TVs take the lead in Audio Innovation

It’s almost ten years since the last major innovation in consumer audio, which was Apple’s launch of its AirPods back in 2016.  Those arrived on the market ten years after the underlying Bluetooth specification which made wireless audio streaming possible, which demonstrates the fact that it can take quite a long time to bring new technologies to market.  This year looks as if it will be the tipping point for the next big audio innovation to go mainstream.  It’s something called Auracast and this time, the innovation is being spearheaded by the TV industry.

Introducing Auracast

Auracast is a new Bluetooth technology that lets you stream audio to multiple different headsets or speakers.  It’s designed for situations where people want to share audio, whether that’s personal music or public audio.  Its development was started by the hearing aid industry to make it easier to stream voice and music to hearing aids, based on their experience with telecoil hearing loops.  However, the ultimate aim was for it to transform all sorts of consumer applications with a new generation of earbuds, speakers and headphones.  It’s really fast, so there’s no noticeable delay when you’re watching a film or video, it’s lower power, much easier to control and it’s longer range.  But it’s taken some time to get here.  However, 2026 looks as if it will be the tipping point, when it moves into the mainstream.

Why does wireless technology take so long to become available?

The problem with wireless technologies is that they need two ends – two different products. both of which can communicate with the same wireless standard.  That complicates things, because they need to work with each other – something that the industry calls interoperability.  There are lots of great inventions which don’t need any interoperability.  Simple inventions like selfie sticks and air fryers just need to be built and sold, as they work by themselves.

With wireless products, the new user experience needs different companies, often from different industries to work together, which is not the way most companies traditionally do things.  They generally like to do their own thing, so have to learn a new way of working together.  It also generates a chicken and egg situation where there needs to be enough of one side available for the other to be worth buying.  That happened when mobile phones arrived,  Not many people bought one until there were enough base stations to get a signal.  Once coverage spread across a country, sales of phones rocketed.  The same thing happened with Bluetooth; chips started appearing in phones in 2001, but hardly anyone used them until there was enough critical mass to persuade headset manufacturers and the automotive industry to provide the other end of the connection.  Wi-Fi chips started getting into laptops even earlier, but for years, there were no access points to connect them to.  It’s always comes back to that same chicken and egg situation, where one side needs to attain critical mass before the market can take off.

Over the past few years, the first Auracast products have been appearing on the market, but nobody was quite sure where the critical mass would come from.  Most of the industry thought it would happen in smartphones, but instead, it’s coming from an unexpected sector – TVs.

How TVs came to lead the way

The TV industry isn’t normally associated with audio innovation.  In general, they rely on other companies to make soundbars and speakers for anyone who wants better or louder audio, but with Auracast they’ve seen the potential of completely new topologies, where multiple listeners can access new features to enhance their viewing.  The world’s largest TV manufacturer – Samsung, along with LG, Philips and Panasonic have all announced that their 2026 models will include Auracast.  Looking at predicted sales volumes from analysts like Omdia and Counterpoint, it means that by the end of the year, around 150 million viewers will have Auracast in their homes, with the ability to connect a new generation of earbuds, headphones, speakers and hearing aids to their TVs. That’s the critical mass that the market needs to bring in the next audio revolution.  Once users experience it and start asking for it, it puts enormous pressure on other sectors to follow and include Auracast support in their products. 

What makes this timing doubly important is the fact that the TV industry expects this to be a bumper year for sales, driven by the 2026 World Cup, which is exactly the push that Auracast needs.

Why TVs need Auracast

If you talk to any audiologist, they’;ll tell you that TVs bring them most of their customers.  One of the first signs of hearing loss is the growing argument between partners about the level of the TV volume, and the fight for custody of the remote control.  That’s the point where the person turning the volume up should get a hearing test, but there’s normally years of simmering domestic tension before it reaches that point.  Auracast may not get people to a hearing test any earlier, but it can do a lot for domestic harmony.

Adding a Bluetooth Auracast transmitter to a TV allows it to wirelessly broadcast the audio signal to headphones, hearing aids, earbuds and soundbars at the same  time as the TV’s internal speakers are playing the sound.  “At the same time” is very important, as if there’s any significant delay, then the audio appears out of sync with what you’re watching.  If there’s ambient audio present from the TV’s speakers, any delay in getting the sound to a Bluetooth headset is perceived as an echo, making it even more difficult for a listener to understand.  Because of that, one of the key design parameters for Auracast was to ensure that the delay, which is technically referred to as “latency” is sufficiently low that there’s no problem.  Everyone in the room, whether they’re listening to the audio on a speaker, hearing aid or earbud will hear it at exactly the same time.

No more fights over volume

Although Auracast is all about sharing audio, the one thing you don’t need to share is the volume.  Unlike a standard TV, which is always too loud or too quiet for some of its viewers, with Auracast, everyone can control their own volume.  Each hearing aid, earbud or headset provides personal volume control, so the arguments about volume disappear. 

I hate Football / Cookery / Crime

Although the TV manufacturers predict it will be a bumper year for new TV sales, not everyone is going to be thrilled by the prospect of the World Cup booming around the home.  In a fair number, there’s likely to be a rush to buy partners the latest Auracast earbuds and headsets to go with the new TV, so that they can enjoy their football in silence.  They could be the ideal Birthday present from long suffering spouses, who may find that they receive a similar present once the World Cup finishes and the TV returns to its normal fare of cookery and crime series.

You can still hear it in the Kitchen / Bathroom / Bedroom

Auracast came into being to provide a more flexible way of sharing sound in public venues, such as theatres and cinemas, where it was envisaged as an evolution from the current Telecoil hearing loops. 

To achieve that, it’s designed to have a greater range than most people associate with Bluetooth headsets., which provides another advantage for TV watching.  If you’re watching a live program and desperately need to go to the kitchen to get a new beer, or the bathroom to get rid of the previous one, you should still be able to hear the commentary without missing any key moments. 

It’s all about tipping points

As with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, broadcast TV and mobile phones, the move from future promise to everyday usage is all about the tipping point that comes when there is a critical mass of devices.  Initially people purchasing these TVs may not realise they contain Auracast, but as the momentum builds and users appreciate the advantages it offers, it will become the “must-have” feature for every new TV purchase.  The 2026 World Cup is being billed as the greatest global sporting event.  Its enduring legacy may be that it’s the event that propels Auracast from technical innovation to an everyday experience that changes the way the world thinks about audio.