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New LG TVs just got a free upgrade that makes it super-easy for multiple people to listen with headphones or hearing aids
- Auracast support is in LG’s 2025 OLEDs and some QNED TVs too
- One-to-many broadcasting is great for hearing aids and headphones
- Auracast is also in many Samsung TVs – but not all headphones offer it
Some of the most important technologies aren’t necessarily the most eye-catching – so while LG’s 2025 OLED TVs are impressively bright, for some people the most important feature may be their support for Auracast. That’s an optional part of the most recent Bluetooth standards that enables multiple devices to stream audio from the same TV, or from other audio sources, without pairing.
It’s a big deal for people with compatible hearing aids, or people who want to share the same show or movie while wearing a pair of the best wireless headphones.
LG has been pretty quiet about its Auracast support, which is surprising: as FlatpanelsHD notes, the only official announcement has been in collaboration with Starkey hearing aids, which suggests that LG sees Auracast as more of an accessibility feature than a mass-market thing.
But while supporting hearing aids is of course vital, Auracast also enables a shared audio experience for headphone users – and that’s handy if you’re in an apartment where listening loud is likely to upset the neighbors, or if you’ve got sleeping kids in the next room.
What’s so great about Auracast audio?
Most wireless audio connections are one-to-one, so when I connect my Samsung TV to my AirPods Max, I’m the only connected listener. But Auracast is one-to-many, so provided everybody’s headphones (and other compatible kit such as Auracast-enabled Bluetooth speakers, hearing aids, AV receivers and soundbars) support the technology, they can all listen to the same audio at the same time with minimal latency.
There’s more to Auracast than TV shows and movies, although it’s great for that. It’s also potentially very useful in places like transit hubs and lecture theaters, in sports bars and at speaking events.
LG isn’t the first TV firm to support Auracast – that was Samsung, which first put Auracast into some of its high-end TVs two years ago – but the tech is in multiple LG models including the LG C5 and LG G5 OLED TVs, as well as the LG B5, the LG M5, and the QNED85A, QNED89A and QNED9M. And there’s a growing selection of Auracast-enabled products out there.
One of the reasons for the relatively slow rollout of Auracast is that it isn’t part of the core Bluetooth standard, so manufacturers can decide whether or not to support it.
However, a growing number of firms do, and hopefully that’ll create a virtuous circle of firms making products that transmit Auracast audio and products that receive it – we’re definitely happy to see it become standard among many of the best TVs.
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