Select sound output

Use this action to change the active sound output of your LG webOS TV. This is handy when you want to switch where the audio plays, for example from the built-in TV speakers to a connected soundbar.

Using this action from the user interface

If you prefer building automations and scripts visually, Home Assistant walks you through this action step by step. You pick what to target, tweak a few options, and save. No YAML knowledge required.

To change the sound output from an automation or a script:

1. Go to Settings > Automations & scenes.
2. Open an existing automation or script, or select Create automation > Create new automation.
3. If you’re setting up a new automation, add a trigger in the When section. Scripts don’t need a trigger. They run when something else calls them.
4. In the Then do section, select Add action.
5. From the search box, search for and select LG webOS TV: Select sound output.
6. In Entity, select the TV you want to control.
7. Set the Sound output you want to switch to.
8. Select Save.

Options in the UI

Using this action in YAML

If you work directly in YAML, or you want to know exactly what Home Assistant does under the hood, this section has the technical reference. It lists the field names you use in YAML, their types, and which ones are required. For how an automation or a script is built in YAML, refer to Automations in YAML and Scripts.

In YAML, refer to this action as webostv.select_sound_output. A basic example looks like this:

action: webostv.select_sound_output
target:
  entity_id: media_player.lg_webos_tv
data:
  sound_output: "external_speaker"

Options in YAML

Targets of the action

This action requires a target. The target is the object of the action. You can point the action at a single entityAn entity represents a sensor, actor, or function in Home Assistant. Entities are used to monitor physical properties or to control other entities. An entity is usually part of a device or a service. [Learn more], a device, an area, a floor, or a label, and Home Assistant will run the action on every matching LG webOS TV behind that target.

• Entity: one specific LG webOS TV, such as media_player.living_room.
• Device: every LG webOS TV that belongs to a device.
• Area: every LG webOS TV in a room or area.
• Floor: every LG webOS TV on a floor.
• Label: every LG webOS TV that shares a label.

You can also select different target types in one action. For example, you can add a specific entity and an area as targets in the same action to run the action on both of them at once.

In the UI, this action has an Entity field instead of targets. There, you can select one TV. To use a device, an area, a floor, or a label as the target, select the three dots menu on the action, and then select Edit in YAML.

Response data

This action can return the raw response from the TV, confirming the change. The exact fields depend on your TV. To capture the response, set a response_variable and use it in a later step.

Good to know

• The available sound outputs depend on your TV and what is connected to it. Common values are tv_speaker, external_speaker, external_optical, external_arc, and headphone.
• You can see the current sound output in the state attributes of the media player entity, under sound_output.

Still stuck?

To test the action on its own, run it in the automation editor with Run action, and check the message that it shows. To see what the action did when the automation ran, open the trace of that run. For details, refer to Testing automations. For common problems and their solutions, refer to Troubleshooting automations.

If that doesn’t help, the Home Assistant community is quick to help: join Discord for real-time chat, post on the community forum with the action you’re calling and what you expected to happen, or share on our subreddit /r/homeassistant.

Related actions

Explore related actions:

• Button: Simulates a button press on the remote of an LG webOS TV.

• Command: Sends a generic command to an LG webOS TV.