On the TV side, most modern TVs now support Bluetooth, although it’s absent on a handful of budget TVs. If your current model doesn’t offer Bluetooth connectivity, one option is to add sound bar or speakers yes. Then you just stream audio wirelessly from the speakers, not from the TV.
Once you connect your headphones to your TV, all audio from the TV—including menu beeps and whistles, as well as sounds from movies and shows—will come through the headphones instead of the TV’s built-in audio system. You won’t hear audio coming from both places at the same time.
Connect
Every TV and pair of headphones will work a little differently, but the connection process will be similar no matter what hardware you’re using. First, you’ll need to find a Bluetooth connection option somewhere in your TV’s settings, then put your headphones into pairing mode so they’re discoverable by your TV.
If you’re stuck on how to do either of these things, a quick look at the documentation that came with your device—or a search in online forums—should help. Your TV should be able to switch between different audio outputs, either through the menus or through the remote (or both), so you can switch between your headphones and your TV’s speakers.
For example, on a TV running the latest Google TV software, you can select the gear icon in the upper right corner of the main menu screen, then Bluetooth And Pairing a remote control or accessory—then just follow the on-screen instructions. Meanwhile, many headphones will come with a dedicated Bluetooth button that you can press and hold to put them into the necessary pairing mode.
If you have a streaming box or device that connects to your TV, you can often connect it to a pair of headphones as well as (or instead of) your TV. For example, on AppleTV 4K box, open the Settings app then select Remote Controls and Devices And Bluetooth to start searching for nearby headphones.
Sometimes you’ll have more options if you’ve bought multiple devices from the same manufacturer. Take the recently released Sonos Arc headphones: They have a feature called TV Audio Swap that lets you switch between listening to a TV show on your headphones and listening through Sonos Arc Soundbar at Contact of a button.
