As I understand things, any of the HDMI ports will connect with an HDMI cable to outside devices that have HDMI ports, such as game consoles, speakers, sound bars and cable boxes. This will let you use the TV remote to control those devices. The one marked eARC should go to a sound system because it allows the TV to send enhanced sound that syncs with the video signal. I could not do that with my 55TU8000 because my external speakers don't have an HDMI port. So one of the HDMI ports on the back of my TV is connected to my DVD player, and the other one, which is eARC, is connected to my cable box. If I understand right, I'm not putting the eARC port to its best use. But with my wall-mounted TV, I had a neater connection with that back-facing port. The third HDMI port is side-facing and would need a longer cable. That would be harder to tuck away, out of sight. I hope my long explanation at least partially answers your question. Samsung support reps and other owners, please correct me and clarify as needed.