Thanks so much. I'll check around next week and try out something like what you suggest. I didn't know anything about plug adapters. It seems like I need a male plug of less than 3.5mm (maybe 2mm or 2.5? I don't know what is usual.) to plug into the back of the TV with, on its other end, a 3.5 female element that will take the plug from the headphones. But the problem is complicated by the fact that there are 2 small female audio ports on the TV, for left and right, so I suppose I will need a couple of small male plugs for there, that come together in one part adapted to receive the larger male plug from the earphones. Already have some inexpensive headphones that work very well, so I want to keep using them.

I have a picture of the various ports on the back of the TV, but don't know how to post it here.

Bugspop:

I've been looking on Amazon, trying to find something that might fit the bill. What do you think about the following adapter?

https://smile.amazon.com/Haobase-6-Inch-Stereo-Adapter-Connector/dp/B01ISHC36A/ref=pd_sbs_147_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B01ISHC36A&pd_rd_r=CWM5XMYTXFGCM7353EW1&pd_rd_w=9fYXc&pd_rd_wg=xpJ2i&psc=1&refRID=CWM5XMYTXFGCM7353EW1

FAQs related to a similar adapter had things like this:

"Plug it in to the back of the TV, then plug your headphones
to the female... is it really that simple?

Answer:

It is as long as your television has
rca audio output. Many newer televisions only have a digital audio out now."

and

"No. The RCA type connectors are
used mostly to feed high impedance audio amps, etc. If the TV has only the RCA
audio output, you must use a suitable amp or amplified speakers. Make sure the
amp has an output for headphones."

Can
you tell me how to find out if the output is suitable for headphones? And how
(in reference to the first question) to know whether or not my TV would only have
digital audio? I am utterly ignorant of these things.

(Continued) The
adapter is cheap enough so that it would be no big loss if I bought it
and it didn't work, but my husband and I are elderly and need to avoid
wasting money.

I have already "chatted" with someone at Samsung, but all they told me was, "No, there is no port for your headphones." Some big help! Especially now that I suspect there really may be a workaround, thanks to you.

If I found the correct model information (I think that the seventh character is a zero) then the only output on the TV is optical audio. Fortunately there seems to be a cheap workaround that will allow you to connect it to a pair of headphones. You can read more about it here.

Mike: Sorry for the delay in answering. There is a Toslink port on the back of my TV! I had wondered what on earth that funny-looking thing was. Your message has made my day--light (pun) at the end of the tunnel and all that.

I have been reading the article from the link you sent. Everything is new to me, but I gather that I have to do the following (Does it all sound right?):

(1) Buy a digital coaxial toslink to analogy audio converter (Would the Porta PETDTAP one shown in the article do what I need?)

(2) If the converter doesn't come with a cable, buy a cable to go from the Toslink port to it.

(3) From here on, I'm not too sure quite what I need. The headphones that I have been using have a standard 3.5mm male jack. With my old Samsung, I had that plugged into a longer cable which was plugged into the earphone/headphone port on the back. The headphone seemed to work in stereo, but the digital to analog converter that I would connect to Toslink appears to have two ports leading out of it. Would you please advise me what sort of cable I should use so as to get a single port into which to plug the headphones? This may all be obvious to more knowledgeable people, but I am at sea.

I so much appreciate your help!

Post a photo...easier for everyone. As long as the photo is on your computer, use the "Photo" link below the message box to add it. You could do it as a new message here, or just click on the edit option that should be visible in the upper corner of each of your messages and add it in to a previous message.

Thank you Kudzu. Here's the photo. That must be the Toslink port at the upper left. To the right of it are two HDMI ports and a USB port. The HDMI on the right is connected to the Cox digital mini-box. The two round ports to the left in the bottom row are labeled L/R audio.

Sorry about the wrong advice before, the plug I was referring you to was a Plug that converted the Old Bulky Connection of the Older Style Headphones to the 3.5mm connector. Not sure what that measurement was for that connection (I think it was a 1/4 Inch or 6.35mm)?

1. 6' Digital Optical Audio Toslink Cable **** Be Very Careful to not touch the Ends of the Optical Cable, also Do Not Bend the Cable ****

1. Digital Coaxial Toslink to Analog (L/R) Audio Converter
2. 2 x RCA Male, 1 x 3.5mm Stereo Female, Y-Cable

Above I have links to the 3 Pieces you'll need to make your Headphones work.

1. The First is an Toslink Optical Cable which will plug into your TV (Slot Marked, Digital Audio Out (Optical).

**** Be Very Careful to not touch the Tips of the Optical Cable (should have a Rubber Cap over the end you'll need to carefully remove before installing) ****

**** Also, do not Bend this Cable like you might bend other cables you are trying to manage. It is a Fiber Optic Cable and can be easily damaged by bending. It is okay to have the Optical Cable in big loose loops like in the Amazon Photo ****

1. The Second device is the Toslink Digital Optical to RCA Analog Convertor. Your Optical Cable will plug into the Convertor.
2. The Third is a Male RCA to 3.5mm Stereo Female Y-Cable. The RCA's will plug into the Toslink Convertor (Step #2) and your Headphones will plug into the 3.5mm Female Connection.

BTW, the links I provided may not be the Best Quality or the Best Prices. I just supplied these links for references for you. They will work, but for better prices I'd do a little legwork myself. With Optical Cables, Cheaper isn't usually better, but should work for what you need it for!

Bugspop1: Thanks so much for taking the time to reply to my long message. Everything is clear now, and good audio from my headphones seems within grasp. I also appreciate the advice on how to handle a fiber optic cable. I already have a couple of candidates for the converter and fiber optic cable, so with your advice about the Y-cable, which I have never used, I'm all set to place an order as soon as possible.

I have Optical Cables hooked from my PS3, Blu-Ray, Cable Box to my Stereo Receiver. Between our Home Theater Setup, FIOS TV/Internet and Dealing with Optical Cables for our Reader Board at work, I've had lots of experience with these cables. Can't tell you how many times they've told me not to touch the Tips where the light is transferred. Just passing this information along!

On the original Samsung T24E310 TV I looked at online showed it had the 3.5mm Output Jack. Thought it was just the matter of getting a convertor for 6.35mm to 3.5mm.

IMO, this is a real PITA for you. It's certainly not Cost Effective, especially when you're on a tight budget like you are (I am too). I thought Most TV's came with built in 3.5mm connections, guess I was wrong?

Anyway, glad you're on you way, hope you have your headphones hooked up soon!

Bugspop1: I pretty much ordered what you gave me links for, after looking around a bit. Since my old 24" Samsung that died last week had the 3.5mm output jack, I assumed this one would, too. But no.

I bought the cables, etc., from Amazon, choosing a thick one for the fiber optics, and the delivery date is projected to be late this week.

By the way, I notice that the door/cover to the Toslink port seems to open inward, so I would have to open it by pushing on it with the tip of the cable as I plug in. That means that the tip of the cable would have to touch the door, doesn't it? That is a bit concerning, considering that I have to be careful not to touch the light-transferring tips.

You're right that we are also on a tight budget. Not having that regular audio port is certainly a PITA, as you say, but it could have been worse because our old TV, which was very much like this one, cost twice as much when we bought it in 2011. I hope things work out all right for you. We're probably OK, so long as we don't live to 90! lol

I'll post again when the parts arrive and let you know how they are working. Awfully nice of you to take so much time when my problem isn't with a computer. May I ask where you got your username? I am imagining that you either like/keep insects, or have a child or pet whose nickname is "Bugs."

You'll be okay with the Tip hitting that door. It's really Fingerprints you're trying to avoid. You don't really want any kind of Greasy Smudge on that tip. It would be kind of like getting a Fingerprint on a DVD or Blu-Ray, the Optics can't read thru the fingerprint smudge, thus causing it problems (almost impossible to clean a Fiber Optic Cable).

How did you know, Yes I had Bug Collections when I was a young kid. But funny thing, that's not where it came from! Another thought would be Bugs Bunny, which I am also a fan, but that's not it either! We called our youngest daughter Bug-a-boo or sometimes Kayleigh-bug! That's where Bugs came from. Then I used Pop because I was her Dad. The Number 1 was because someone had already used bugspop on AOL, Way Back in the Day. bugs - pop - 1

Ok. Got it about the fiber optic cable, thanks! How surprising that someone else had already asked for "Bugspop"!

It took me about 25 - 30 attempts to find a name I liked that someone else hadn't already used. I wouldn't have believed that anyone would have used them, these were things With Meaning only to me, as far as I knew! I've had this name for well over 20 years now, guess I'll keep it?

I'm chuckling--25-30 attempts! I have had similar (though much shorter) experiences when trying to use certain nicknames I had for my cats and also when trying to devise a user name combining parts of my and my husband's names. We did get to set the first one as username on one site, but then an email we wanted to use it for rejected it as already used. A surprise! So then we reversed the order and included an extra letter for each partial name and that passed muster. However, that first user name we had succeeded in getting accepted at the other site was shorter and easier for people to grasp when hearing it. Perhaps I should have done as you did and had a numeral after it. Would have been interesting to see how many other people had chosen the same name.

Our oldest son when setting his email up found out the email he wanted had been used over 637 times. His email is now ph*******638@aol.com. He attempted That Name (ph*******@aol.com) 12 different times with 12 different numbers at the end. Each of the numbers he tried had some meaning to him including 637, he tried it but of course it had been used. When he finally tried it with 638 and it worked (think he was tired of trying). I know exactly how he felt! BTW, this was just on AOL, he hadn't tried any other emails like yahoo, gmail, etc... I finally gave up when bugspop1 worked. I think there are a couple of things I had to use bugspop12!

What an incredible experience! So he went with using 638. That must have been some name for so many people to have wanted it, and wanted it enough so that they kept it, even with a large number tacked on. Thanks for my chuckle of the day. Perhaps I should have tried to find out how many people tried to use our name that got rejected!

The items I ordered ought to be here tomorrow, and I am looking forward to being able to use my headphones. I keep finding myself reaching for them.

I use Bluetooth Headphones for most things. I don't need them for the TV, just my Computers, Tablets, iPod and Cell Phone, all of which have Bluetooth Capability. I've had a Set of Behind the Ear Headphones (Motorola) for about the past 5-7 years. I had to replace the battery about a year ago and couldn't find a replacement anywhere. I finally ended up buying a similar Battery (same voltage, wattage, etc...) with different connector. I swapped my Battery's connector with the new battery's connector. It's been working fine since the battery swap!

I'm not sure how Dan found out how many had used that Name. Just remember him saying he tried it over a dozen times being turned away every time! I would have printed out his name but I can't remember what it is. I know it started with a ph. I'm lucky I can remember my own user name!

I can remember my user names for my emails, but have to keep an
alphabetized notebook with passwords, and even then, sometimes I can't
read my own writing or have been forced to change a password when the notebook wasn't
around and I jotted it down on a slip of scrap paper, so end up having to change again. Using a master password
seems somehow dangerous, too, but with all sorts of sites demanding that you
register, it is impossible to keep track of them all.

My husband and I are Luddites, in a way, always several years behind our friends in taking advantage of new technology. Haven't tried Bluetooth yet, though I can see how it might have its uses.

Well, I had expected to get the new equipment today, but got another email postponing it till Monday. That is unusual for Amazon, in my experience. No choice but to wait, anyway. Will let you know.

To my great surprise, everything came today, but in two packages. What's going on at Amazon, getting the delivery dates all mixed up?! As it turned out, the fiber-optic cable I ordered was way too thick to fit in the Toslink port, so I ended up going to a nearby Radio Shack to get them to show me a cable that would fit. It is now working perfectly to give me good sound. I found that I can also turn the TV's regular sound on or off, or change its volume using the remote as usual, which is nice, because I used to have to get up and unplug the headphones if I wanted to let my husband hear some brief bits. Very pleased and happy!

Glad it all worked out. Stinks that they couldn't have just had the 3.5mm jack in the TV for you in the first place, but guess it's worked out with just a little more cost to you. Sorry that optical cable didn't work. I'm with you, I would have purchased the nicer, sturdier cable and then found it didn't work, just too thick (thicker is better, right)!

I just purchased a couple Optical Cables on Ebay in August. These cables were nice looking, sturdy and cost pennies (okay, maybe a couple bucks a piece). When the Frontier guy hooked up our New Box the other day he was thrilled to see an Optical Cable running to my Receiver (not sure why he was thrilled). I had 1 Optical Cable running from my PS3 to my Stereo Receiver and 1 from the Comcast Cable Box (now Frontier Box) to the Stereo Receiver. I do get great sound thru these Optical Cables in my 7.1 Surround Sound system. Last Summer we had something happen and I lost the Comcast Cable Box and my Sony 5 Disc DVD AM/FM Stereo w/5.1 Surround Sound. Wasn't a surge, I have a high dollar surge suppressor in place and the TV, PS3, Wii and Blu-Ray Player were all okay. I replaced the Sony with another Sony, but this time it was just a Receiver and not an All-in-One System. I wanted my PS3, Nintendo Wii, Blu-Ray & Cable Box all to be able to use the Surround Sound or Stereo Sound. Before I only had 1 HDMI on the Sony AIO. Can't remember how many HDMI Ports are on the New Sony Receiver, but it's 5 or more and all my devices work using the stereo (it's awesome)!

You're very lucky to still have a Radio Shack around, ours have been gone for about 2-3 years now, sure do miss them! I found work-arounds at Radio Shack all the time when others said it couldn't be done! Very hard to find the right splitters, cables and parts at the local Best Buy or Wal-Mart! We do have an Electronic Junk Store where I could find the things I need if I had a day or two to kill! So much stuff and no real order to the place! Then, if you do find what you're looking for, you may still have to Modify it to work! What a PITA.

It also stinks that when I had an online chat with someone at Samsung, asking if there was an audio jack like the one in our previous Samsung of the same dimensions, all they told me was "No." I made it clear that being unable to use headphones with the TV was a problem for me, they still gave no hint of any workaround that might accomplish it. I was probably chatting with someone who was just going down a list, and the list didn't suggest any alternatives to the jack; but that and our frustrating experience trying to attach the new-type of stand to the TV make me think that S. is not, or is no longer, a very customer-friendly company. Still like the electronics themselves, though.

As to the Toslink cable, I understand from online comments that there is not a standardized size for the port. That means that it would be nice if the people selling the cables, and the people selling equipment with Toslink noted the sizes somewhere. Perhaps some did and I happened to miss them. I'm grateful that Radio Shack was there and that I had the sense to consult them, even though their fiber optic cable was more than double the price of the first one I bought. And since this cable is quite thin compared with the first one, I also spent a bit more to have the reassurance that I could get a free replacement if it should stop working. It also had no little protective caps on it, so I sent a nod of gratitude to you for the warning not to touch the tips.

A lot of stores where we are in CA have disappeared or are about to. Von's (still available, but now 6 miles or so away), and KMart (now only available maybe 8 or 10 miles away, and in a direction we seldom take), to mention the ones I am most upset about. Yard-goods stores are also on the decline. I make most of my own clothes, so that is a real PITA, too. Fortunately, one such chain has a big store in a nearby city and a smaller one 4 miles from us. There are some things you don't want to buy online, or that you may want immediately. Ah well!

We do still have Best Buy (which doesn't always have what we want), and WalMart, right in the same mall. No electronic junk store any place near, so far as I know. But then, I tend to want someone to help me figure out exactly what I need so as not to have to return things. There is a big Fry's Electronics within 1/2 hour's drive, but they seem to be hiring fewer and fewer people who could help you out if you could only find them.

The new TV has two HDMI ports, and it uses one to connect with the indispensable Cox Cable mini-box that unscrambles digital signals. HDMI is still an alien creature to me! For example, I don't know why I must use HDMI-2 and HDMI-1 won't work for that purpose; am wondering what HDMI-1 would be used for. So long as this ignorance is not depriving me of anything I need or want, it shouldn't matter, but not knowing does bother me a little.

All of our Kmarts are gone now too! I don't miss them as much as I miss the Radio Shacks. Don't think we have a Fry's around here!

As for the HDMI, not sure why your HDMI 1 doesn't work, it should. Do you use High Quality HDMI Cables or the cables you can buy for a couple bucks? I'd try a high quality cable to see it it takes care of the problem. Is it your Cox Cable Box that doesn't work on the HDMI 1 or is it a Blu-Ray Player? You may want to try another Device on your HDMI 1. There have been many different Versions of HDMI since it's release, here is a link that may help to clear things up for you as to why some things work on a connections and others don't work correctly: Understanding HDMI Versions.

The HDMI 1 may work with some other device, but it won't work with the Cox Cable Box, which, in fact, did mention in the instructions that it had to be connected to HDMI 2, not 1. I only have the one HDMI cable, probably a good quality one, as I usually think it prudent to pay a bit more to be sure I get something that works and will last. (Second-hand books excepted: I'll take anything to get to read a book I am interested in, just so long as pages are not missing and any soiling is not gross.) I don't have Blu-Ray or an X-Box or any other such devices. So the HDMI 1 is not a problem right not; but it puzzles me because, if it were a USB drive, it wouldn't matter what device was using it, right? I will read the article you link to. It sounds like HDMI works differently from USB. You are giving me an education!

The HORROR! Just finished reading the article. HDMI is more complex than I had thought. So would all those versions simply versions that have no relation to the numbers on the two ports on my TV, labeled HDMI 1 and HDMI 2, or do you think the labels really have reference to what version of HDMI is involved? (Perhaps that's really a question only for Samsung.)

No, people like Order in their lives and giving them names like HDMI1, HDMI2, HDMI3, etc... give us that order. With each version of HDMI they corrected problems from previous versions (thus all the numbers and numbers w/letters you saw in that article). They should be Backwards Compatible, the Older Stuff will/should work on the New HDMI Ports. USB isn't much different, they too have their Upgrades to different Speeds (they also correct any problems at that time). USB Drives usually get their number or letter according to which was plugged in first!

Ok, now I get it. I shouldn't have assumed the 1 and 2 were just the names of ports. After all, the USB ports don't get numbers on them, though I notice that the USB 3 ones have blue inside them, as opposed to the white of the 2s. Now I am wishing that Toslink ports had been treated the same way to indicate which are larger.

Lots of Colors for USB this will help in Explaining USB and their Colors! There are the White 1.x, Black 2.0, Blue 3.0, then finally Red and Yellow. I have seen the Red and Yellow but have never used either of them.

1. My Current Laptop has 2 x 2.0 USB and 1 x 3.0 USB

2. My Old Laptop was 3 x 2.0 USB

3. My Desktop is 8 or 10 x 2.0 USB, can't remember for sure, just don't use the Desktop enough to remember! Pretty sure it's 10.

I didn't know there were so many colors. Thanks for the link. I love my small-tower Dell desktop that still has Win 7, and I don't think I'll ever get a laptop. Then again, since I never need to have a real computer when away from home, a tablet does the trick.

I Built my Desktop about 8 years ago when I went on Disability. Figured it would be my last build for a long time because I wouldn't have the money. I already had a Laptop but didn't use it much at the time. I have major back problems and started really having trouble sitting at a Desk, so I started using my laptop in my Recliner. Got pretty use to the laptop and began to love it. I hardly ever get on my $3,000 Desktop that I built (so sad). I still have my Old Acer Laptop (not a bad laptop), but had a chance to get a much nicer laptop about a year ago for a great price.

My New Acer Laptop has a 15.6" Touchscreen, Lighted Keyboard w/Number Pad, Large Touchpad (which I don't use, have it disabled), Intel i5 (1.6GHz-2.30GHz), 12gb RAM, 256GB mSATA SSD Drive, 500GB WD Black Drive at 7200rpm, WiFi / Bluetooth, 4 Speaker Dolby Home Theater, Ultrathin Computer (less than 1" thick), currently running Windows 10 Home.

I purchased my Wife an identical Laptop when I purchased mine. The Laptops came with a 500GB Hard Drive and 4GB RAM. I upgraded them to the 256GB SSD Drives and added another 8GB RAM. I then cloned the Operating System (Windows) to the SSD Drives, Formatted the 500GB Hard Drives and set them up as Storage Drives for these Laptops (anything saved is saved to the 500GB Hard Drive). These Laptops turned out to be a great deal and are very quick little machines. BTW, I use a Logitech Anywhere MX Mouse with my Laptop (Great Mouse, Best I've ever used).

We both have our own Tablets too. Wife has a New iPad and recently got a New iPad Mini for work. She also has an older Kindle Fire and a New Amazon Fire I bought her right before she got the iPad. I have an old Acer 10.1" Tablet A500 Android 4.0. I also have an 8" Acer W4-820-2882 Tablet running Windows 10 and a Newer 8" Acer B1-820 Android 5.0 Tablet . I really liked my A500 and I also love the W4-820-2882 Windows Tablet, but I don't care a lot for the newer Android Tablet (Not enough Storage or RAM, it's very sluggish).

If you've noticed, I like Acer. They have some Great Products these day. As you can see, they also have their Lemons. I purchased my Grandson a nice 8" Acer A1-840 FHD Tablet about a year ago, it's a very nice tablet too! Problem with Acer Products and many other brands is that there are not many cases available for them. I wanted a Safety Foam Case for my grandsons tablet. I ended up buying one for a Samsung that had similar dimension and then I modified it to work with the Acer Tablet. It was a Real PITA, but it's been over a year and it's not broken (maybe it was worth it)!