I thought HDMI was the most boring part of the whole setup. You plug it in, it shows you the image, and that’s it. I have a soundbar that I love, a PS5 game console that I play on occasionally, and a TV that I paid a lot of money for, but they’re all connected by black cables and I don’t give them any thought.
But I was humbled one weekend when I dug deep into my completely unrelated TV settings and found a series of options I’d never opened. None of them required new hardware and cost nothing. And they were all hidden in cables that I had been using without a second thought for years.
This is the only type of HDMI cable that actually works over long distances
If you need to cover long distances for video, consider these types of HDMI cords.
CEC
Remote drawer can become quite empty
The first feature I came across was CEC (short for Consumer Electronics Control). It’s been around since the early days of HDMI, and in case you’re wondering what HDMI-CEC is and what it does, its purpose is to allow devices to communicate. Technically the maximum is 15. This combines functions such as volume, playback, and menu selection for all connected devices in one remote control for a seamless home theater experience. However, it is not unlimited freedom. It’s not as free as you might think, as it has some built-in limitations, such as the number of playback devices that can be active at once.
The hard part is finding it. Very few TVs call it “CEC” in their settings. Manufacturers seem to enjoy naming things with more pretentious names than necessary. Samsung calls it Anynet+, Sony goes with BRAVIA Sync, LG calls it SimpLink, and Panasonic sticks with VIERA Link. My Hisense is labeled CEC, which is a good thing. If you’re looking into settings, it’s usually hidden in: general, system, input, or external equipment manager setting. Sometimes it’s buried in submenus that obviously have nothing to do with HDMI, which doesn’t help.
It’s not perfect from the beginning. Turning this on can cause some issues, especially if you have a mixed brand setup. Commands may not be translated correctly. There can also be occasional “ghost” moments where the console decides to wake the TV for no apparent reason. That said, in my experience, the problem subsides when you enable it on all connected devices, not just the TV. Having all devices speak the same language increases consistency throughout the system.
eARC
You paid for better audio, so you might as well listen to it.
ARC allows you to send audio from your TV back to your soundbar or AV receiver using the same HDMI cable you already use for video. While eliminating extra cables is great, it does have its limitations.
Standard ARC can handle compressed surround sound, including a streaming-enabled version of Dolby Atmos. It’s fine for Netflix and similar apps, but it’s not the full-fat version that your audio equipment can handle. If you want uncompressed 5.1 or 7.1 audio, you need eARC. Introduced in HDMI 2.1 and available on many new TVs and audio devices, it supports higher audio bandwidth. This means uncompressed formats like Dolby TrueHD and DTS-HD Master Audio, as well as full-quality Dolby Atmos.
I couldn’t really tell the difference until I turned it on. Until then, the sound provided by the soundbar was sufficient. After that, it became visibly fuller, more detailed and different from the compressed version, which tried its best to make an impression.
For eARC to work, you need a TV with an eARC-labeled HDMI port and a soundbar or receiver that supports it. Not all devices are required to be officially HDMI 2.1 certified, but that certification tends to mean eARC support anyway. On most Sony TVs, you can find the toggle by going to: display and soundafter that audio outputeARC mode automatic. For Samsung TVs, check the following: Anynet+ (HDMI-CEC) is active, but you may need to manually set the HDMI eARC mode to automatic. expert settings sound menu
A best practice is to enable CEC and configure the TV’s audio output settings before connecting the devices, and then turn on the TV first and then the external audio device to ensure that the connection is recognized correctly.
Orm
Game mode, automated and removed from to-do list
The last feature I enabled was ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode). Before I came across this, every time I switched from watching something to playing something on my PS5, I had a little ritual of diving into my TV’s picture quality settings. It got old quickly, especially considering my TV has over 50ms of input lag. ALLM essentially removes that entire interaction because the device handles the switch on its own.
It’s pretty seamless. When the console sends a gaming signal, the TV recognizes it and enters gaming mode, reducing input lag by skipping extra image processing. When you’re done and return to the movie, all the expected cinematic adjustments are restored. What surprised me is how smart it is. Even when you’re using the console, some TVs will switch out of gaming mode when you open an app like Netflix or YouTube, so you don’t have to stick to that flat gaming profile when you’re just trying to watch something.
ALLM is one of the headline features of HDMI 2.1 and will make a noticeable difference in gameplay responsiveness if you’re using a PS5 or Xbox Series X. A few newer HDMI 2.0 TVs support this, but to ensure a stable signal, we recommend you stop using your old HDMI cable and use an ultra-high speed HDMI cable. This setting is usually buried in your TV’s gaming options or advanced picture options, and sometimes located in: game mode, game optimizer or external input setting. On the console side, both PlayStation and Xbox expose it in their display settings, usually labeled ALLM. When you enable this on both ends, the TV essentially becomes context-aware and knows whether you’re here to watch or play before you interact with it.
Sony calls it ALLM.Auto genre picture mode‘ name will appear on your TV and is designed to work with the PS5. So if you’re using a Sony set and can’t find ALLM in your settings, you should look for this name.
HDMI cables are more than just cables
My relationship with HDMI has changed. Not because I went shopping for a fancy cable, but because I finally took notice of what the cables I already owned were capable of. These features don’t require new hardware or fancy upgrades. They ask for 10 minutes to configure and a little curiosity to wander into the menus you’ve been ignoring.
