How to Enable HDMI Audio Using Your HP Pavilion Media Center PC

I bought an HP Pavilion Media Center PC about a year ago and not until recently was the audio from the HDMI connection working. When I initially connected the computer to the TV with the HDMI cable I could not get the sound to come through. After a couple of hours of frustration I gave up and connected the audio via coax instead. I was helping a good friend of mine with his newly purchased HP Pavilion when I noticed that there was an addendum to the manual that came with the computer. The addendum included with his computer contained the instructions which detailed how to enable the sound using the HDMI connection. His computer was 1 year younger than mine, but I made a copy of the document nevertheless. I went home and followed the instructions, two minutes later I was listening to the audio streaming from my computer using the HDMI connection. I decided to post this with the hope of helping others that may encounter this issue. If you have any comments or questions please post them below.

Note: I used Windows Vista Home Edition on an Hewlett-Packard Pavilion Media Center M8430F. As I previously stated the addendum was included with an HP Pavilion that was 1 year newer than the one I own and the process worked just fine, just make sure that your HP uses the Realtek Audio card.

1. With your computer turned on, right-click on the Sound icon located in the notification area on the bottom right corner of the screen. Click on Playback Devices from the menu.

Note: The icon looks like a small speaker on its side

2. The Sound window will open. Under the Playback tab, right-click on the Realtek HDMI Output. Click on Enable from the drop-down menu.

3. Once enabled the TV icon should have a Checkmark indicating that it is enabled. Click on Realtek HDMI Output again and click on the Properties button.

 

4. The Properties window will open. Click on the Supported Formats tab and add a check to the 48.0 KHz checkbox. Make sure that it is the only sample rate selected. Click OK to close the window.

Verify that sound is now being output by the HDMI connection on your computer by playing a movie or music. Enjoy.

Article posted on 05 25th, 2009

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17 Responses to “How to Enable HDMI Audio Using Your HP Pavilion Media Center PC”

1. How to Enable HDMI Audio Using Your HP Pavilion Media Center PC … says:

   May 27, 2009 at 12:08 am

   [...] t­h­e­ r­e­st­ h­e­r­e­: How t­o En­able HD­M­I Aud­io Usin­g­ Your­ HP Pav­ilio… Share and [...]
2. Bashir says:

   July 31, 2009 at 6:50 am

   Thanks a lot. It was pretty useful
3. Julia says:

   July 31, 2009 at 11:41 pm

   Hey there - thanks for this. I had the SAME issue with the same computer. However, my sound options only include speakers, and the Realtek Digital Output. I wonder if I can get the HDMI Output, and how different it would be. It’s annoying to constantly change my sound defaults every time I plug my laptop into the TV (something I need to do with Realtek Digital Output).
4. Gilberto J Perera says:

   August 1, 2009 at 6:22 am

   @Julia - So what you’re saying is that the Realtek HDMI Output under Playback tab does not appear?

   You say you have the same computer, but you also state that it is a laptop. The article was written for the HP desktops. I’m assuming the laptop you are referring to has an HDMI port.

   Please let me know so that I can help you.
5. Julia says:

   August 2, 2009 at 3:58 am

   Hi Gil - on my second look - it’s not the same computer (exactly) - but similar! I have an HP Pavilion Entertainment PC (laptop). And no, Realtek HDMI Output doesn’t appear under the Playback tab - only ’speakers’ and the ‘Realtek Digital Output’ (no other ‘hidden’ devices appear). I tried to download a driver yesterday from cnet but the download couldn’t complete. Anyway - Yes, I have an HDMI port - and that’s how I connect my laptop to my new TV. So I can get sound through the ‘Realtek Digital Output’ if I enable this as the default each time I connect. It’s just a pain to change the settings once a day!
6. Gilberto J Perera says:

   August 3, 2009 at 5:29 am

   @Julia: Let’s see if we can make some sense of this.

   When you plug the HDMI cable to your laptop and switch to the Realtek Digital Output you are able to listen to the audio using the HDMI cable, correct?

   The problem you are having is the switching back and forth of the settings to enable the sound through HDMI?

   Please let me know… Thank you.
7. Esteban says:

   August 19, 2009 at 11:21 am

   Can the HDMI interface on HP notebooks be used as INPUT instead of output ? for example, live broadcasting using a cammera.

   Thanks.
8. Gilberto J Perera says:

   August 25, 2009 at 12:43 am

   @Esteban: I’m not sure that it can. I believe that HDMI plug on HP computers is only an output. If you would like to input an HDMI connection I suggest buying a video capturing device. Let me know if that answers your question.
9. Julia says:

   August 25, 2009 at 3:25 am

   Hi Gil - Yes, I can watch a DVD from my laptop but hear the audio on the TV when I change my Sound Settings to make Realtek Digital Output as the default device. And yes again - the problem is that I have to keep switching to this as the default for anything on the TV, and back to Stereo to hear anything from the laptop when not plugged in to the TV. Any ideas?
10. Siren says:

    September 3, 2009 at 10:22 pm

    I’m having a HDMI problem with the audio on my HP pavilion pc as well. I installed a new video card (ATI All-in-wonder HD) Although I now get beautiful video and video speed I never thought possible, I now have no sound. Going to the sound control on my control panel shows me only one choice of sound output now and it says it’s working. It says Digital Output Device (HDMI) but no sound at all. I have tried every outlet possible to both my monitor and my speakers but have no sound at all…….any ideas?
11. Gilberto J Perera says:

    September 14, 2009 at 10:20 pm

    @Julia: Unfortunately I’m unaware of an automatic switching between one and the other. The reason for the difference in devices available stems from the fact that the desktop has additional audio/video inputs and outputs.

    That should explain this difference. If you ever find something, either software or a new driver that automatically sense the connection and performs the switching I would love to hear about as would other readers, thank you.
12. Gilberto J Perera says:

    September 14, 2009 at 10:22 pm

    @Siren: Did the audio work prior to the card being installed? Is the HDMI device a Realtek device or an ATI device. Any more information would be helpful. Thank you.
13. Yordan says:

    September 16, 2009 at 6:41 am

    Hi Gil,
    I’m looking at all the posts here, it seems like you are quite familiar with the HDMI Audio… I have a serious problem that noone has resolved by now… Wonder if you could help me.
    I have an ASUS Laptop, NVidia 8200M, Azalia (Realtek) HD Audio running on Win 7 x64. I try to connect the laptop to the TV through a VGA cable and additional audio cable that goes from my laptop headphones to the TV.
    At first everything was ok, I was getting video and sound, but after an update from Win 7 I stopped gettign the audio when connected to TV
    When I go to the sound manager I dont seem to have any HDMI Audio Output device although I have tried reinstalling the audio drivers and downloaded the latest Realtek Drivers. In the sound option I get only Digital Audio - High Definition Audio Device (which dispplays as Ready but it won’t work when selected) and Speakers - Realtek High Definition Audio.
    Thanks in advance
14. Gilberto J Perera says:

    September 28, 2009 at 12:39 pm

    @Yordan: In your comments you mentioned connecting to the VGA port on your laptop along with the audio cables. You made no mention of connecting to HDMI, have you tried that? Also with regards to an update messing up a driver, it is quite possible. Are the drivers certified to work with Win7. Also Windows 7 has not officially released to the public so don’t expect everything to work out of the box.

    I would also try rolling back the update (not recommended because of security updates) to see if it resolves the issue. Good luck and keep us posted.
15. Ky says:

    October 16, 2009 at 1:17 pm

    I have followed the steps you outlined to get sound through the HDMI cable and out the TV but the sound is choppy. I have tried different frequencies and they don’t help. There aren’t any updates for my driver and I’m using the codec that came with the machine (HP pavillion)
    The guys at the store say it works fine there so there’s something in my set up that is a problem.
    any ideas for me to try?
16. Gilberto J Perera says:

    October 16, 2009 at 9:32 pm

    @Ky - Did the guy at the store test it with a TV using HDMI? How are you setting up? Thanks.
17. Laura says:

    October 18, 2009 at 3:36 am

    When i connect my laptop to my tv with a hdmi cable I get video fine but the audio is all scratchy sounding. I dont have ‘realtek hdmi options’ under the playback tab either. Is there a way I can get realtek hdmi options to come up? Do I need to change any other settings?