A specific type of HDMI port with Audio Return Channel (ARC) support – basically, an HDMI variant designed for connecting to sound systems. Not all HDMI ports do this, but they all look alike – some televisions only have one port that will support it, so do check your model.

Like HDMI ARC, but the ‘e’ stands for ‘enhanced’. This is the next-gen version, with higherquality sound output designed specifically for 3D audio formats.

Surround sound, but upgraded. Atmos sound is object-based, which means every part of the soundtrack (gunshots, speech, instruments) are tracked in a ‘3D’ soundscape around the listener, and that includes height as well.

The bit of a speaker that makes the sound. Magnets drive a cone of material back and forth, vibrating the air.

A speaker designed specifically for bass sounds, which are hard for more general speakers to generate. Usually much larger than other drivers.

A unit, about the size of a games console, that takes the sound from your TV, amplifies it electrically so it can drive a big speaker, and then sends the individual sound channels out to whichever speaker they need to go to. It’s not needed for soundbars, which have this technology built into themselves.

A soundbar has to fire all its sound out from in front of you, but by using ‘psychoacoustic’ techniques or by reflecting sound off walls, it can trick your brain into thinking the audio is coming from elsewhere.

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