Where the delay comes from
Video processing takes time. Every picture enhancement your TV applies — motion smoothing, noise reduction, upscaling — delays the image, while the audio travels a shorter path and arrives first. That is why the fix is usually either turning off picture processing or using the audio delay setting to hold the sound back to match. Wireless speakers and Bluetooth headphones add delay of their own, and that one is much harder to correct.
Why sync drifts in the first place
A modern television does a great deal to the picture between receiving it and showing it. Upscaling to the panel’s resolution, interpolating frames for motion smoothing, reducing noise, mapping HDR — each stage takes milliseconds, and they add up. Anything above roughly 45 milliseconds of mismatch becomes visible on speech, and people are considerably more sensitive to audio arriving early than late.
The audio path, meanwhile, is usually much shorter. Sound goes to the speakers or out over HDMI with comparatively little processing. So the sound arrives first and the picture catches up, which reads as lips moving after the words.
Add a soundbar, an AV receiver or a wireless speaker and there is a second variable, because each of those applies its own processing delay too.
Find and fix it
Work out where the delay is introduced
Test several sources. Try a built-in TV app, then a streaming stick on a different HDMI input, then live broadcast if you have an aerial or cable connection.
If only one source is out of sync, the problem is that app or device and the fix belongs there. If everything is out of sync, the TV or the audio system is responsible.
Then test the TV’s own speakers with the soundbar switched off. If the TV’s speakers are in sync and the soundbar is not, the soundbar or the connection to it is adding the delay.
Turn off picture processing
This is the most effective single change. In the TV’s picture settings, switch off motion smoothing — it is called TruMotion on LG, Motionflow on Sony, Auto Motion Plus on Samsung, and various other names elsewhere. Also disable noise reduction and any “cinema” or “clarity” enhancement.
The fastest route is to enable Game Mode, which bypasses most processing in one step specifically to reduce input lag. It changes the picture’s appearance somewhat, but if it fixes the sync you have confirmed the cause precisely, and you can then re-enable features one at a time to find which one is responsible.
Use the audio delay setting
Every modern TV and most soundbars have an audio sync or lip sync adjustment, usually measured in milliseconds. On the TV it is typically under Sound, Expert Settings, then Audio Delay or AV Sync.
Find content with clear speech facing the camera — a news broadcast is ideal — and adjust in small steps, checking after each. Remember that the adjustment usually delays the audio, so if the sound is arriving early you increase the delay.
Note that some TVs store this setting per input, which is useful because different sources may need different values. Others apply it globally, in which case you will be compromising between sources.
Check the audio connection type
How the audio leaves the TV affects the delay. HDMI eARC generally handles sync best because it carries timing information alongside the audio. Standard HDMI ARC is next. Optical is reliable but carries no sync data, so the TV and soundbar cannot coordinate automatically.
If you are using optical and struggling with sync, switching to ARC or eARC often improves matters considerably without any manual adjustment.
Bluetooth is the worst case by a wide margin, adding 100 to 300 milliseconds depending on the codec. Some devices support low-latency codecs that reduce this, but only when both ends support the same one.
Look at the soundbar's own processing
Soundbars apply their own effects — virtual surround, dialogue enhancement, night mode, room calibration — and each adds delay. Switch the soundbar to a basic stereo or “standard” mode and test.
If sync improves, reintroduce the effects one at a time. Virtual surround processing is typically the most expensive in latency terms.
Also check the soundbar’s own lip sync setting, which is separate from the TV’s. Having both set to non-zero values can overcorrect, so it is usually best to adjust one and leave the other at zero.
Update firmware on everything
Sync problems are a common target for firmware fixes, on TVs, soundbars and streaming devices alike. Check all three.
After updating, reset any manual audio delay you had set to zero and re-test, because an update may have corrected the underlying problem and your manual compensation will now push it out of sync in the other direction.
Use a lip-sync test video for accurate adjustment. Several are freely available on streaming platforms, showing a visual marker aligned with a click sound so you can judge alignment precisely. Speech alone is surprisingly hard to assess once you have been staring at it for several minutes.
Situations with specific causes
Only on streaming apps, not on broadcast
The app’s own buffering and decoding. Close and reopen the app, clear its cache, and check whether it has its own audio sync setting — several do. If one specific app is consistently worse, it is that app rather than your equipment.
Drifts progressively during a programme
This is different from a fixed offset and usually indicates a clock or buffering problem rather than processing delay. Restart the source device. If it happens on a streaming app over a marginal connection, buffering is the likely cause and the fix is the network.
Only with Bluetooth headphones
Largely unavoidable. Bluetooth adds substantial latency and most TVs cannot compensate enough. Some TVs have a Bluetooth-specific audio delay setting worth trying. The real fix is a low-latency transmitter and matching headphones, or a wired connection.
Fine at first, bad after a while
Try a cold boot of the TV — unplug for sixty seconds. Accumulated state in the TV’s audio processing can cause drift, and a full power cycle clears it.
Only on one HDMI input
Check that input’s settings. Many TVs allow per-input configuration, and one input may have enhanced processing or a different mode enabled. Compare the settings against a working input.
Avoid setting large audio delay values on the TV and the soundbar simultaneously. The two corrections stack, and you can end up chasing the problem back and forth without realising you are fighting your own settings. Pick one device to do the correction and leave the other at zero.
Preventing it
Use HDMI eARC where both devices support it, since it handles sync negotiation automatically and largely removes the need for manual adjustment. Keep picture processing minimal — most of it makes the image look artificial anyway, and it is the main source of delay.
Keep firmware current on the TV and the soundbar. And if you use Bluetooth audio with a TV regularly, look specifically for low-latency support when buying, because it is the one part of this problem that cannot be corrected after the fact.
Why is audio ahead of the picture rather than behind?
Because video processing takes longer than audio processing. The picture is being upscaled, smoothed and enhanced while the sound travels a much shorter path, so the audio finishes first and waits for nothing. This is why the correction is almost always to delay the audio rather than to advance it.
Does Game Mode fix lip sync?
Often, yes, because it bypasses most picture processing to reduce input lag — and that processing is what was causing the delay. The picture will look different, with less smoothing and enhancement, but if sync matters more to you than those effects it is a reasonable permanent setting.
How much delay is actually noticeable?
Beyond roughly 45 milliseconds of audio arriving early, most people notice it on speech. Audio arriving late is tolerated better — up to around 125 milliseconds — because that matches how sound behaves in the real world at a distance. This asymmetry is why early audio is the more irritating failure.
Can I fix Bluetooth headphone delay on a TV?
Only partially. Bluetooth adds 100 to 300 milliseconds depending on codec, and many TVs cannot compensate that far. Look for a Bluetooth audio delay setting in the TV’s accessibility or sound options. The proper fix is a low-latency transmitter with matching headphones, or a wired connection.
Will a new HDMI cable help?
Almost certainly not. Lip sync is a processing timing problem, not a signal quality problem, and a cable does not introduce meaningful delay. The exception is if a marginal cable is causing the TV and soundbar to fail their eARC negotiation and fall back to a connection with worse sync handling — in which case an Ultra High Speed cable may help indirectly.
The bottom line
Identify whether one source or everything is affected, turn off picture processing, and then use the audio delay setting on one device only. eARC handles sync better than optical, and Bluetooth handles it worst. Use a proper lip-sync test video rather than judging by eye on dialogue, and update firmware before spending time on manual correction — the problem may already be fixed.
