Do TV's have sound cards? And can they go bad?

I have a Vizio TV, a Sony receiver and Direct TV for cable.

It's a fairly simple set up. Cable goes to the cable box. A HDMI cable goes from the cable box to the TV to deliver the signal. Then another HDMI cable goes from the TV to the receiver to deliver the sound. It has been hooked up this way for 2-3 years.

Back in Nov / Dec we noticed when we turned everything on, sometimes sound would not come on. At the time, no big deal, turned it all off, turned it back on, we had sound.

But now it has gotten worse, so that we sometimes have to restart 4-5 times before we get sound, and this is just about every time we turn on the TV. And sometimes, the sound will be fine, then we change channels and lose it. Then change channels again, it comes back.

So this morning I tore everything apart and experimented to narrow down the issue. I disconnected the receiver completely, let the sound go through the TV speakers, still had the same issue. I reconnected the receiver, but tried different HMDI cables and tried different inputs, still had the same issue. I tried watching stuff not through Direct TV, but through Netflix, Disney+, etc, still had the same issue.

The experimenting means the receiver was out of the equation and the issue still occurred. The Direct TV box was out and the issue occurred. The HDMI cables and inputs were moved around / swapped out and the issue still occurred.

That leaves only the TV as the common denominator. I am guessing a TV has a sound card, like a computer? And I am guessing although probably rare, it's possible for it to go bad?

Just want to check all my bases before I have to toss a 70" TV in the trash and go spend a grand on a new one.

I don’t know of a TV that has a sound card, but they probably have a circuit board. Unless you are still in warranty and particularly if the TV IS +5 years old, it’s time to shop for a new one.

You have an AV receiver... I presume it is hooked up to external speakers. So why does the TV itself have anything to do with the sound?

You shouldn't have to pass the audio signal through the tv.... you should be able to mute the TV's on board speakers and hear just fine through your external speakers.

What if it is the Direct TV causing the problem?

Can you try a source from the TV (on air antenna, etc) to isolate?

Time for a new TV.

It's unlikely your TV has a sound card. All that digital-to-digital and digital-to-analog processing is probably handled by a single chip.

Costco, on-line, is showing three 70 in. TVs for $750 and under.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
You have an AV receiver... I presume it is hooked up to external speakers. So why does the TV itself have anything to do with the sound?

You shouldn't have to pass the audio signal through the tv.... you should be able to mute the TV's on board speakers and hear just fine through your external speakers.

Yes, the receiver is connected to a 5.1 channel set up.

The TV supplies the sound signal to the receiver. For example, when watching the smart portion of the TV; Netflix, Disney+, etc, that signal (audio and video) is all supplied to the TV through wi-fi and then the audio signal is supplied from the TV to the receiver though the HDMI cable.

The TV speakers have been muted. All of the sound has went through the 5.1 speaker set up. But lately, the sound is intermittent, regardless of whether I am using the 5.1 set up, the TV speakers, a cable signal (Direct TV), a wi-fi signal (Netflix, Disney+).

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
What if it is the Direct TV causing the problem?

Can you try a source from the TV (on air antenna, etc) to isolate?

That was isolated. Used the smart portion of the TV to try Netflix, Disney+, etc, problem still occurred.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:
You have an AV receiver... I presume it is hooked up to external speakers. So why does the TV itself have anything to do with the sound?

You shouldn't have to pass the audio signal through the tv.... you should be able to mute the TV's on board speakers and hear just fine through your external speakers.

Yes, the receiver is connected to a 5.1 channel set up.

The TV supplies the sound signal to the receiver. For example, when watching the smart portion of the TV; Netflix, Disney+, etc, that signal (audio and video) is all supplied to the TV through wi-fi and then the audio signal is supplied from the TV to the receiver though the HDMI cable.

The TV speakers have been muted. All of the sound has went through the 5.1 speaker set up. But lately, the sound is intermittent, regardless of whether I am using the 5.1 set up, the TV speakers, a cable signal (Direct TV), a wi-fi signal (Netflix, Disney+).

ok, gotcha. on-board apps have to push the signal out. if you were using a streaming device (appleTV, fireTV, roku) it would plug directly into the receiver. and I would think your cable box (going directly into the avr) would not need the signal coming out from the TV for it's sound. but that might be a setting in your audio menu for the source.

have you tried outputting the signal via another method, ie. optical cable? perhaps the problem is your HDMI output connection. although I guess that wouldn't explain why the on-board speakers aren't working.

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:

have you tried outputting the signal via another method, ie. optical cable?

It did cross my mind, all three devices have an optical connection. But I am not sure I have any optical cables left in the house.

Before I buy a new TV, I will order one on Amazon and try it. And I am going to disconnect the TV in the bedroom, bring it to the living room and hook everything up the way it was and see if it works. I figure if that does work, then I will know the TV is bad.

On my AV installation:

CableBox out HDMI > Receiver in HDMI

^^^ I get sound regardless of the TV being on (no pic of course).

I put Firestick on HDMI in #2 and Cable on #1
I switch from Cable to Firestick on AV remote.

Of course the HDMI out back to the TV.

TV is not responsible for any part of the Audio.

You should be able to try the same.

You could also try alternate audio output/input ports as well ~ RCA or Optical.

quote:

Originally posted by holdem:

quote:

Originally posted by YellowJacket:

have you tried outputting the signal via another method, ie. optical cable?

It did cross my mind, all three devices have an optical connection. But I am not sure I have any optical cables left in the house.

Before I buy a new TV, I will order one on Amazon and try it. And I am going to disconnect the TV in the bedroom, bring it to the living room and hook everything up the way it was and see if it works. I figure if that does work, then I will know the TV is bad.

yeah I would try bypassing the TV altogether, which your cable box should be doing. take the hdmi output out of the equation altogether by unplugging it. and then make sure your avr is on the cable box direct input, and not the one coming back from the TV.

It sounded as though your fix was to power cycle all components until the sound came back. If so, I might suggest another experiment before replacing the TV.

Hook everything up as before, and when the problem recurs, power-cycle just the receiver multiple times, keeping the TV on continuously, and see if that has any effect.

Case 1) power-cycling just the receiver fixes the issue. In this case, the receiver's at least part of the problem. Good idea to do more diagnoses before replacing the TV.

Case 2) power-cycling just the receiver has no effect. Receiver's clean.

Rationale being that modern TVs and receivers both have processors, logic circuits, on-board memory and firmware. Anything with processors, logic, memory and firmware, can be messed up in sophisticated and subtle ways. Rebooting gets things reset, and often fixes problems. Power-cycling only one helps you identify which device was helped by the reset.

So, after much more troubleshooting, moving TV's around, cables everywhere, now I am thinking the receiver is the issue.

I hooked up the spare TV same as before. HDMI from cable box to TV. HDMI out for sound from TV to receiver. Tried cable and Netflix, no sound.

Then I checked the old TV again, still not working, but realized the TV sound setting was set to auto. It must have been trying to send sound through the receiver, even though it was not working. Once I set it to TV speaker, sound came right on through the TV speakers.

I am going to order a few optical cables and use those just to eliminate a few more possibilities before I spend money on new equipment.

I am willing to bet the receiver is the issue based on my experience.

quote:

I hooked up the spare TV same as before. HDMI from cable box to TV. HDMI out for sound from TV to receiver. Tried cable and Netflix, no sound.

Connect the cable box to the Receiver not the TV.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:

Connect the cable box to the Receiver not the TV.

I will try it this way when the optical cables arrive this evening.

One thing I do when chasing gremlins is to check I have the latest firmware, both the Tv and receiver may provide the option to check and upgrade if connected to the internet.

My set up was connected just as you describe. TV feeds audio to the receiver, and it was done by a professional AV guy.

quote:

Originally posted by cparktd:
One thing I do when chasing gremlins is to check I have the latest firmware, both the Tv and receiver may provide the option to check and upgrade if connected to the internet.

My set up was connected just as you describe. TV feeds audio to the receiver, and it was done by a professional AV guy.

Yes, forgot to mention that, did check firmware on TV, it was up to date. Receiver does not have wifi, so no firmware.