Closed Captioning [cc]

[RBergmann]

For the few of us that hold an interest in such things, as of Friday 11/3, I've noticed the addition of captioning content on the LiL HD broadcasts. This has been a big issue for me as well as many others with hearing impairments.

The lack of CC on the locals was a Dish specific problem where they didn't or couldn't retransmit the caption content provided them by the networks.

On another front, unrelated in some ways to the LiL HD CC, HDNETMV began showing CC on some of their movies. For people like me, this is great! They've always shown classics that I wish I could have enjoyed and now I can.

... rab

 

[John W]

I haven't had the chance to check it out but I need the CC and have complained about not having it. Glad that it is working on more channels.

 

[RBergmann]

I haven't had the chance to check it out but I need the CC and have complained about not having it. Glad that it is working on more channels.

Don't know if it's significant in regards to the HD LiLs, but I'm in the San Diego area.

... rab

 

[retexan599]

My local DISH channels in Houston are now coming through with closed captioning; I noticed it about a week or ten days ago.

 

[RBergmann]

My local DISH channels in Houston are now coming through with closed captioning; I noticed it about a week or ten days ago.

Is that SD or HD? The SD locals have been captioned since they debuted. The newer HD versions haven't been.

... rab

 

[gokamoto]

Is that SD or HD? The SD locals have been captioned since they debuted. The newer HD versions haven't been.

... rab

I checked my San Diego HD satellite locals right after the first post on this thread and the cc was there. I know that it wasn't there a few months ago and my wife loved closed captioning...so I'm glad to have it back on the HD locals.

 

[mmpotash]

Closed Captioning

Are other HD users having a problem with their closed captioning on HD channels?

Mine, and I assume all users , drops words/phrases intermittently, although if replayed via the hard drive, will show some of those words/phrases but may drop others. Dish says it is a problem with all HD, including DirectTV and cable, except for OTA that feeds directly into the HDTV bipassing the Dish receiver. It doesn't allow the TV's CC to be turned on, but doesn't feed the Dish's receiver CC properly.

 

[RBergmann]

Using a ViP622, with a Mitsubishi 55" HDTV (TV1) and a 19" Hitachi (TV2), I'm finding that the HD CC converted by the SD set (TV2) is fine but the CC that is configured through the ViP622 for the HDTV is still a bit glitchy. I'm expecting that this will improve. It's just a major leap forward that they're now passing the captioning through on the HD LiLs.

... rab

 

[RBergmann]

Are other HD users having a problem with their closed captioning on HD channels?

Mine, and I assume all users , drops words/phrases intermittently, although if replayed via the hard drive, will show some of those words/phrases but may drop others. Dish says it is a problem with all HD, including DirectTV and cable, except for OTA that feeds directly into the HDTV bipassing the Dish receiver. It doesn't allow the TV's CC to be turned on, but doesn't feed the Dish's receiver CC properly.

Like most response from Dish's CSRs, this is not entirely true. OTA can have the same errors in captioning. I've needed CC since I was 35 due to stupidity of mine when installing some automation equipment, without hearing protection, in a small stamping plant in Tupelo, Mississippi, many years ago. My first device was a set top box that my wife purchased from the Captioning Institute. This was before the mandate that all TVs 13" and larger had to have built in decoding for CC.

Captioning is somewhat dependant on a few variables such as the sequencing (sometimes the caption will procede the dialogue by a large margin), skill of the captioner (live feeds such as news and sports) and probably a few other things but all in all, I find captioning is pretty good and getting more consistant. No, the HD captioning on the majority of HD feeds using both a Dish 811 and now the ViP622 is pretty good. this includes ESPN, ESPN2, HDNET, HBOHD, SHOWHD, TNTHD. The new captioning on the HD LiLs processed by the ViP622 still needs some tweaking, but I'm certain it'll get there.

For anyone reading these posts that don't understand why this is important, then you don't know anyone with serious hearing impairment. My kids lived with the TV captioning on for so long, that even though they are out of the house and have kids of their own, still watch many of their shows with the captioning (there can be some gems in the dialogue or effects that are not audible or have been excised from the original show scripts).

... rab

 

[mmpotash]

Cc

Yes, the problem occurs only on TV1, the HD TV. TV2, the SDTV, is fine because it allows the TV's CC to be used.

As HD becomes the norm, and older people start to use it as their primary TV, the CC problem will affect many more millions of people then today. I would hope that this issue gets resolved before long or the complaints will be heard through legal channels.

 

[roddiaz1]

What is the root of the problem?

So let me see if I get this right.

The issue is with the Dish Network "software" that is running on our satellite tuners? I have the VIP 622 and I'm recieveing the locals over-the-air (Pittsburgh, PA) and yet I have no CC.

When I had the anntena on straight to the TV it had CC. When viewing cable (Comcast) I get the CC. The only problem with this is no DVR features on either of these, so I have to choose DVR or CC.

It looks like the VIP 622 is preventing the CC from appearing on the TV, is this correct?

Thanks,

Rod

 

[mmpotash]

Captioning

"It looks like the VIP 622 is preventing the CC from appearing on the TV, is this correct?"

I have the 942 receiver but I believe it is the same. The Receiver does not allow the HDTV's, (TV1 output), closed cationing feature to be turned on, (it is grayed out in the TV's menu). Instead, you must use the receivers CC set up, which causes the problem. This is not a problem with the station since when the show is replayed, parts of the CC that were missing previously show up, and parts that were on previously are now missing. This means that the CC going into the receiver work fine, but what CC the receiver sends out to HDTV is the problem.

On the other hand, the SDTV, (output TV2 on the receiver), allows the TV's CC to be used, therefore it is fine.

 

[RBergmann]

So let me see if I get this right.

The issue is with the Dish Network "software" that is running on our satellite tuners? I have the VIP 622 and I'm recieveing the locals over-the-air (Pittsburgh, PA) and yet I have no CC.

When I had the anntena on straight to the TV it had CC. When viewing cable (Comcast) I get the CC. The only problem with this is no DVR features on either of these, so I have to choose DVR or CC.

It looks like the VIP 622 is preventing the CC from appearing on the TV, is this correct?

Thanks,

Rod

Best that I can figure is that it is a hardware problem with the ViP622 and the 811 (I don't have experience with anything other than these).

Only recently I had been receiving CC on all of my LiLs. Lately two of them stopped. This is not an HD ior a locals issue, this is a Dish problem that I had hoped was solved.

I, also, had at one time a cable provider with local HD programming and all the HD was captioned. I expect that Dish should be able to provide the same. All the local programming with cable (CC present) was from the same source (i.e. San Diego locals) as my current Dish installation.

It doesn't matter if you have the DVR capabilities or not. The HD tuners as yet do not decode the captioning as they should.

... rab

 

[bayzbol44]

Is my 622 performing like everyone else's by not allowing my locals to appear with Closed Captioning? Isn't this a big issue with Dish? Have they said they will fix this?

I am not even talking about the HD locals. I would just be happy with my regular locals having closed captioning.

 

[RBergmann]

Is my 622 performing like everyone else's by not allowing my locals to appear with Closed Captioning? Isn't this a big issue with Dish? Have they said they will fix this?

I am not even talking about the HD locals. I would just be happy with my regular locals having closed captioning.

Insofar at the SD broadcasts, as long as your local stations are providing CC with their content, you shouldn't have any problem displaying it on your ViP622 with the captioning options turned on (in the 622 receiver, not the TV set).

The only issues are with the HD feeds. Dishes equipment is not permitting all provided captioning to appear for all feeds. In my case (San Diego) currently the CC works for the LiLs HD on Fox (channel 6 - excellent CC) and CBS (channel 8 - flaky CC), but not on the NBC (channel 39 - when it was showing, was excellent for live shows like The Tonight Show) or ABC (channel 10 - don't remember how well the CC appeared) feeds (although for a brief time these, too worked). The SD feeds, however, do show the CC.

I'm no long convinced that this is an receiver issue, but rather a problem with how Dish itself decodes (or rather doesn't decode) the LiL HD CC before it sees the receiver.

... rab