Do you remember those days when we had more than one remote control on the table to turn on the TV, stereo, DVD player, game console, and even the amplifier? Well, lately many companies have looked for ways to reduce that number by using something that seems very simple but is actually quite complicated to implement. It's a shortcut that the HDMI connector allows you to manage, not only the image and sound projected on the screen, but also when each of those devices turns on or off.
This PlayStation 5 feature is as useful as it is maddening
One of the advantages of HDMI connections is that we can control the other device connected at the other end, so with a single remote we can control almost our entire multimedia setup . Controlling different devices from the same place can be a huge advantage. But of course, the best part is being able to turn things on whenever we need them.
With your PlayStation 5, you might accidentally turn on your TV . Generally, this is a good thing, as you'll usually turn both on at the same time. However, if you tend to leave the controller lying around or have children or pets at home who fiddle with everything, you'll almost certainly want to turn this feature off. Otherwise, the living room TV will be on all day. So let's get down to business. Why does the TV turn on by itself, and how can we prevent it?
The PS5 always turns on with the TV
Sony, always attentive to these kinds of innovations, didn't hesitate to add the ability to control the console's activity with the PS5 , going beyond just 4K, HDR, and Dolby-compatible sound. You've probably heard about a feature that connects to the TV via the HDMI ARC port, so before anything else, it's advisable to check if your TV is compatible with this standard. Obviously, if the console is turning on automatically, there's not much more to check.
This happens regularly to many users who can't explain why, when they turn on their Smart TV , the lights on their PS5 turn blue, as if someone had pressed the famous PS button on their DualSense controller. But don't worry, there's an explanation (and even a solution), and we're going to give it to you now.
If you're one of the lucky ones who owns a brand-new PS5 (and survived the stock shortage), you've probably run into the following problem. You turn on your Smart TV to watch Netflix or browse YouTube, and the PS5 automatically powers on when you weren't about to play. So now you have to grab the DualSense controller, select the TV's video input, and tell it to go back to sleep. What a hassle.
But do you know why this happens?
The HDMI-CEC standard
Like many other devices with an HDMI port on the market, your PS5 incorporates the HDMI-CEC standard to control and communicate with other devices connected via the audio and video cable. The original idea, and its usefulness, is that this standard automates many of the tasks we usually need to perform with multiple remote controls, so that when you turn on the console, the TV automatically turns on as well, and you can start playing immediately.
But this is somewhat annoying when we have the console connected directly to the television and not through an AV amplifier, for example. The problem appears when we turn on the television to watch DTT, or any of the applications of your Smart TV platform that you have at home, since at that moment the PS5 will receive the power-on order and it will turn on at the same time as the television .
This will cause the console to be turned on unnecessarily, so it will be something that many users want to solve, and it is just what we are going to explain to deactivate today.
How to know that your Smart TV has HDMI-CEC?
Anyway, the first thing you might wonder after reading the explanation above is whether your TV has one of those special ports. It's worth noting that you probably don't have easy access to that connector to check for any markings (it's mounted on the wall or attached to the living room furniture), and you might not even remember the exact model to search online and Google it.
So, as with almost all relatively modern Smart TV models, you can find the answer in the settings menus. How? Well, we'll give you some very general steps, because each operating system has its own terminology and ways of naming things.
Summarizing a lot, you can know if your Smart TV has HDMI-CEC by doing the following:
- Access the Settings from the television.
- Enter the options Audio and video.
- Look for the Video settings.
- See if it has a function that indicates something like TV input control.
- If so, then see that you can activate and deactivate the HDMI-CEC control of the supported port.
two quick fixes
Before explaining how to ensure that your PS5 does not affect or interact with the HDMI inputs of the Smart TV by turning the device on or off, we are going to offer you two very simple and quick solutions that can save you a lot of time:
- The first, obviously, is that change the HDMI port on the console cable, to prevent the famous CEC standard from doing its thing and sending the order to activate or not the screen as we press the PS button on the DualSense. In this way you do not have to go crazy configuring menus anywhere and you can save everything that we are going to tell you next.
- The second is to keep the PS5 on that HDMI-CEC and enter console menus to change settingsnot disable its use temporarily, until someone perfects the link of that connection without causing ignitions that we do not want.
Although if this is not the case and you prefer to keep the PS5 in the HDMI-CEC connector, then it is time to take the next step, which is to configure some options that the console itself brings as standard within its firmware and that we will explain just below. Behold.
Disable HDMI device link
The secret to this function lies in the "Enable HDMI Device Link" option within the console's operating system, an option you'll find in Settings > System > HDMI , and which, when disabled, will eliminate any interaction with your TV or other device connected via HDMI.
This will prevent your console from turning on spontaneously every time you turn on the TV, but you'll also lose the opposite effect, meaning you'll have to turn on the TV manually every time you want to play. First-world problems, and a complete relentless pursuit of convenience in many of our daily activities.
If you find it's not working, verify that this option is actually disabled . These changes to the settings without your input could be due to a firmware update, where Sony has changed some settings and they've reappeared as active. If this is the case, then return to this menu and check that it's not set up as shown in the screenshot above.
Option that appeared in previous firmwares.
If you have updated the console to the latest version, in the HDMI options you will see two settings that did not appear in previous versions. We refer to "Activate game with a touch" and "Activate paired devices shutdown", options that further adjust the behavior of the console to the orders it can receive through the HDMI cable. In the first option, the TV will turn on when you turn on the console, and in the second option, the console will go to sleep when you turn off the television.
What is the best possible configuration?
If your console is connected directly to your TV and you want to stop this annoying accidental console activation, we're going to offer you a solution that, in addition to having huge benefits in terms of improving the audio of your multimedia set, allows you to create a kind of firewall to prevent the Smart TV from turning it on due to HDMI-CEC.
One option to consider for enjoying automatic power-on without the problems of unwanted activations is to use an AV receiver that distributes all the signals. When using one of these devices, the PS5's automatic power-on will also power on the TV and the receiver simultaneously, whereas if you turn on the TV, it will only power on the receiver, not the PS5, thus preventing any possibility of it turning on accidentally.
Obviously, it's a fairly expensive solution intended only for those with a more advanced setup involving multiple HDMI devices that need to be connected to an audio amplifier, but it's certainly the most organized and efficient option you could have for enjoying a fully connected system.
I want it to turn on but it doesn't work
If you've reconsidered and want your TV to control your PS5's power, the first thing you'll need to do is enable the feature we mentioned. If, for some reason, you already had it enabled and the connection has stopped working, a solution that often fixes the problem is to unplug all the devices to reset the HDMI connection between them. It sounds like a cheap fix, but it's precisely what works best in these cases.
Remember to always update the console to the latest version, since one of the latest firmware released by Sony corrected an error in the HDMI connection that caused failures, in addition to further specifying the behavior of the console in the face of this useful and practical function.