
It's because that's how you'd want it for a receiver setup, which is usually where you'd use ARC: TV has one cable going back to receiver, receiver has everything else hooked to it. In that case it would be desirable to have it be both HDMI 2.1 and eARC on that port.
 
Not much better on the receiver front either, plenty of 2022 models are still nickel and diming us with limited 40gbps hdmi ports...
 
Xar said:
A95K, S95B, G2, C2 all featured Full 2.1 48Gbps though.
Click to expand...
I think he's commenting that receivers are also doing the thing some TVs are doing and having less speed on their ports. My TX-RZ50 is like that. Ports 1-3 are FRL5 which means 40gbps/sec. Ports 4-6 are only FRL3 which means 24gbps. The front panel port isn't HDMI 2.1 and only does 9gbps TDMS. They did it to save money, of course, since higher speed switching and processing does cost more.
 
This TV seems to be intended to use with a receiver.

Not a smart move given how much popularity soundbars and other stereo equipment gained.
 
uOpt said:
This TV seems to be intended to use with a receiver.

Not a smart move given how much popularity soundbars and other stereo equipment gained.
Click to expand...
nope, it will work with either.
soundbars also use earc and have limited ports.
 
uOpt said:
This TV seems to be intended to use with a receiver.

Not a smart move given how much popularity soundbars and other stereo equipment gained.
Click to expand...
I think it is more that it is enough for most people. While there are plenty of us on [H] complaining how many HDMI ports does a normal user really need, particularly one that isn't willing to buy a receiver or HDMI switch? Plenty of people need just one, or even none. My parents use 1 port: For their cable box. All their media is either from cable, or Netflix and Netflix is a smart TV app. My sister uses none, she just uses the TV's streaming feature. My friend uses 2, one for his Roku, one for his PS5.

Your average "the speakers in the TV are good enough for me" person just doesn't need a lot of HDMI inputs. Even many people who buy receivers don't. I'm kinda an oddball using 6: Desktop, Laptop, Xbox, Blu-ray, Roku, and Switch. Realistically I could easily eliminate most of those, we basically never use the Xbox since the computer is better for gaming, the laptop hardly gets used, it was for streaming music but the receiver itself does that well and while I do use the Blu-ray occasionally, it is real occasional.

That's also why having things not all be high speed ports doesn't matter. Even people like me don't have a use for them. The Switch, Roku, and Blu-ray player only support HDMI 2.0b TDMS and they have no need for anything else. The switch doesn't do 4k, much less 4k60, the Blu-ray and Roku do though they don't need to they could work fine at 4k30, and most things play at 4k24, and they are 4:2:2 on the output which is fine since all their material is 4:2:0, there no need for 4:4:4 so 18gbps HDMI 2.0b is fine for 4k60 10-bit 4:2:2.

So realistically it's 3 FRL5 ports are plenty. The PC uses it, of course, that is what I bought the receiver for. The Xbox doesn't as it is older (Xbox One X not Series X) but would if I replaced it, and then if I were going hard I could dump the laptop and get a PS5 which would, but that's all I can realistically come up with and that fits in the 3 ports. The ports are fast enough for that too, really, the PS5 is FRL4 (32gbps) and the Xox Series X is FRL5 (40gbps) so the FRL5 ports are fine for them. The only thing technically being limited is the PC, it can do FRL6... but has no need to. That could do 12-bit 4k120 4:4:4 but there's no reason to do 12-bit, the TV is 10-bit. As a practical matter the FRL5 limit just makes cabling easier (I had some issues with my 25m fiber optic cable straight in to the TV).

Thus their "3 FRL5, 3 FRL3" design is actually totally fine when you really get down to it, even for a fairly high end user. I can see why they do shit like that to save money.
 
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