Not sure what HDMI port to use? Here's what each port does on your TV, and which devices you should connect to where

Date:
Tue, 27 Jan 2026 23:00:00 +0000

Description:
HDMI is the main way you'll connect your external devices to your TV, so it's important to make sure you're connecting to the right ones.

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Most of the best TVs nowadays come with three or four HDMI ports and what these are capable of varies from model to model, and brand to brand.

If youve got a gaming console or one of the best soundbars , you sometimes need to make sure youre connecting to the right HDMI port, otherwise your console could be underperforming, and in the case of your soundbar, it wont work if its not connected to the correct HDMI port.

Below, Ill first take you through the different types of HDMI ports, what
they can support and then I'll explain how you can tell which one is which.

One thing to note first: your HDMI cable can make a difference, but that doesn't mean you need to spend lots of money on a high-end one. They all have the same plug, and even ones that support the fanciest options are
inexpensive just always buy a cable that's labelled as being good for 8K and you shouldn't go wrong. HDMI ports explained (Image credit: Future)

There are currently three types of HDMI ports that youll come across
depending on the age of your TV: 1.4, 2.0 and 2.1.

HDMI 1.4 is one of the older generations of HDMI. It supports 4K (also known as Ultra HD) pictures at 24Hz (meaning 24 frames per second) and 1080p HD at up to 120Hz (although the latter is debated). Youre likely to come across
HDMI 1.4 on cheaper or smaller TVs such as the best 32-inch TVs , which are primarily only rated at 1080p anyway.

Next, is HDMI 2.0. This supports 4K at 60Hz (ie, up to 60 frames per second) and 1080p at 120Hz, and is rated for 18Gbps of data bandwidth (meaning the maximum amount of data that it can handle). This is still one of the more common HDMI port types youll find on a lot of TVs, especially budget ones. It also supports HDR, important for both gaming and the best 4K Blu-ray players
.

Finally, theres HDMI 2.1. This supports 4K at 120Hz, as well as higher
refresh rates at lower resolutions. Its also rated for 8K 60Hz, but there
isnt a great deal of 8K content readily available right now. It has 48Gbps of total bandwidth so you can see it's a lot more capable than the 18Gbps of HDMI 1.4.

At CES 2025, the HDMI Forum Inc, the company behind designing the HDMI spec, revealed HDMI 2.2 , which is said to hit 16K resolution, 96Gbps bandwidth and even 4K at a 480Hz refresh rate for gaming. Since its announcement, no TVs have come with HDMI 2.2, and it could be a few years before we see it incorporated into TVs and other displays. Current-gen gaming consoles need to be connected to an HDMI 2.1 port to get 4K 120Hz, shown here with the Xbox Series X hooked up to the LG C5. (Image credit: Future)

So weve explored what different types of HDMI ports there are, but what about your devices? What do you need in order to hook up your soundbar, gaming console, 4K Blu-ray player or even your PC?

For soundbars, you must connect to your TV's HDMI ARC (Audio Return Channel) or HDMI eARC port. These HDMI ports are specifically used for sending audio signals from the TV to the soundbar. ARC and eARC work in similar ways, but eARC has higher audio bandwidth that allows for more uncompressed audio support, including Dolby Atmos and Hi-Res Audio.

This port will be specifically labelled on your TV as either HDMI ARC or
maybe just ARC. It's likely that there will only be one.

For gaming devices, it depends what gaming console you have. If you have a PS5, Xbox Series X or PC, youll want to connect to an HDMI 2.1 port. Thats because these three gaming devices all support 4K at 120Hz and HDMI 2.1 is
the only one that supports 120Hz at 4K. This will mean faster response times and smoother motion during gaming.

While you absolutely can connect these consoles to an HDMI 2.0 port, youll be limited to 4K 60Hz at best. Casual players won't mind this, but the
limitation will irk more committed gamers who buy high-end consoles for higher-end performance.

If you have an older gaming device, such as a PS4 or Nintendo Switch, then HDMI 2.0 is all you need.

One quick note when connecting current-gen gaming consoles: youll want to
head to the HDMI settings of your TV (usually found under General Settings or Connections) and make sure its set to Enhanced (this may have a different
name depending on what brand you have). This will unlock 4K 120Hz, if the
port supports it.

Finally, for 4K Blu-ray players and streaming devices such as an Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K, youll want to connect to an HDMI 2.0 port. This is because it supports 4K HDR, which most 4K Blu-rays and 4K streaming content is available in. How to find these ports Image 1 of 2 HDMI 2.1 ports and eARC ports are often labelled with the formats they support, such as 4K 120Hz (Image credit: Future) Image 2 of 2 and if they're not labelled, it's likely they're HDMI
2.0 only. (Image credit: Future)

What HDMI ports your TV supports and which HDMI port is which varies from brand to brand and what type of TV you have.

For a lot of our testing at TechRadar, we use the LG G5 , one of 2025s best OLED TVs . It has four HDMI 2.1 ports, all fully rated for 4K 144Hz and other gaming features. This means that nearly all ports are identical, and you can plug anything into any of them.

The only port that matters is the eARC port, and this is clearly labelled physically on the TV (HDMI 2 in this case).

While some brands have more HDMI 2.1 ports than others (LG and Samsung nearly always have four), brands such as TCL, Hisense and Sony will support at least two HDMI 2.1 ports, with one or two more HDMI 2.0 ports as well.

Usually one of these will be the eARC port, leaving one free for games consoles. It doesnt just have to be high-end TVs for gaming in fact, the TCL QM6K and TCL C6K and the Hisense U8QG are featured in our best gaming TV
list.

For these TVs, again the HDMI ports will most likely be labelled. TCL often labels its ports as 4K/144Hz for HDMI 2.1, and 4K/60Hz' for HDMI 2.0, for example.

If youre looking to buy a new TV, its a good idea to check what devices you have and what HDMI ports youll need and check that against what HDMI ports your new prospective TV has.

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/televisions/what-hdmi-port-should-i-use


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