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LG TV not recognized as audio device without restarting PC

Marvin Parsons 0 Reputation points
2026-04-20T19:42:25.37+00:00

RTX3080 graphics card.

LG TV

When my TV is turned off either through power management on the PC or manually, after being turned back on there is no sound. The device is not found as an audio device in sound setting and refreshing hardware in device manager does not find it.

Restarting the PC finds it as an audio device every time.

The only thing that restores it as an audio device is restarting the computer with the TV on.

I've tried changing everything else. I've unplugged and replugged all wirings. I've tried rechecking for audio devices in Device Manager. I've tried to find it in Open Volume Mixer.

Before the TV is turned off and back on it shows as LG SSCR2 (NVidia High Definition Audio) under Output Devices. After the TV is turned off and back on it is missing in the selectable output devices and checking for new hardware in Device Manager does not find it.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Devices and drivers
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  1. Ivan B 109.7K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-04-20T20:44:19.75+00:00

    Hi,

    Completely uninstall the Nvidia driver and check if you are using HDMI 2.1.

    What happens is that the latest HDMI and DP have a Hot-Energy system that recognizes when the monitor or TV is on or off, and this causes a bug when the driver is reinstalled. That's why this problem occurs. Some people bought a Plug-On Connect to keep the Devices active or use an HDMI 1.4.

    You can use DDU.

    DDU: https://ftp.nluug.nl/pub/games/PC/guru3d/ddu/[Guru3D.com]-DDU.zip

    Note: DDU is a third-party application to completely delete and reinstall the GPU driver.

    1. After downloading, extract DDU to a folder.
    2. Run the driver screen uninstaller.exe application, select the Model tab, and put GPU. After uninstalling the GPU driver, uninstall it for AMD and Nvidia.
    3. Click on the First option clean and reboot and wait for the process to finish.
    4. After running DDU and install driver :

    https://www.nvidia.com/pt-br/drivers/details/267157/

    Open the command prompt (admin) and run the commands: sfc /scannow and dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth, wait for the process to finish and restart the computer.

    Note: This is a non-Microsoft website. The page appears to be providing accurate, safe information. Watch out for ads on the site that may advertise products frequently classified as a PUP (Potentially Unwanted Products). Thoroughly research any product advertised on the site before you decide to download and install it.

    If the answer is helpful, please click "Accept Answer" and kindly upvote it. If you have extra questions about this answer, please click "Comment".

    Note: Please follow the steps in our documentation to enable email notifications if you want to receive the related email notification for this thread.

    Thanks

    1 person found this answer helpful.
  2. Q&A Assist
    2026-04-20T19:42:45.3666667+00:00
    AI generated content. This question contains an answer created with AI from Q&A Assist. Learn more

    This behavior matches known HDMI/DisplayPort audio issues where the audio endpoint disappears after the display is powered off and back on.

    Use these steps to reduce or work around the problem on Windows 11:

    1. Confirm the TV is not set as default when off
      • Go to Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound.
      • On the Playback tab, make sure that when the LG TV is off, another valid device (e.g., Speakers/Headphones) is set as Default Device.
      • When the TV is on and detected, right‑click it and choose Set as Default Device only when needed.
      • This avoids situations where Windows keeps a non‑existent HDMI device as default and can help with re‑detection.
    2. Check sound settings and that nothing is disabled
      • Right‑click the Speakers icon in the taskbar and select Open Volume mixer.
      • Ensure no relevant outputs are muted.
      • Go to Start > Settings > System > Sound.
      • Under Output, select each device and choose Device properties.
      • Make sure the Disable checkbox is cleared for all output devices, including any NVIDIA/HDMI entries.
    3. Update or reinstall NVIDIA/HDMI audio drivers HDMI audio to the TV is provided by the GPU’s audio device (e.g., NVIDIA High Definition Audio). Problems after display power changes can be driver‑related. Update automatically via Device Manager
      1. In the taskbar search box, type device manager and open it.
      2. Expand Sound, video and game controllers.
      3. Right‑click NVIDIA High Definition Audio (and any other HDMI/Display audio device) and select Update driver.
      4. Choose Search automatically for drivers (Windows 11) and complete the wizard.
      If no newer driver is found, download the latest graphics driver package from the GPU/PC manufacturer and install it, then test turning the TV off/on again. If updating doesn’t help, reinstall the audio driver
      1. In Device Manager, under Sound, video and game controllers, right‑click NVIDIA High Definition Audio and select Uninstall device.
      2. Check Attempt to remove the driver for this device (or similar), then select Uninstall.
      3. Restart the PC (with the TV powered on and connected). Windows will reinstall the driver.
      If the issue persists, try using the generic audio driver that comes with Windows for the HDMI audio device:
      1. In Device Manager, right‑click the HDMI/TV audio device > Update driver.
      2. Select Browse my computer for drivers > Let me pick from a list of available drivers on my computer.
      3. Choose High Definition Audio Device and complete the wizard, then test again.
    4. Restart audio services instead of rebooting When the TV disappears as an audio device, try restarting audio services to force re‑enumeration without rebooting:
      1. In the taskbar search box, type services and open it.
      2. Find and restart these services (right‑click > Restart):
        • Windows Audio
        • Windows Audio Endpoint Builder
        • Remote Procedure Call (RPC) Then check Settings > System > Sound to see if the LG TV output reappears.
    5. Try different audio formats when the TV is detected When the TV is visible as LG SSCR2 (NVIDIA High Definition Audio):
      1. Open Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Sound.
      2. On Playback, right‑click the LG TV device > Properties.
      3. On the Advanced tab, under Default Format, try a different format, click OK, and test. Sometimes a format change improves stability when the display is power‑cycled.
    6. Known HDMI timing issues There are known timing issues with HDMI audio initialization where devices appear as Not plugged in or disappear after power events. Keeping the TV powered on while the PC wakes, or briefly switching to another audio device and back after turning the TV on, can sometimes avoid the need for a full reboot.

    If none of the above resolves the problem, the most likely cause is a GPU/TV firmware or HDMI handshake quirk. In that case, keeping the TV on while waking the PC or using a secondary audio output (e.g., speakers or soundbar connected directly to the PC) is the most reliable workaround.

    References:

    1 person found this answer helpful.

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