# Closed Captioning Feature



## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

I know that Closed Captioning has a specific purpose and is mandated by Federal Law .. However, This question is for everyone as I'm curious how many people use Closed Captioning ..

You can change the Closed Captioning options by pressing the {YELLOW} button while in normal TV mode


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

As Doug says, it's mandated by law, let's start there. It's also an incredibly useful feature if someone else in the room is on the phone, or if I want to exercise while watching TV. I would say I use it 3 - 5 times a week.


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## bjdotson (Feb 20, 2007)

I use it frequently. Actually, I should say my wife does. She speaks english as a second language and it helped develop her language skills. She doesn't really need it anymore, but still uses it.


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## dcowboy7 (May 23, 2008)

nope.


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## Tubaman-Z (Jul 31, 2007)

I configured my Harmony remote so that when I press Mute it will:

Mute my AV receiver
Turn on closed captioning on my HR20

which has worked out slick.

I agree with Stuart - I use this frequently when someone is on the phone.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

I have it on all the time. I don't need it but I live in an apartment complex, so I don't have to have the tv volume up very high, especially late at night.


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## Greg Alsobrook (Apr 2, 2007)

I voted No, but probably should have voted occasionally... I probably only use it once every few months though... If I have trouble understanding what someone said... Or if I want to see how the captioning person interpreted something... but I definitely like it being there..


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## KSbugeater (Feb 17, 2005)

Awesome for when kids are making background noise, or for watching 2 shows at one time (sports events). We leave CC on all the time unless dubbing to DVD.


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## Rugged (Sep 16, 2006)

I use it all the time. Our TV room is very close to the kids bedroom and we would rather not blast the volume and wake them up. Plus I use it all when I can't understand the spoken words.


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## armophob (Nov 13, 2006)

No, with 12 speakers I usually hear every word.


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## kevinturcotte (Dec 19, 2006)

It's on 24/7 for me. Problems hearing. I need the TV turned up QUITE a bit to hear everything (5.1 setup), and can only do that when nobody else is here (Not that I'm watching _bad_ stuff, lol, just don't want to bother the whole house)


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## braven (Apr 9, 2007)

Nope, never.


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## WERA689 (Oct 15, 2006)

Never here, either.


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## CliffV (Jan 24, 2006)

I voted occasionally. I just use it to pick up words that I didn't hear clearly.

(I actually use Closed Caption more frequently in my exercise room. But there I have an R10 hooked to a TV with cheesey speakers and noisy exercise equipment.)

Ideally, Closed Caption should turn on automatically when I MUTE the TV. But without discrete codes for turning Close Caption on and off, I'm not going to mess with it.


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## islesfan (Oct 18, 2006)

We call it "parent captioning" since we have 7 and 8 year old boys. Sometimes you just can't get the TV louder than them, so we turn on the parent captioning.


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## BattleScott (Aug 29, 2006)

Never use it. 

I hope these little polls are leading to what I think they are, and that they get it right this time. 

I :heart:"Soft-keys"...


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## kevinturcotte (Dec 19, 2006)

BattleScott said:


> Never use it.
> 
> I hope these little polls are leading to what I think they are, and that they get it right this time.
> 
> I :heart:"Soft-keys"...


What do you think they're headed for?


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

With the kids playing/sleeping, wife in the kitchen, whatever, we use it all the time (probably nightly).



armophob said:


> No, with 12 speakers I usually hear every word.


You have your system set up so that dialogue comes out of every speaker??


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

We use it fairly often to catch snippets of dialog that we have trouble understanding, either because the speaker is talking too fast or has an accent. Since it's only 3-clicks, I'm very happy we can toggle it on and off quickly. /steve


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## Go Beavs (Nov 18, 2008)

I use it everytime I excersize in the AM. It lets me keep the volume down so the kiddies stay tucked in bed. That makes the Mrs. happy and what's good for the goose is good for the gander.


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

Comes in handy when watching British shows.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

RAD said:


> Comes in handy when watching British shows.


Agreed. When are those people going to learn to speak English.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

spartanstew said:


> Agreed. When are those people going to learn to speak English.


Don't you mean "When are those people going to learn to speak American"?:lol:


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## mikeinthekeys (Feb 10, 2007)

All the time! I have hearing aids but they are not in all the time and even when they are in they amplify everything (banging pots and pans in the kitchen, wife on phone etc.) so CC helps by letting me read things I can't quite make out. To me it is essential because even turning up the volume doesn't always help.


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## doctrsnoop (Nov 20, 2007)

Use it late at night to help keep the volume down when everyone else is asleep. When everyone is awake the kids typically get to watch kids shows and in PIP I'll have a sporting event and use cc.


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## lsbrodsky (Dec 3, 2005)

I use it a lot with noise from the kitchen. With my TIVO I used it in single fast to work through a recording quickly. However with this HR21, as soon as you hit ff the captioning is gone, unfortunately
Larry


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## murry27409 (Oct 16, 2007)

I have it on almost all of the time, except during sporing events. Mainly b/c of general house noise, or its late and every1 is asleep.


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## Jhon69 (Mar 28, 2006)

It seems like overkill to me as to my knowledge all TV's already have Closed Captions don't they? mine does.

To me if DirecTV needs to unload some features to obtain others then they should just do it.:sure:


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## kevinturcotte (Dec 19, 2006)

I can't adjust it the way I like it on my Tv.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Jhon69 said:


> It seems like overkill to me as to my knowledge all TV's already have Closed Captions don't they? mine does.
> 
> To me if DirecTV needs to unload some features to obtain others then they should just do it.:sure:


Try to use your TV's CC's when connected component or HDMI.  See here. /steve


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## BattleScott (Aug 29, 2006)

kturcotte said:


> What do you think they're headed for?


Changes to the functions of the color buttons.
I will be very happy if they only take one of them and give back the "to do list" key, but hopefully they will set them up as soft keys so that we can assign whatever function we want to them instead of hard coding a function that only a limited number of users use.


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## fhedrick (Sep 18, 2007)

I use close captioning daily since my hearing requires it. If CC is required by law, why does MGM HD not have it?


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## kenmoo (Oct 3, 2006)

A lot of live music on DirecTV channels are closed captioned. Almost a necessity for me to understand the lyrics of a lot of today's music.

Use it all the time and am very thankful DirecTV gave it a shortcut button.


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## Castlebill (Jul 25, 2006)

I'm curious Doug, what's the purpose of this? You think if not many people use it it should be eliminated - too bad for those who do?


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## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

In addition to using it to overcome background room noise issues, it's sometimes useful for checking what was actually said for when you aren't sure even after repeated playbacks under perfect listening conditions, although that is usually not possible for shows that are captioned live "on the fly" since the captioner usually isn't sure exactly what was said either, but for scripted TV shows or movies, the captions seem to match exactly what the script would say.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

Castlebill said:


> I'm curious Doug, what's the purpose of this? You think if not many people use it it should be eliminated - too bad for those who do?


I'm curious Bill, if you read the first post?


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

OK, folks, let's be polite.


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## cartrivision (Jul 25, 2007)

fhedrick said:


> I use close captioning daily since my hearing requires it. If CC is required by law, why does MGM HD not have it?


That TVs must be capable of displaying CC is what's mandated, not that all programming be closed captioned.


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## m4p (Apr 12, 2007)

I use it all the time, usually late at night so as not to disturb my spouse. Also, we put it on while eating dinner (hard to hear over all that chewing


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

cartrivision said:


> [...]but for scripted TV shows or movies, the captions seem to match exactly what the script would say.


Well, 99.9% of the time.  I get a kick out of scripted shows where the actors have either ad lib'd a word, or a name or number was changed in the script, but not in the caption. /steve


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## dgobe (Dec 8, 2008)

kturcotte said:


> What do you think they're headed for?


It's obvious all these polls are to see if they can drop something because they ran out of buttons or something for another feature, MRV? Of course that's just speculation 

I voted occasionally....what did that guy say? Sometimes I have trouble paying attention and the CC helps me stay focussed.


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## kevinturcotte (Dec 19, 2006)

I hope they don't get rid of it! I find the shortcut especially useful for Headlines on the Tonight Show. Hard to see them with the captioning on.


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## JACKIEGAGA (Dec 11, 2006)

I only used it once actually the other day just to play around with it


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## Tom Robertson (Nov 15, 2005)

"Honest, I only watch the adult channels for the closed captioning..." 

We use it occasionally, like many others here, to see what we didn't hear. Sometimes late at night I will, but that is less likely now that we have the home theatre set up away from the sleeping areas.

Sometimes when I'm watching something on Picture out of Picture (don't acronym that one, please) on a computer monitor, I'll have CC on.

Cheers,
Tom


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## RunnerFL (Jan 5, 2006)

I use it mostly on shows where I can't understand what was said, like on "LOST" sometimes.


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## rotohead (Nov 29, 2007)

Tubaman-Z said:


> I configured my Harmony remote so that when I press Mute it will:
> 
> Mute my AV receiver
> Turn on closed captioning on my HR20
> ...


Now that I haven't thought about. I assume you created a sequence? Care to share the commands in the sequence you used? I have a idea what to do but just want to see what you did.


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## renen (Jul 16, 2007)

Essential, as I am deaf on the left ear and most noises affect my level of comprehension.

Rene


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## crasmus22 (Jan 12, 2009)

cartrivision said:


> In addition to using it to overcome background room noise issues, it's sometimes useful for checking what was actually said for when you aren't sure even after repeated playbacks under perfect listening conditions, although that is usually not possible for shows that are captioned live "on the fly" since the captioner usually isn't sure exactly what was said either, but for scripted TV shows or movies, the captions seem to match exactly what the script would say.


I use it often, also find it useful to checking what was actually said. I have also noticed different qualities in certain CC. Most follow the script but some are quite off with what the actual dialog is.
I like when they identify what music is playing in the background.


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## Game Fan (Sep 8, 2007)

Never use it. It's a nuisance to me. When I accidentally turn it on, I can't turn it off fast enough.


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## kevinturcotte (Dec 19, 2006)

This was on the wishlist, and apparently enough people (Myself included) wanted the shortcut. Now they want to take it away? What'll they take next?
I know a lot of people don't use it, but think of this. What if they implemented DLB, then decided it didn't work well with MRV, for whatever reason. Instead of trying to fix it, they just took away DLB?
If they're running out of buttons for stuff (I still don't see the red and green buttons doing anything during Live Tv or Playback) it's time for a new remote!


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## TheRatPatrol (Oct 1, 2003)

So all these polls about the colored buttons? Whats going on, are some major changes coming? Do tell.


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## Mertzen (Dec 8, 2006)

I don't use it but my GF's parents have to have it on all the time.


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## Tubaman-Z (Jul 31, 2007)

rotohead said:


> Now that I haven't thought about. I assume you created a sequence? Care to share the commands in the sequence you used? I have a idea what to do but just want to see what you did.


Yep, I used a sequence. I created a sequence that does the following:

[Home Theater Receiver] Mute
[DVR] Yellow
[DVR] Down
[DVR] Enter (or Select, I forget which one)

You will want to educate the others in your household on the use of the Yellow button (I've programmed mine to be one of the 6 soft buttons in the LCD) just in case someone doesn't keep the remote pointed correctly long enough. This most often happens at our home when turning mute off (and so we end up with both sound and CC on).


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## rsblaski (Jul 6, 2003)

spartanstew said:


> Agreed. When are those people going to learn to speak English.


England and America...two countries separated by a common language.


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## Syzygy (Dec 5, 2005)

I have to use it (CC) for a lot of shows. They (Hollywood) love to blast the music, especially if it's ugly music, but they don't care at all whether the dialogue can be heard. Often there's mumbling or mispronunciation that cries out for a retake, but the director lets it go. Probably wasn't even listening.


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## Syzygy (Dec 5, 2005)

dgobe said:


> It's obvious all these polls are to see if they can drop something because they ran out of buttons ...


The Dash (-) button isn't being used for anything (much).
• In general, it displays the "Receiver ID" -- huh?
• Press it twice (they say) to delete from some lists but not from others -- and you usually have to press it four or six times because the DVR, with *its slow processor*, is too preoccupied.
• Use it during data entry.

Since it's in exactly the same place as TiVo's Clear button, Dash could be used as a clear button too (when you're not entering data).

_[edit]_

*Correction*: it's not the "slow processor;" it's the stupidly (or hostilely?) written software. I've learned that the DirecTV HR21 (my unit) and HR22 use the same basic hardware as the Dish Network ViP612 and TivoHD. The DirecTV HR20 uses the same basic hardware as the Dish Network ViP622/ViP722 and Tivo Series3.

Source: Post by bfdtv


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

dgobe said:


> It's obvious all these polls are to see if they can drop something because they ran out of buttons or something for another feature, MRV? Of course that's just speculation


Don't think so, at least in this case, because CC on/off isn't assigned to a button. Rather, it's an option under a submenu brought up by pressing the YELLOW BUTTON, which is the standard way to bring up options specific to a particular function (GUIDE, PLAYLIST, and LIVE TV/RECORDING PLAYBACK).

/steve


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## bonscott87 (Jan 21, 2003)

Have never used it in my life. It's nice to have it on at the bar but other then that, never in my home.


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## ghfiii (Mar 25, 2005)

Tom Robertson said:


> Sometimes when I'm watching something on Picture out of Picture (don't acronym that one, please) on a computer monitor, I'll have CC on.


Someone (in the DLB thread) used that acronym all the time and it is just wrong it is* picture outside picture or POP* not the other four letter acronym!

http://www.afterdawn.com/glossary/terms/pop.cfm

Drove me nuts... :grin:

Use CC all the time and voted that way.


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## shovelhd (Dec 11, 2006)

My kids are deaf. CC is on 24/7 on all TV's. No need to add a special button.


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## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

I worked as a closed captioner for about 7-1/2 years (late 1997 to mid-2005).

I never use it at home.

There's a lot of bad captioning out there, which I find very frustrating -- the law only says that programming has to be captioned; it doesn't say that it has to be _accurately_ captioned, and unfortunately, a fair number of producers and networks take that as giving them a license to have their captioning done as cheaply as possible.


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## Special Ed (Oct 26, 2007)

I came back here today after about a year to see if they added dedicated CC button functionality yet. I would love to hit CC while on the elliptical and CC when I am off. Also, when watching shows, rather than replaying something 4 times while everyone in the family trys to guess what was said, I'd rather rewind, hit CC read the caption and hit CC to turn it off. 

I did not know about the yellow button trick, sounds easier then the 6 or 7 clicks through the menus to get to it so I'll give that a try. Also, perhaps my flatscreen monitor gets CC via the HDMI and that could be programed into my universal remote.


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## pmtm2 (Oct 13, 2008)

i use it to watch tv while i listen to music.


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

Special Ed said:


> I did not know about the yellow button trick, sounds easier then the 6 or 7 clicks through the menus to get to it so I'll give that a try. Also, perhaps my flatscreen monitor gets CC via the HDMI and that could be programed into my universal remote.


If you have a programmable universal remote, you may be able to create a macro to toggle CC on and off. I've done this with my Harmony One remote, so I now have a dedicated CC key and use it on at least one out of 3 programs.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

Special Ed said:


> Also, perhaps my flatscreen monitor gets CC via the HDMI and that could be programed into my universal remote.


CC will not pass via HDMI. If you want to use your displays CC, you need to run S-video or composite.


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## ricksterinps (Oct 11, 2007)

I have mine on all the time due to a hearing loss. I get frustrated when my locals have problems with the captioning and I'm in the Palm Springs, CA area and there is really only one channel that does it well. I'm sure it's in the new MPEG-4 transmission system, but I get over it and turn the volume up to hear, or I wear the wireless headphones.


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## Syzygy (Dec 5, 2005)

I use my CC toggle (a macro on my Harmony One) intermittently on half of the movies and shows we watch, and sometimes throughout.

I also use headphones -- not wireless, but connected to my Kuro plasma TV through a Creek OBH-11 headphone amp.

Sometimes dialog remains unintelligible even when using both of these aids together. CC writers make mistakes, and some of them have limited English and/or can't hear well themselves. The captions are often out of sync throughout, either way ahead or way behind. (I should note that, in movies, the captions are often taken from the script and offer insights into changes made while shooting or editing.) 

It doesn't help that directors these days seem to think that music and sound effects are more important (and should be louder) than dialog, and that a mumbled line or a mispronounced word does not require a retake.


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## hasan (Sep 22, 2006)

I use it very occasionally as a "fill in" utility (room noise, etc), but more often I just turn it on to watch it function. The quality of the "translation" is highly variable and can be quite entertaining.

I fully support its presence (big deal, it's the law), *and* easy access to it, instead of burying it too deep in menus.


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## Littledude (Aug 28, 2006)

I am hearing impaired, so it is on as long as sporting events are not on. If I am watching a game, I want the screen as clear as possible. I couldn't care less what an announcer/commentator say (especially with Madden gone).


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## bscott (Jun 4, 2004)

spartanstew said:


> CC will not pass via HDMI. If you want to use your displays CC, you need to run S-video or composite.


I have a Mitsubishi 65" and Vizio 32" both connected via HDMI and CC works fine with them.

I use CC VERY rarely. Mainly on the Vizio in the bedroom at night so as not to wake the wife. She doesn't mind the light but prefers not to hear it.


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## lucky13 (Nov 27, 2006)

My use is similar to others: to understand mumbled dialogue, or to catch the lyrics on SNL or Letterman.

Once, Pavarotti was on Dave, and I thought the CC might translate the aria.
Instead, it read: [_Singing in Italian_].


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## Drew2k (Aug 16, 2006)

bscott said:


> I have a Mitsubishi 65" and Vizio 32" both connected via HDMI and CC works fine with them.


But is it the DIRECTV receiver sending the CC or is it the TV? If you are connected with HDMI, then the CC has to be supplied at the source, that is, on the DIRECTV receiver, as the TV will not be able to generate CC from the AV stream over HDMI and componenet. I've never heard of a TV that can do this, at least, so this would be a first for me...


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## trainman (Jan 9, 2008)

lucky13 said:


> Once, Pavarotti was on Dave, and I thought the CC might translate the aria.
> Instead, it read: [_Singing in Italian_].


Don't ever expect translations in closed-captioning -- that's not what it's for.


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## gnahc79 (Jan 12, 2008)

We leave it on by default. We have yet to see CC on PPV movies even though the CC logo is shown in the program info. The two PPV movies we ordered were "The Brave One" and "Australia". We ended up watching "The Brave One", but did not even bother with "Australia" and got credit for it.


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## Syzygy (Dec 5, 2005)

I try to avoid using it because there are so many problems with it -- missing pairs of characters, text appearing too soon or too late, text flashing off the screen too quickly sometimes, text that says something like "SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE" overlaying actual subtitles, and frequent bad mistakes by the caption typists.

Even so, I am often forced to turn CC on because the actors mumble, or are drowned out by the music and/or effects.


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## HDTVFreak07 (Sep 12, 2007)

I use it ALL the time (except for "some" sporting events when CC aren't really needed). The only time I can't stand CC is on ABC channels as they are horribly delayed!!!

As for sporting events, when I think the broadcaster (announcer) is announcing something important (like injuries, or about a player, or about a race car driver), I turn it back on.

Also, I turn it off (CC "off" on the receiver) when watching it in another room. I use a Radio Shack wireless thing for watching TV in another room and when the CC is on, it makes an awful buzzing noise. The other TV already has a CC decoder so I could still watch it.


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## oldengineer (May 25, 2008)

I use it occasionally on shows but all of the time when watching Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I have a hard time deciphering what Master Shake and Meatwad are saying.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

We're big fans of several of the British mystery imports (Inspector Lewis, Miss Marple, Poirot, et al.), so the captions often come in handy to pick up bits of heavily accented dialog that we sometimes miss.


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## Steveknj (Nov 14, 2006)

I use it to see the lyrics of songs during concerts on Palladia. Otherwise, I rarely use it.

Back before the "pause" button on my DVR, I would use them when i had to mute something


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## Bill Broderick (Aug 25, 2006)

I use Closed Captioning a lot, after rewinding two or three times, trying to figure out what was just said. I didn't know about the "Yellow" shortcut. I'm looking forward to using that method.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Bill Broderick said:


> I use Closed Captioning a lot, after rewinding two or three times, trying to figure out what was just said. I didn't know about the "Yellow" shortcut. I'm looking forward to using that method.


The little that I have used the "Yellow" cc, I found it to be identical to the regular CC, but in a very obnoxious yellow color. I have stopped using it. If there is a difference, I haven't noticed it.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

BubblePuppy said:


> The little that I have used the "Yellow" cc, I found it to be identical to the regular CC, but in a very obnoxious yellow color. I have stopped using it. If there is a difference, I haven't noticed it.


Looks like DirecTV is using an "outlined" (in black) version of the Frutiger 2 normal-sized font, against a transparent background. It's the "outline" that's different, I believe. I like this, because the font has smoother edges and the program shows nicely through it, but I actually wish the font size was smaller. I got used to the yellow, so not an issue for me, but I can see why some may not like it.

For regular closed captions, I normally use Frutiger 2, size "small", with a translucent background and white letters. Since these fonts are not "outlined", if I choose a transparent background, the edges of the font look "ragged".

Ideal thing for me would be if DirecTV could add outlined versions of the fonts to normal closed captioning. Then I'd use Frutiger 2, outlined, small, white, and a transparent background.


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## Syzygy (Dec 5, 2005)

BubblePuppy said:


> The little that I have used the "Yellow" cc, I found it to be identical to the regular CC, but in a very obnoxious yellow color. I have stopped using it. If there is a difference, I haven't noticed it.


That's sorta funny. You saw "Yellow shortcut" and your brain said "Yellow CC" -- which is to say, "Subtitles", a new feature in 0x034C.

But, gee, I was hoping the Subtitle font was higher resolution than the CC fonts. That's what's really needed.


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## BubblePuppy (Nov 3, 2006)

Syzygy said:


> That's sorta funny. You saw "Yellow shortcut" and your brain said "Yellow CC" -- which is to say, "Subtitles", a new feature in 0x034C.
> 
> But, gee, I was hoping the Subtitle font was higher resolution than the CC fonts. That's what's really needed.


Actually, in use, the CC and Subtitles are the same thing, the two are not different feeds, I don't think.


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## EricJRW (Jul 6, 2008)

Is there a shortcut to use CC the old way?

While I somewhat like the new yello-button menu bar, all the extra button presses for CC bug me. 

Thanks


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## Herdfan (Mar 18, 2006)

Wife uses it at night when our daughter is going to bed as her room is just off the living room. I will use it if I missed a bit of dialog that I can't make out even with repeated replays.


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

EricJRW said:


> Is there a shortcut to use CC the old way?


Unfortunately, no.


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## TheFigurehead (Mar 29, 2009)

Except for sports, I have to use closed captioning. DirecTV CC option is much better than what I have seen with Comcast DVR's.


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## EricJRW (Jul 6, 2008)

spartanstew said:


> Unfortunately, no.


Bummer... But I guess this survey shows it only going to affect about 33% the people most of the time and 33% part of the time.


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## Jon J (Apr 22, 2002)

EricJRW said:


> Bummer... But I guess this survey shows it only going to affect about 33% the people most of the time and 33% part of the time.


So, 2/3 are affected in some way. Rather substantial margin, I would think.


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## bigjoelee (Aug 19, 2008)

I use the CC all the time, and I wish I could easily set the CC to come on when I mute the tv, that is primarily the time I would use it (tv is set to do this but cc doesn't come over HDMI i guess?). If that happened I would have no problem making the CC less accessible. My suggestion to replace it a quick link to the "to do list" OMG how many key strokes does it take to find out what shows you want to watch tonight.
Joseph
yet another 2c in the wish fountain


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## sdirv (Dec 14, 2008)

I use it a lot......my hearing was damaged by "military noise" while serving in Vietnam, as well as a lifetime of rock and roll music and working around big diesel trucks in various garages.....

I usually do OK when I "turn the volume up" on my surround system, but my wife isn't hard of hearing so having the system LOUD is problematic for her.

Also..I'm retired, she's not.....so she turns in (usually) before I do. CC lets me turn the TV down and still be able to follow the dialog.

Of course.....I could just use my hearing aids, but they are a pain in the ass and batteries aren't free.

Hadn't thought about programming my Harmony remote to turn on CC when muting, will have to give that a go......sounds like a great idea.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

I've posted this elsewhere but not in this thread, AFAIK, so apologies if you've already heard me whining about this. 

Since YELLOW and INFO are now redundant (and an inch apart on the remote), during LIVE TV or recording playback, why can't YELLOW become a _dedicated _CC button? Pressing it could simply cycle through CC, SUBTITLES and OFF, and free up the CC tab on the INFO bar for another function.

As a precedent, I suggest looking at the FiOS TV remote, e.g., which uses the "***" button on the numeric keypad to cycle through CC1-CC4 and "off". Or just about any DVD player remote's dedicated "subtitle" key.

Just my .02.


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## Beerstalker (Feb 9, 2009)

Steve said:


> I've posted this elsewhere but not in this thread, AFAIK, so apologies if you've already heard me whining about this.
> 
> Since YELLOW and INFO are now redundant (and an inch apart on the remote), during LIVE TV or recording playback, why can't YELLOW become a _dedicated _CC button? Pressing it could simply cycle through CC, SUBTITLES and OFF, and free up the CC tab on the INFO bar for another function.
> 
> ...


I believe it has been stated that the yellow button is most likely going to start serving a new function pretty soon (PIP or some kind of controls for the HR34/thin client setups). Since DirecTV likes to have all of their receivers/remotes function the same way they are changing it on the older receivers as well.

However, I do like you suggestion of possibly using the - key to toggle captions. The only problem with that is for people who are using OTA tuners, or who don't hide their SD and HD duplicates they need the - key for typing in channel numbers. Maybe they could use the enter button at the bottom right though. I don't think that really serves any unique function.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Beerstalker said:


> I believe it has been stated that the yellow button is most likely going to start serving a new function pretty soon (PIP or some kind of controls for the HR34/thin client setups)


You may be right they have other plans for YELLOW, but I'd be surprised if they were PIP- or HR34-specific, since those are not features supported by the millions of existing boxes out in the field. Just my .02.


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## mluntz (Jul 13, 2006)

armophob said:


> No, with 12 speakers I usually hear every word.


Holy cow!

Never use it, but I definitely understand the needs for it!


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## EricJRW (Jul 6, 2008)

Even two presses of yellow to get to the CC would not be bad. The guide, info, etc. buttons have double-press functionality. 

If the second yellow press would bring up CC menu with an option highlighted, a press of the select would still keep it to three button presses. 

Turning off would work the same way. If CC is on, the CC menu comes up with the option to turn it off already highlighted...

But I agree... Info button should do what yellow button does now and yellow button should go back to its old self (including bookmarks).


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## BattleScott (Aug 29, 2006)

What would be cool is if you could define what function you wanted each of the colored buttons to do when not within a menu or function that uses them.


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## Drucifer (Feb 12, 2009)

Jon J said:


> So, *2/3 are affected* in some way. Rather substantial margin, I would think.


Which makes it placement on the new Channel Banner rather strange.

Someone apparently wasn't paying attention to us members and more importantly -- THEIR CUSTOMERS!


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

Jon J said:


> So, 2/3 are affected in some way. Rather substantial margin, I would think.


I agree, and I use it (too many years in too many rock bands). I was surprised that it was above 10% for either.

I have what some might consider an "elaborate" setup. Since I double-record for security anyway, I play back one version without CC on the big screen, and play back another version on a smaller screen with CC next to (and somewhat further back than) the big screen, delayed about 5-10 seconds. This allows just a glance to the right to pick up a line I may have missed (no rewinding or fumbling with turning CC on or off). Its a little clumsy getting used to at first, but this is how I have been doing all serious viewing for many years now. I would not do it any other way. I do not, but you could do this with a remote that does macro sequences pretty easily.

It has a few other benefits (not even to mention the opportunity for a second glance when a hot actress crosses her legs or plays with her hair ). For one, the main screen is never spoiled by having CC on it, plus, it is always available exactly when I need it (just after I might miss a line).

Also, I have found that a second set in the room running the same program creates exactly the right amount of ambient light for night-time viewing at exactly the right time (it tracks the main video so automatically adjusts the ambience). If you place the second set next to but also somewhat behind the big set, the light from the small set reflects off the back of the big set onto the wall behind the big set (unless you use a wall mount, which I abhor anyway).

That works a little like the Philips "Ambi-Light" (now departed) and probably as well as home theatre systems that do this for hundreds of dollars (and those systems don't track the video with the proper amount of ambient light). If you only want the ambient light alone, just put the small set directly behind the big set facing the wall and feed it the same signal.

What. Overshare?


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

BattleScott said:


> What would be cool is if you could define what function you wanted each of the colored buttons to do when not within a menu or function that uses them.





Drucifer said:


> ...Someone apparently wasn't paying attention to us members and more importantly -- THEIR CUSTOMERS!


Well, now you're making just _too much _sense. Listening to their customers; what a novel idea. How did Apple get to be the second-highest valued company in America? By paying attention to the sadly-lost art of ergonomics, that's how.

I still keep saying (to anyone who will listen, and DTV seems to not be among them) that the best idea is a GUI that is smart enough to learn how an individual user actually uses the system (as all users do things differently) and then leverages the system to take advantage of that.

For instance, the item I use from the menu most often is the TDL, which is the 4th (?) item down the list. A smart DVR would keep track of what I go to on the menu, and after seeing that I go to the TDL 4 out of the 5 times I use the menu, would move that to the top of the menu, just for me on my DVR, saving me 3 extra button presses each time I go there.

Now that truly would be a "Personal Video Recorder". Just doing whatever floats into their little pointed heads without regard to how it affects users used to how things were last week is just plain lame and stupid, and the height of arrogance. But that's who they are--the exact opposite of the geniuses at Apple.

A learning GUI can't be that hard to program. Not as easy as the dumb GUI they have now, but certainly a feature that would retain customers (assuming competitors did not already have that feature). It's time for them to wake up and smell the propane.

Daylight's burning, folks. Tick...tick...tick...


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## EricJRW (Jul 6, 2008)

TomCat said:


> I still keep saying (to anyone who will listen, and DTV seems to not be among them) that the best idea is a GUI that is smart enough to learn how an individual user actually uses the system (as all users do things differently) and then leverages the system to take advantage of that.


Cool idea. I see cell phones going this "Customize your experience" way. With everything getting so smart, maybe that's what we need... A build your own DTV GUI toolkit.


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## bakers12 (May 29, 2007)

I'm surprised to see that my vote almost two years ago is the opposite of what I would vote now. Back then, I didn't apparently care about CC, but now I'm happy to be able to get the words to unintelligible dialog or foreign accents.


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## inkahauts (Nov 13, 2006)

I still thin that you should beagle to set the unit to automatically turn on cc if you press mute on the remote. Let you set that in the system setup, choosing the default, like you do for recording defaults. I would love that feature.

Sent from my iPad using DBSTalk


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## spartanstew (Nov 16, 2005)

inkahauts said:


> I still thin that you should beagle to set the unit to automatically turn on cc if you press mute on the remote. Let you set that in the system setup, choosing the default, like you do for recording defaults.  I would love that feature.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using DBSTalk


I'd like that too, but it still wouldn't solve the problem. I (and probably most others that use CC) also use CC when I have the volume on.


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

You guys realize that this thread was raised from the dead and was originally started almost 2½ years ago .. and lie dormant until yesterday for nearly two years.

I'm closing the thread .. Start a new topic if necessary, but I believe there are a couple of threads on the current CC issue already.


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