How to fix sound delay on lg tv

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Whenever I want to turn off my brain for entertainment after a long day at work, my TV will always be there, waiting to help me take off the day’s burdens.

Be it streaming, watching the news, or catching up on a pre-recorded football game, my TV has come in clutch and managed not to let me fall into the pit of boredom.

Since the TV is such an essential piece of entertainment for me, it annoys me to no end when it does not work as its supposed to.

Just recently, I have been having audio sync issues; the newsreader’s mouth was saying something, but the audio was saying something else.

There was a huge delay between what I was seeing and what I was hearing from the TV.

I didn’t know if this was an issue with my TV or my connection, so to find out more, I dove deep.

As part of my research into this issue, I went to the support pages of the products and services that I use and visited their user forums.

This guide is a result of the thorough research that I had done to get my audio issues fixed so that you can have an idea of what to try when this happens to you.

To fix the audio delay on your TV, find the A/V sync setting and adjust it accordingly to get the audio synced.

I will also discuss what you can do if your TV doesn’t have this feature and fix the audio sync issue if you get this on Fire TV or Roku.

Inspect the TV Source for Audio Sync Issues

Finding out if the issue of the TV or whatever the TV was acting as the display for was at fault is the first step to get the issue fixed.

Identifying what broke is the first step in any troubleshooting guide.

Plug in the source that you were using to another display or TV.

You can even use monitors; all you need is a display input with which the source is compatible.

For example, if your HD TV Box is the source of audio issues, use a monitor or TV with an HDMI port.

After plugging the new display in, play the content on it that you were having issues with.

If the audio sync issues persist, the source is the one having issues.

If not, the TV is the culprit.

Check the Audio Sync on other TV Channels

The next step is to identify if it was an issue with the channel that you were watching.

Change the channels and see if the audio is desynced in the other channels too.

If they are, the issue can be traced to either your cable TV provider, your TV itself, or the cable TV box.

This can happen due to loose connections or damaged connectors, or broadcasting errors at the cable provider’s end.

Check your Internet for Audio Sync Issues While Streaming

Audio sync issues that you can run into while streaming can happen when your internet connection has issues.

Bugs in the streaming app can also cause audio desync issues, but those are rarer.

Getting your internet connection checked out can help with desync issues on streaming services.

Make sure that you are not running and bandwidth-hungry apps in the background of your stream or on other devices.

Run a speed test by going to either speedtest.net or fast.com and check if you are getting the speeds that you are paying for.

Try clearing the cache of the streaming app if the internet looks okay.

If clearing the cache didn’t work, reinstalling the app might do the trick.

Sync on LG TVs using WebOS

If you have an LG TV, you’re in luck because they have a feature in their smart WebOS TVs that lets you tweak the audio sync to compensate for any lag in the audio or video.

First, navigate to the channel you are having desync issues with.

To turn on and use AV Sync on LG smart TVs

1. Press the Smart button with a home logo on the remote to open the menu.
2. Go to Settings > SOUND and press Enter.
3. Navigate to AV Sync adjust and press Enter.
4. Turn the feature on and use the slider named External Speaker to delay the audio or video.

Adjust the slider to the left to delay the audio, or adjust it to the right to delay video as you see fit.

Use AV Sync Adjust on LG TVs using NetCast

Older LG TVs run on a system called NetCast, but the method to tweak audio sync largely remains the same.

To turn on Audio sync for your NetCast LG TV:

1. Press the Home button on the remote to open the menu.
2. Go to Settings > Sound.
3. Find AV Sync adjust and turn it on
4. Adjust the slider to the left to delay audio and to the right to delay the video.

Tune to the channel you were having issues with and adjust the slider until the audio and video sync up.

Manually Adjust Audio Sync on a Samsung TV

Samsung TVs also come with the ability to tweak the audio sync through the audio settings, and getting it done is pretty straightforward.

For TVs from 2020/2021:

1. Press the button with the Home symbol on it to open the Smart Hub.
2. Choose Settings.
3. Go down to Sound and select Expert Settings.
4. Select Digital Audio Output Delay.
5. Use the slider that appears to adjust the audio delay and match the video.

For TVs from 2018/2019 or older:

1. Press the Home button on your remote.
2. Navigate to Settings.
3. Go to Sound > Expert Settings. Older TVs have this option labeled Additional Settings.
4. Choose Audio Delay.
5. Set a value between 0 and 300 milliseconds so that the audio sync issue gets resolved.

This involves a bit of trial and error and navigating between menus, so be patient and try out all the delay times to get the right one for you.

Reset Sound Settings on a Samsung TV

If adjusting the audio delay doesn’t work, Samsung lets you reset all audio settings back to factory defaults.

So if you have custom settings for your audio setup, they will be removed.

Make a note of your custom settings before doing the settings reset.

To reset the sound settings on an E, F, H, or J series TV:

1. Press the Menu button on the remote.
2. Go to Sound > Reset sound.
3. Confirm the reset prompt.
4. When the reset completes, acknowledge it by selecting okay.

To reset the sound settings on the newer K, M, N, or R series TVs:

1. Press the button with the Home symbol on it to open the Smart Hub.
2. Go to Settings > Sound.
3. Choose Expert Settings > Reset sound.
4. Select Reset on the prompt that appears to reset all sound settings to default.

After you reset the sound settings, tune to the channel you were having desync issues with and check if the issue has been resolved.

Use AV Sync Slider on a Fire TV

If you have audio sync issues when watching content on your Fire TV, it has a slider that you can adjust to set the audio delay.

Though, this feature is only available on the Fire TV Stick Lite and the Fire TV Stick 3rd generation.

To access the AV Sync Slider:

1. Open the Settings menu.
2. Go to Display and Sounds > Audio.
3. Choose AV Sync Tuning
4. You will now see a bouncing ball that makes a click and shows a flash every time it does a bounce.
5. Adjust the slider so that the bounce and click sound happens at precisely the same time. Use the Fire TV remote to move the slider.
6. Hit the Select button to save the changes.

After getting the audio synced, check if the content you had audio sync issues with still has the issue.

Adjust Audio Sync on a Soundbar

Most soundbars do allow you to adjust the audio sync with the video.

Check the sound settings of your soundbar to find the audio sync settings.

The setting would be similar to the ones we’ve seen before, with a slider that lets you adjust the audio sync and moving it left or right.

For more precise instructions, consult the manual for your soundbar and see how you can adjust the audio sync.

Adjust Audio Sync on a Home Theater System

Like soundbars, home theater systems also let you tweak the audio sync settings.

It also uses a slider that lets you adjust the delay in milliseconds to get the perfect sync.

To make sure, check the system’s manual to see if there is an option called A/V Sync or Audio Delay and if you are allowed to adjust it.

You can also fix the audio delay without making too many changes to your system using the Sescom SES-A-V-SYNC A/V Lip-Sync Corrector.

This is convenient if you have a large system that is not worth the hassle of setting back up after making small changes.

Check your HDMI ARC Cable

Soundbars and home theater systems use a particular type of HDMI known as HDMI ARC or its successor, HDMI eARC.

These HDMI standards have different ports, and if your soundbar or home theater system was plugged into a regular HDMI port than an ARC or eARC one, the devices could have audio issues.

Make sure that you have plugged the soundbar and home theater system that you are having issues with into the HDMI port with the ARC label on it.

Check the content that you are having issues with again and see if the issue persists.

Update your TV’s Firmware

All TVs receive updates in their lifecycles, including your regular non-smart TVs.

Updating the firmware on your smart TVs is pretty straightforward; go to the software update section in your TV settings menu to check and install updates.

Upgrading your regular TV, on the other hand, requires some work from you, but not all TVs follow the same procedure.

Consult the manual for your TV to see how to update the firmware on it.

Usually, these are the general steps to update the firmware on your regular TV:

1. Go to the manufacturer’s website and download the firmware update.
2. Load the update file to a USB stick.
3. Connect the USB stick to the TV and restart your TV.
4. Your TV will detect the USB has the update file and will install it automatically.

Of course, the steps would be different for different makes and models of the TV, so to be sure, take a look at your TV’s manual.

Final Thoughts

When this issue happens with your Blu-ray player, turn off Game mode if your TV has one; you can find the model in the settings.

If you are on a Roku, but the audio is out of sync there, you can try disabling and enabling volume mode on the Roku by pressing the Star key on the remote.

Replace the HDMI cables as well if they are damaged or frayed.

Get the Belkin Ultra HD HDMI cable; I recommend it because of its gold-plated end connectors that are durable and its fast data transfer speeds.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Does eARC Fix lip-sync?

Using an eARC connection can solve lip-sync issues, so make sure your soundbar and home theater support the feature and use the specifically labeled eARC HDMI port on the TV for those devices.

Which sound mode is best for TV?

Set the sound mode according to the type of content that you are watching.

Many TVs have settings for sports, movies, music, or video games, so set your TV to the mode corresponding to the content that you are watching.

How do I fix a Bluetooth audio delay on my TV?

To fix Bluetooth audio delay, move closer to the TV.

Also, try unpairing and pairing the Bluetooth device to the TV again.

Is there an app to sync audio and video?

Some TVs have a built-in feature to sync audio and video of the content you are watching, but there are no specific apps you can download from the store.