Soundbar blocking the TV screen or remote sensor? How to fix it

Is it the picture or the sensor?

Sit in your usual seat and look at the bottom of the screen.

• The bar covers part of the picture: the bar is taller than the space between the console and the bottom of the picture. Subtitles and tickers sit low in the frame, so even an inch matters.
• The picture is clear but the remote is unreliable: the bar is covering the TV’s infrared (IR) sensor, usually a small window on the bottom bezel.

Fixes for a blocked picture

1. Use the TV’s taller stand position. Many current TVs have feet that mount in two positions, one of them higher specifically to clear a soundbar. Some offer a pedestal instead. Check the manual or the spec sheet for “stand positions”.

2. Wall-mount the TV. Then you choose the height. With the screen’s center at the usual 42 inches, even a 75-inch TV’s picture starts about 23.5 inches from the floor, high enough to clear a bar on most consoles. Mount the bar on the wall underneath with its specified gap, or leave it on the console.

3. Lower the bar. A lower shelf in the media unit, or a slimmer bar. Don’t push it into an enclosed cabinet: Sonos and Bose both say that blocks the sound.

4. Check the gap your bar needs. Gaps aren’t just about clearance; up-firing Atmos drivers need open air above them. Sony asks for 120 mm under a slim wall-mounted TV and 200 mm under a deeper one; Sonos for 4 inches above an Arc Ultra.

Fixes for a blocked remote sensor

5. Move the bar or use its IR repeater. Shifting the bar slightly forward or to one side often clears the sensor. Many bars include an IR repeater that relays the remote’s signal to the TV; Sony recommends turning it on only if the TV stops responding, since it can cause interference otherwise. Using HDMI-CEC (controlling the TV and bar from one remote) also sidesteps the problem.

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