# 942 defeats your TV's own closed captioning feature?



## NYSatelliteman (Aug 23, 2002)

I called DISH about this, and they claim otherwise, but because the 942 has a built-in closed captioner (under "preferences" in the menu), I am unable to use my TV's closed captioning feature (when watching DISH with the 942) even when the 942's built-in closed captioner is off....Can someone check if they have the same issue?

While some may feel it would be redundant to provide closed captioning data to a TV's output when it is built-in the Dish receiver, I would say this-- there is NO Closed Captioning data at all when transferring whatever's been recorded from this receiver or the PVR-- meaning a videotape copy or a pocketdish transfer has no closed captioning data for your TV to decode, AND Dish's built-in closed captioner in the 942 doesn't properly decode CC3 (which provides either English language captioning with Spanish programs or Spanish captioning with English programs). All Dish's built-in closed captioning provides (when on) is the original language whether one sets the CC (by setting the "captioning service") to CC1,2,3,4,5 or 6. The spanish language soap operas on Telemundo are very popular and are closed captioned in English on CC3, for example, but if you have a 942 receiver you are out of luck if you don't speak spanish. AND, as mentioned before, the 942 doesn't allow your TV's closed captioning feature to function at all, either!

There is absolutely no difference-- CC1 thru CC6 is always the same language with the 942 eventhough [when using my cable feed, my Dish 811 or any Dish box which DOES NOT have a built-in decoder, or with DirecTv] my TV's CC decoder has the original language on CC1 and the alternate language on CC3.

Is this just me and a faulty 942 or is this a problem that has simply gone under the Dish's engineers radar but is an issue with everyone's 942? Thanks for any confirmation.....NYSatelliteman


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## Mike Johnson (Jan 16, 2005)

I'm going to have to do some testing on this as I normally don't use closed captioning and especially not CC3. From what I remember, captioning data is passed out of TV2 if the 942 is in dual mode. Closed captioning data is not passed out of TV1 at all and if the 942 is in single mode, I don't think it is passed out of TV2, either. I haven't tried this in a while, and I can't test it tonight, but I will try it as soon as I can.


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## n0qcu (Mar 23, 2002)

Mike is correct. The 942 if in single mode will not pass through the CC. You must use the decoder in the 942. If it's in dual mode then the CC will pass through to the TV. There is no CC pass through on TV1 that is why the 942 has the decoder.


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## NYSatelliteman (Aug 23, 2002)

Thanks guys,,,you are right,,,,When I set it to dual mode, I am able to use my TV's CC decoder when outputing from TV 2 (and read the English captioning with my TV's CC3 since there is something wrong with the 942's built-in CC3 decoder).

Why did DISH do this with the 942?....Even if they were to fix the CC3 in the built-in decoder, what is the rationale behind defeating the TV's ability to decode as well as preventing any CC data to be viewed in case the video is recorded or transferred to a pocketdish and viewed externally?

Also, I hear the vip211 receiver has a built-in CC, as well.........Since there is no "dual mode" or "TV 2" output on the 211, does that mean that DISH has decided to completely eliminate the functionality of our own TV's CC decoder in favor of its own flawed (at least where CC3 is concerned) version?

Why are they doing this?


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## NYSatelliteman (Aug 23, 2002)

something totally unpredictable occured while testing the 942's CC behavior concerning my TV during single mode and dual mode when outputting from TV 2. 

when in dual mode, the 942 allows my TV's CC decoder to work with CC1 or CC3,,,,,BUT, when in single mode, the receiver seems to turn off the data for CC1, but passes on the data for CC3! In other words, the 942 allows your TV to decode CC1 ONLY when it is in dual mode (via the TV 2 output), but it allows your TV to decode CC3 when it is in dual AND single mode (via the TV 2 output). Of course, the 942's built-in CC3 doesn't properly decode under any mode.

I have no idea why I couldn't get my TV's CC3 to work originally when I tested it, but it surprisingly works now in both single and dual modes. Maybe I activated something by switching from single to dual mode.

It's a shame the CC data doesn't transfer to a pocket dish, though.


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## Mike Johnson (Jan 16, 2005)

That's good news. I've been trying to do some research on what is actually required for captioning. The 942 should output captions to an analog TV set on TV2 no matter what mode it is in:


FCC REPORT AND ORDER 00-259 said:


> DTV converter boxes that allow digitally transmitted television signals to be displayed on analog receivers shall pass available analog caption information to the attached receiver in a form recognizable by that receiver's built-in caption decoder circuitry.


There is no requirement to pass captioning to a digital TV set. The requirement is that the receiver or set-top box do the decoding:


FCC REPORT AND ORDER 00-259 said:


> Digital television receivers and tuners must be capable of decoding closed captioning information that is delivered pursuant to the industry standard EIA-708-B


The ruling goes on to define all of the captioning options that are available on Dish Network receivers.

I have experienced some issues with captions not being passed or not even decoded on the 942. Often a soft-boot from the front panel will fix it. Looks like changing modes works, too. If you continue to have problems please post them here.


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