4K televisions and HT rig....

shawn474

So, I have been reading and might be in the market soon for a new television. I have an older samsung that has served me extremely well, but seems to be heading towards retirement. I have read that the new 4K televisions may not work with AVR's that are not 4K compliant without some workarounds. In total honesty, I used to help friends and family set-up their televisions and home theaters, but when the "smart" tv's came around, I always spent a lot of hours feeling dumb and trying to undo some of the "smart" technology that they didn't need or want.

That said, when I "upgrade" my television, I would rather not have to buy a whole new AVR or pre. Is there any easy workaround to having older equipment still work with the 4K televisions. I assume that I will have to sacrifice whatever the 4K technology offers if there is a bypass.....but just trying to get a feel of what to expect and how to optimize with a newer 4k television without upgrading all of my equipment. Thanks as always for any advice you guys can give.

My limited understanding is that all I would have to do is run an optical cable from the TV to my Marantz.......surely it cannot be that easy can it?

Take Care,
Shawn

codycatalist

It is that easy. I have a 4K set and use a old (mid 80s ish) Yamaha integrated amp. I run the optical to an DAC then analog to my integrated. Previous I used an optical to my Marantz SR7000, pre outs to the yamaha then to my SDA2Bs.

BlueFox

for video, I just run the HDMI from my Oppo 203 to the TV. Oppo also provides an audio out HDMI that I run to my pre, which is an old Onkyo SC5509. Works great. I think the Onkyo would also pass the video straight through, but with the Oppo I don't need that ability.

Emlyn

There are workarounds and you wouldn't need to change anything. Unless you have a 4K source you can continue to run everything through the pre. If you want to use the apps (Netflix, Amazon, Vudu, etc) included on a smart TV you can run the audio from the optical out on the TV into the pre. Whatever you feed the TV will be displayed upscaled at the set's fixed 4K display. The Marantz pre has HDMI version 1.4a. If at some point you wanted to get a 4K Blu Ray Player you would want to get one with two HDMI outputs and run the full output one straight to the TV and the secondary audio output to the pre. Easy.

shawn474

Wow, Ok thanks guys. Guess I was just thinking that the optical cable workaround was too good to be true. So my question is, since the video is being processed through the AVR, would it not output the video at 4K? Or am I making too much of this - the audio is solved with the optical cable.....would the video be downscaled at all when running through the Pre/AVR?

DaveHo

Do you have any 4K sources? If not just run it through the receiver like you currently do. The TV will upscale to 4K for you.

Emlyn

I'm not certain, but I don't think the AV-7005 has the bandwidth to pass a 1080P upscaled to 4K signal from a Blu Ray player through its HDMI output. As DaveHo says, the TV will do the upscaling if that is the case. You would want to run the HDMI cable into the pre from a Blu Ray player as the TV will most likely not output anything other than plain Dolby Digital through its optical output.

shawn474

Ok thanks a lot guys. Appreciate the feedback.

recoveryone

I'll add 2 more cents

Most new 4k TV's have a network connection (cat5) to have the built in Chromecast/Roku or some other smart app system. If you are able to connect to your network and use one of the apps (VUDU/Netflicks/Amazon) you will be able to stream 4k content and use the ARC via HDMI or the Optical to have the sound play from your AVR.

shawn474

recoveryone wrote: »

I'll add 2 more cents

Most new 4k TV's have a network connection (cat5) to have the built in Chromecast/Roku or some other smart app system. If you are able to connect to your network and use one of the apps (VUDU/Netflicks/Amazon) you will be able to stream 4k content and use the ARC via HDMI or the Optical to have the sound play from your AVR.

Seems like I could do that.....I had Ethernet run to old the avr for the media player so could that work to network it in? I have a stand-alone roku player as well. I just dislike all the pre installed widgets and apps and “smart” tv stuff......I know I sound like my grandfather here!!!!

recoveryone

It should not be an issue as the TV will just view it as another input/source

stangman67

Easiest way is to not run video through the receiver at all and use the TV as your "switch". This is because non 4K capable receivers cannot pass through a 4k signal. Hook all video sources (streamer, UHD blu ray, XBOX etc) directly to the TV via HDMI and then run single optical to the receiver and voila. Or you can use the arc output as mentioned above to accomplish the same thing if your receiver supports arc.

shawn474

I do have the ARC output on my pre. I have a cable box, bluray player and Roku so would need at least 3 HDMI inputs (ideally more in case I expand the system) for the new television when I am ready. This is all good information; thanks again