Playing TV through surround sound system (1 Viewer)

[David51058]

I have just bought a Samsung UE55JU6400KXXU 55 inch Ultra HD 4K, Freeview HD, Smart TV. I have connected it via a HDMI cable to my 8 year old Panasonic surround sound system and it works perfectly when playing a DVD. I would however like to play my TV through the surround sound especially when watching a film on Netflix on 5.1. How do I achieve this please? There is an optical audio out socket on my TV but the optical audio socket on my surround sound system is also 'out' which seems strange. Can anyone please help?
Thank you.

 

[Joseph Bolus]

The easiest way would be to upgrade your A/V receiver which you'll need to do sooner rather than later anyway.
If you have your TV hooked up to the receiver via HDMI and not getting sound than that means it's a "passive" HDMI input which only supports video. All modern A/V receivers feature "active" HDMI which supports both digital audio and digital video.
You should purchase a new A/V receiver with at least three state-of-the-art active HDMI inputs. Then you'll have room to plug-in your TV, Ultra HD Blu-ray player, and ROKU streaming box to maximize your 4K HDR viewing options with the minimum amount of cables. All modern A/V receivers support Bluetooth connectivity to your Smartphone and/or wireless headphones, so there are additional bonus reasons for upgrading.

 

[Jason Charlton]

8 year old Panasonic surround sound system

Can you be more specific? From what you are describing, I'm guessing this is an "all-in-one home theater in a box" system with an integrated DVD player. If this is the case, then it likely doesn't support any additional (external) sources, and your only option will be to ditch the system and start over with something designed for handling multiple sources.

A model number would help us know what you are working with.