Tag: HDMI-CEC

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How you can set up the XBox One or newer consoles so you have better control over your gaming sound

How to mute Xbox TV audio when using a headset | Windows Central

My Comments

You may need to know how to mute the game audio from your TV speakers, soundbar or home-theatre setup when you are using a headset.

Why

There is a risk of an audio-feedback or echo loop being created when you play an online game and are engaging in voice chat during that game.

As well, you may be wanting to be considerate of others by keeping the game’s sound effects and music to yourself but not lose the audible feedback that these sounds give you through the game, such as knowing how close the enemy is in the game. This is more so when others are likely to be resting or sleeping and you want to have that late gaming session.

With the latter situation, the TV, soundbar or home-theatre setup may not support headphones operation properly, if not at all. As well, the default behaviour with headsets for the XBox is to run the game soundtrack via the TV or audio peripheral but have online audio chat via the headset.

Here, when I am talking of an audio peripheral, I am talking of a soundbar, stereo amplifier or home-theatre AV receiver that is connected to your TV to improve its sound. These would be typically connected via HDMI-ARC or via an optical-digital-audio connection on the TV.

Enable automatic TV / audio-peripheral muting when headset is connected

1. Select the Settings option (Settings button on XBox Dashboard or Profile and System tab in XBox Guide)
2. Select General
3. Navigate to and select “Volume and Audio Output” page
4. Select “Additional Options” in Advanced Category
5. Select and enable “Mute speaker audio when headset attached”

This affects the TV audio including audio from soundbars and other audio peripherals connected to the TV or from the HDMI connection when you are using a headset connected to the XBox console.

Adjust TV volume from console and enable simplified operation

This procedure works with XBox Series X or S consoles which support HDMI-CEC. As well, TVs and audio peripherals like soundbars and AV receivers have to be connected by HDMI and support and be enabled for HDMI-CEC control. This feature may be known as Simplink, Anynet+ or one of many other trade names.

Most likely, all recent TVs at least will support HDMI-CEC operation, most likely if they also support HDMI-ARC connectivity to audio peripherals. It may be so that the major brands will have supported HDMI-CEC for flat-screen TVs designed since the mid 2000s with this under manufacturer-specific names like Simplink, EasyLink, Aquos Link, Anynet+ , VIERA Link or Bravia Sync. As well audio peripherals that are connected to the TV using HDMI-ARC are likely to support HDMI-CEC operation like you using the TV remote control to regulate the volume or them coming alive and selecting the HDMI input when you turn on the TV.

To set up

1. Go to your TV’s and audio peripheral’s setup menus and enable HDMI-CEC if it isn’t already enabled
2. On the XBox’s Settings menu, select TV and Display Options in General tab
3. Select Device Control
4. Enable HDMI-CEC. This setting will also allow “one-touch start” for your console so that when you turn it on or press the large Xbox button on a controller, the TV and audio peripheral will come on and the correct inputs are selected for the XBox. As well, turning off the console also turns off the TV and audio peripheral.
5. Enable “Console sends Volume Commands”

Thiss means that the XBox console effectively provides a fixed-level audio signal via HDMI. As you select the “Volume Up”, “Volume Down” or “Mute” options that now appear on the Audio and Music Page, these “system volume” commands are transmitted to the TV or audio peripheral via the HDMI cables to adjust the sound level appropriately. You still can use the TV’s remote or audio peripheral’s remote to adjust the volume and this can come in handy if you have to instantly drop the volume during gameplay.

The limitation here is that you have to bring up the Audio and Music Page by pressing the XBox button then selecting that option to adjust the sound. This is also where you may want to, for example, turn down the game’s music volume but keep the effects volume up so that you don’t get tired of the in-play music loop during the game.

Conclusion

Here, the XBox One’s menu options can yield ways to have the sound work properly for your gaming session, whether that be to allow a headset to work properly or for you to use the console’s user interface to adjust the sound volume.

Older TVs may end up in a secondary lounge area or bedroom

There is a very strong reality as far as the modern television set is concerned. It is that they last for more than 10 years thanks to electronic design that is about long-term reliability. This is bolstered by technical standards relating to broadcast TV or device interconnectivity that stay the same for the long haul.

Increasingly, as we buy a better or larger TV for the main lounge area where we watch most of our content, the older set that this new set will replace ends up in a secondary lounge area, a bedroom or even a secondary residence. In some cases, the older set will end up in the hands of a family member or friend who doesn’t have a TV or has one that is on the way out.

It is the same practice that happens with the refrigerator where an older fridge serves as an overflow-storage fridge whenever one buys a newer better fridge for their kitchen.

Online video via your home network

But it is underscored by a problem that will get worse with the rise of online video. Increasingly, manufacturers who don’t understand this reality are abandoning their older sets as they evolve their smart-TV platforms. This leads to smart TVs based on the older software not being supported by content providers when they launch front-end software for their new online video services. Or the set works with a limited, buggy operating system and applications which can impact your enjoyment of online video.

Let’s not forget that there are the TVs that don’t have any smart-TV functionality. Typically they will have, at best, network connectivity to work with a DLNA-based media player so you can see images or video you have on a NAS on these sets.

Here, you may have to rely on set-top devices to keep your older TV working in an optimum manner with the latest online video services. In this situation, it is easier to replace the set-top device if its manufacturer abandons the device’s software or the content providers abandon the set-top device’s platform.

The Apple TV set-top box – an example of a popular online-media platform

At the moment, there are a few set-top platforms that are worth using for this purpose. The tvOS-based Apple TV; Android-based boxes running the Android TV operating system; Chromecast and Roku platforms still maintain support for older devices. The XBox One and PlayStation 4 games consoles also benefit from continual software upgrades as well as having apps for popular online-video services. Let’s not forget that you may find that some of the “décodeurs” offered as part of the multiple-play “n-box” setups by the French telcos like the Freebox Révolution may qualify in this regard.

A Roku set-top box that is continually updated can also serve this need

You will also find that Apple TV and Chromecast are still alive with the AirPlay and Chromecast mobile-to-set-top streaming protocols. This will mean that most content services can be streamed from your iOS or Android mobile device to the set-top device. You may also find that Android TV will also support Chromecast streaming.

Other considerations

HDMI connections – a preferred output on video peripherals

Your TV will have to, at least, support HDMI connectivity in order to work with these set-top devices. This is because most of these devices will have HDMI as their only AV connectivity option.

But you may find that the TV in question may provide only one HDMI input. This is more so with cheaper sets like house-brand specials offered by discount stores. In this case, you may end up having to use an HDMI switcher if you need to run multiple set-top boxes or other devices with these sets. Some audio devices like home-theatre-in-box units or AV receivers may answer this functionality need through the provision of extra HDMI inputs.

If your TV supports HDMI-CEC under its many names like Anynet+, Simplink, Bravia Sync or Viera Link, some of the set-top boxes like the tvOS-based Apple TV or the Chromecast will take advantage of this functionality. This will be in the form of the TV coming on and selecting the input the set-top device is connected to when you use its remote or, in the case of the Chromecast or Apple TV, you start streaming to that device from your smartphone. You may also find that you can control the set-top device with your TV’s remote so you don’t always have to rely on the set-top device’s remote.

HDMI-ARC is also relevant in relation to your older TV especially if you intend to use a soundbar, home-theatre-in-box system or AV receiver with it to improve its sound. This allows you to hear the sound from the set’s own broadcast tuner, network functionality or video devices connected directed to the set’s HDMI inputs via that audio device. If the older TV doesn’t have this connection but you want to use an external audio device, you may have to connect that device to the set’s digital audio output.

As far as traditional broadcast TV is concerned, you may find that your old TV will support the current digital-TV standard that is in place in your country. This is true if the digital-TV standard hadn’t changed since your country switched over to digital TV. But if your country is yet to switch to digital TV, you can plug in a set-top box when that day comes. Similarly, if your country has started to implement a newer digital-TV standard like DVB-T2 or ATSC 3.0, you would need to use a set-top box to gain access to broadcasts based on these standards. This extends to implementing interactive-TV platforms like HBBTV or the interactive provisions that ATSC 3.0 offers.

What manufacturers need to do

TV manufacturers need to understand the reality that the sets they make will be serving us for a very long time even if they try to force planned obsolescence on their products.

Here, if they offer a smart-TV product, they have to provide continual software support for at least 5 years, if not more. This may also have to be about at least providing software updates that answer data-security, software-quality and newer industry-standards needs.

As well, the manufacturers would need to maintain their products to commonly-accepted standards for broadcast reception and device / network interconnection. This is more so as a TV set ends up relying on external devices in order to stay up-to-date.

Conclusion

In order to keep your older TV set that you have pushed down to that secondary lounge area or bedroom, or have inherited from someone else going, you will need to consider the use of extra devices. This is more so if you want to keep it using the online services reliably.