Somewhere in the sound menu of a lot of recent televisions, tucked under a heading most people scroll straight past, sits a feature doing something no soundbar or streaming stick can manage: sending one audio stream to as many headphones as you can fit in the room, all at once, without pairing a single one of them.
The feature, called Auracast, is part of the Bluetooth LE Audio standard and has been shipping on expensive TVs since 2023. Samsung got there first, LG followed on its 2025 sets, and Panasonic pushed it out to 2024 and 2025 models by firmware last December. What none of them really did, though, was tell anyone, which is why most people reading this will have scrolled past it in the menu of a TV they already own. If you have ever gone digging for hidden Bluetooth audio on an LG TV, you have been within two clicks of it.
Quiz
Auracast and Bluetooth audio broadcasting
Trivia challenge
Think you know the future of wireless audio sharing? Put your Auracast
knowledge to the test.
BluetoothAudioStandardsAccessibilityTechnology
Which organization developed and maintains the Auracast broadcast audio standard?
Correct! Auracast is a trademark and standard developed by the Bluetooth
Special Interest Group (SIG). It was officially introduced as part of the Bluetooth LE Audio
specification, which the SIG published in 2022.
Not quite — Auracast is owned and maintained by the Bluetooth Special
Interest Group (SIG). It forms a key part of their LE Audio initiative, announced in 2022 alongside the
LC3 audio codec.
Auracast is built on top of which Bluetooth technology?
Correct! Auracast is part of the Bluetooth LE Audio specification, which
introduced a new architecture for audio over Bluetooth Low Energy. This enabled broadcast audio
scenarios that classic Bluetooth could never efficiently support.
Not quite. Auracast is built on Bluetooth LE Audio, a new audio
framework introduced over Bluetooth Low Energy. Classic Bluetooth (BR/EDR) handled audio differently and
couldn’t support broadcast to unlimited listeners.
Which new audio codec was introduced alongside LE Audio and is central to how
Auracast delivers sound?
Correct! The LC3 codec — Low Complexity Communications Codec — was
developed specifically for Bluetooth LE Audio. It delivers better audio quality than SBC at lower
bitrates, making it ideal for broadcast scenarios like Auracast.
The right answer is LC3 (Low Complexity Communications Codec). Developed
alongside LE Audio, LC3 offers superior audio quality compared to the older SBC codec while using less
power and bandwidth — essential for broadcast audio.
What is the maximum number of listeners that can simultaneously receive an Auracast
broadcast?
Correct! One of Auracast’s most powerful features is that it supports an
unlimited number of simultaneous listeners. Because it uses a one-to-many broadcast model, any
compatible receiver within range can tune in, with no pairing required.
Actually, Auracast supports an unlimited number of simultaneous
listeners. Unlike classic Bluetooth connections, Auracast uses a broadcast model — no pairing, no device
limits — making it suitable for venues with thousands of people.
Auracast has significant implications for people who use hearing loops. Which
assistive technology use case is it specifically designed to improve?
Correct! Auracast can stream audio directly to compatible hearing aids
and cochlear implants, offering a modernised alternative to ageing induction loop systems. This is
considered one of the most impactful real-world accessibility benefits of the standard.
The correct answer is streaming directly to hearing aids and cochlear
implants. Auracast represents a major step forward in hearing accessibility, potentially replacing the
induction loop systems used in theatres, transport hubs, and places of worship.
In a typical Auracast deployment in a public venue, how do receivers discover and
tune into a broadcast stream?
Correct! Auracast receivers scan for Bluetooth LE broadcast
announcements, which act like radio stations — visible and tunable without pairing. Users simply select
the stream they want from a list on their device, much like tuning a radio.
Not quite. Auracast works by broadcasting stream announcements over
Bluetooth LE that compatible devices can scan for and select. There’s no pairing, no PIN, and no Wi-Fi
required — it’s designed to be as friction-free as tuning into a radio station.
Which well-known public venue scenario was frequently cited by the Bluetooth SIG
when promoting Auracast at launch?
Correct! The Bluetooth SIG frequently highlighted gyms, airports, and
bars with muted TVs as prime use cases. Auracast would let anyone with compatible earbuds or hearing
aids tune into the audio from nearby screens without needing a dedicated receiver or proprietary app.
The scenario most cited by the Bluetooth SIG was gyms, airports, and
bars with silent TVs. Instead of everyone staring at muted screens, Auracast would let patrons
wirelessly tune into the audio using their own earbuds or hearing devices.
Before Auracast, what was the most common way venues broadcast audio to multiple
wireless headsets simultaneously — for example, at silent discos?
Correct! Silent discos and multi-channel venue audio systems
traditionally relied on proprietary RF transmitters operating in unlicensed frequency bands. These
required dedicated, often expensive hardware headsets, unlike Auracast which works with standard
Bluetooth devices.
The answer is proprietary RF (radio frequency) transmitters and
receivers. Systems like those used in silent discos required purpose-built hardware on both ends.
Auracast aims to replace this with an open standard that works with everyday Bluetooth earbuds and
hearing aids.
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Auracast turns your TV into a small broadcast station
But the TV has to do the work, not your headphones
Ordinary Bluetooth works like a handshake. Your TV and one pair of headphones agree to speak to each other, and that connection is exclusive, which is why watching movies with headphones has always been a solo activity by default. Auracast, however, skips the handshake and lets the TV simply broadcast, with any compatible receiver in range tuning in, rather than the way you would join a Wi-Fi network. There’s no pairing limit because there’s no pairing.
The Bluetooth SIG, which develops the standard, notes that the number of receivers is effectively capped by how many people fit in the room. More usefully, each receiver controls its own volume independently, which solves the oldest argument in domestic television: one person creeping the volume up, the other creeping it back down. The SIG’s own technical overview explicitly names that scenario.
There is a second trick that gets less attention and probably deserves more. An Auracast transmitter can send several streams at once, so a TV could carry an English stereo mix and a Spanish one simultaneously, or run its normal soundtrack through the speakers while broadcasting a separate dialogue-boosted mono stream to whoever needs it. Latency is low enough, per the SIG, that someone using transparency mode or an open-fit hearing aid hears the room and the broadcast together without an echo. That last detail means lip-sync drift is what’s made Bluetooth headphones a compromise on TVs for a decade.
Which TVs have Auracast?
Yet you would never work it out from the marketing
Samsung was the first to add Auracast to its high-end 2023 sets. Samsung’s own US community team has since described support as covering selected Neo QLED 4K and 8K and Micro LED models from 2023 onward, naming the QN800, QN900, QN990F, and QN900F. LG introduced it in 2025 across its OLED range and the QNED85A and above, and Panasonic began rolling it out to compatible 2024 and 2025 models in December, saying the number of connected headphones is unlimited.
On a 2025 LG set, you will find it under Settings > Sound > Sound Out. That’s the same menu where the standard one-device Bluetooth option is located, which is worth noting because the two are easy to confuse.
Samsung’s Multi-output Audio, which sits under General & Privacy, then Accessibility, is a different feature. It lets you run the TV speakers and one Bluetooth device simultaneously, each with its own volume level. It’s genuinely useful, but it isn’t Auracast, and it doesn’t broadcast to a room.
If your TV is not on the list, an adapter will do it. Auracast transmitters that accept optical or HDMI ARC input are already on sale, which is a far cheaper alternative to replacing a working television. Do check the input, though: plenty of recent sets have dropped the headphone jack entirely.
The headphones are where the whole thing falls apart
But that’s not the only reason it’s stalled
Auracast needs receivers that support Bluetooth LE Audio and the LC3 codec, and a pair of headphones advertising Bluetooth 5.3 doesn’t tell you whether they qualify. The Bluetooth SIG does maintain a list of certified products, but since there’s no way to verify whether it’s up to date, even the official answer involves some guesswork.
And then there’s Apple. AirPods Pro 3 launched in September 2025 without Auracast support, and Apple hasn’t adopted the standard at all, on earbuds or iPhones. Given how much of the US headphone market runs on AirPods, that single absence probably explains more about Auracast’s invisibility than any menu decision. A feature you can’t demonstrate to most of your customers is a difficult feature to advertise.
Filing it under accessibility could be the mistake
Yet it’s also the most honest thing about it
LG’s only official mention of Auracast on its TVs came in a partnership announcement with Starkey hearing aids, which says a lot about how the company views it. Broadcast audio was designed to replace telecoil loops, and for hearing aid wearers, it’s a genuine improvement over the proprietary streamer boxes that only ever served one person. Anyone who has watched a parent give up on the television because the dialogue has gone will understand why this is the use case that got built first.
The trouble is what accessibility framing does to a product roadmap. Features filed under accessibility get shipped, documented in a support article, and then left alone. They don’t get remote buttons, onboarding wizards, or a line on the spec sheet at Best Buy. They certainly don’t get the ecosystem pressure that would push Apple to support the standard or push headphone makers to build a decent assistant experience. Which means the people it was designed for end up with a half-finished version of it too.
If you’re shopping this year, I would treat Auracast as a nice-to-have rather than a deciding factor, and check your headphones before you check the TV. But I would also like the brands to stop being coy. Samsung, LG, and Panasonic have all shipped the most interesting thing to happen to television sound since eARC, and are currently letting it sit in a submenu like a firmware changelog nobody read.
