Televisions: Picture, Sound and Audio Passthrough
Most television reviews stop at the panel. We care what comes out of the speakers and what the set will pass through to your audio system. This hub covers panel types briefly, then spends its time on built-in sound, eARC behaviour and the formats that survive the trip to your soundbar.
Why most televisions sound thin
A modern panel is a few centimetres deep, which leaves almost no cabinet volume for a speaker. Manufacturers respond by firing small drivers downwards or backwards, so the sound reflects off the stand or the wall before it reaches you. Dialogue suffers first.
Sets that genuinely sound decent tend to do one of two things: fit front-facing drivers into a slightly thicker chassis, or add upward-firing height drivers for Atmos. Both add cost, and neither reaches what a modest soundbar and subwoofer will do.
Panel types in one paragraph each
OLED panels light each pixel individually, giving perfect blacks and excellent contrast in a dim room, with wide viewing angles. They are the choice for film watching in a lounge with curtains.
LED and Mini-LED sets go brighter, which wins in a sunlit room, and Mini-LED backlight zones narrow the contrast gap. QLED is a quantum-dot layer applied to an LED panel to improve colour volume, not a separate technology.
Audio passthrough: the part that matters
If you plan to use a soundbar or AV receiver, check the television's eARC support and which formats it passes. HDMI eARC carries Dolby Atmos in its lossless form; plain ARC will pass compressed Dolby Digital Plus but not the lossless variants.
Also check what happens to sound from the TV's own apps. Some sets downmix built-in streaming audio before it reaches the eARC output, which quietly costs you the surround mix from Netflix or Disney+. Feeding a streaming stick directly into the receiver avoids the problem entirely.
Gaming features worth checking
For consoles, look for HDMI 2.1 with 4K at 120Hz, variable refresh rate and auto low latency mode. These reduce tearing and input lag, and ALLM saves you switching picture modes manually.
Audio latency matters here too. Game mode on some televisions introduces a delay between picture and eARC audio, so check the set has an audio delay adjustment if you plan to run a soundbar with a console.
Television choice by room and priority
| Priority | Panel to look at | Audio note |
|---|---|---|
| Films in a dim lounge | OLED | Pair with a 3.1 bar for dialogue |
| Bright, sunlit room | Mini-LED / QLED | Downward-firing speakers suffer here |
| Console gaming | Any with HDMI 2.1, VRR, ALLM | Check audio delay control |
| Sport with a crowd | High-brightness LED | Add a subwoofer for atmosphere |
| Small bedroom | Entry LED | A compact 2.0 bar is enough |
Buying checklist
- Confirm HDMI eARC if you intend to use a soundbar or receiver
- Check whether built-in app audio is downmixed before the eARC output
- Look for HDMI 2.1, VRR and ALLM if you game on a current console
- Budget for external audio — no flat panel fixes thin sound on its own
- Match panel brightness to how much daylight the room gets
Frequently asked questions
Which TVs have the best built-in sound?
Sets with front-facing drivers or dedicated upward-firing height channels consistently outperform those with downward-firing speakers. Even so, a modest soundbar generally beats the best built-in system.
What is the difference between HDMI ARC and eARC?
eARC has far more bandwidth. It carries lossless Dolby Atmos and DTS:X; standard ARC is limited to compressed formats such as Dolby Digital and Dolby Digital Plus.
Is OLED or Mini-LED better?
OLED wins on contrast and viewing angles in a controlled-light room. Mini-LED wins on peak brightness, which matters in a room with a lot of daylight.
Do I still need a soundbar with an Atmos TV?
In most cases yes. Built-in Atmos processing cannot overcome the physical limits of tiny drivers in a thin chassis, especially at the low end.
Why is my TV audio out of sync with my soundbar?
Video processing adds delay that the audio path does not share. Use the audio delay or lip-sync setting on the television or soundbar to bring them back together.
Does screen size affect what audio setup I need?
Indirectly. A bigger screen usually means a bigger room and a longer viewing distance, and both call for more speaker output to keep dialogue intelligible.