HWS outputting Audio Description on PTAT Chicago PD 4/22/15

[dweber]

I have two Hopper with Sling Receivers that were installed last Sunday. Both receivers have Software Version S520 with Bootstrap Version 1216 NEBB. Both receivers are hooked up to separate TV's with HDMI cables. PTAT is enabled on both receivers. Today, I decided to watch Chicago PD Season 2 Episode 8 which was recorded on April 22, 2015 on WCMH (NBC Columbus, Ohio market) from 10-11 PM. I decided to do Autohop to bypass the commercials.

I am hearing the dolby digital audio and also hearing Audio Description (a narration of the visual information). This occurs on both TV's with both hoppers. The Audio Description setting is not turned on in either TV. Can anyone that has this recorded using PTAT verify whether they are also getting the Audio Description.

I have not found this with any of the other PTAT shows. DISH technical support was unaware of any issues.

 

[andrewe]

Have you noticed this issue on any other stations or episodes?

 

[dweber]

I have not found this on any other show. I sent an email to WCMH tv4 engineering today. They should reply within 7 days.

 

[dweber]

I tested out several of the PTAT shows and I found the same problem with Law & Order: Special Victims Unit season 16 episode 14 recorded by PTAT 9-10 PM on 4/22/15 WCMH 4. For now I have only found it on NBC WCMH 4 shows. But only certain shows. For example Dateline NBC did not have the problem. I suspect that WCMH channel 4 had something set wrong with their transmissions. I emailed the WCMH 4 station and I am waiting for their answer. I don't watch most shows live so it is hard to tell if the problem was their Antenna transmission or related to their DISH uplink.

 

[Tron2012]

Just as a sanity check, go to: Menu - Settings - Audio - Alternate Audio. Make sure that Alternate Audio is not selected. But you mentioned you did this, so who knows...

About 10 days ago I was watching some shows I recorded during Prime Time. Kept hearing that weird narration every so often. But not on other shows (as they probably do not record with an alternate audio channel). Turns out that for some odd reason the Hopper w/sling that I was hooking up to from a Joey had this audio channel saved. Know it was not me or anyone else in the family that would ever change it. Put it back to English and saved. Not a problem since.

If I now recall correctly, I do think that at first I did NOT see the alternate when I first looked. For grins, try changing it to Spanish or some other language, save, and exit all the menus. Verify that you are not watching that recording. Then, go back in the audio, set it to English, save and exit. Now try that SAME show with the narration and see if it is has cleared up. I did monkey with the settings a couple of times. Make sure it's the same setting on both DVR's.

 

[ChadT41]

There were some similar issues in Tucson, Az, but it was not on just Dish. I guess the local affiliate in Tucson was transmitting to all providers the same feed that included the audio description for the deaf. Many Dish customers were mad, until other customers discovered it was not just Dish.... not sure if that is the case as this is a different city, but thought I would throw that out there as a possibility.

 

[dweber]

I can change the dialog from English to Spanish by selecting Spanish or Alternate Audio using Menu - Settings - Audio - Alternate Audio. I have that set on English. This is different. The actors dialog is English coming out the Dolby surround sound. In addition I hear a narrator describing the actions going on in English. It is the same audio you would get if your tv is set for descriptive audio.

 

[BBCInc]

I've noticed the same anomaly on several episodes of Chicago Fire. Properly transmitting sound and handling anything more technical than straight low quality mono or stereo seems to be a very low priority on networks. Just close your eyes and enjoy the audio description...

 

[gowrone]

Those of us who are blind, this is a great feature.

 

[Tron2012]

I can change the dialog from English to Spanish by selecting Spanish or Alternate Audio using Menu - Settings - Audio - Alternate Audio. I have that set on English. This is different. The actors dialog is English coming out the Dolby surround sound. In addition I hear a narrator describing the actions going on in English. It is the same audio you would get if your tv is set for descriptive audio.

I understand that part. As I mentioned, this happened to me but by messing with with those audio settings it went away for me. Maybe it was an anomaly for a few locations and the local broadcasts. You can force this narration on by the Hopper by setting the Hopper audio to alternate. You get English and narration like you would from a TV setting (which I do not mess with TV settings much). Why I suggested doing the changes and saves then going to the original recording. If after all that and you have done a final save on "English" and still get the narration on that recording then you can eliminate a Hopper issue. It was then most likely the mess up from the broadcaster and narration was embedded in the main audio.

 

[dweber]

I changed the audio settings in the hopper to the alternate audio and saved the settings. I then set the hopper audio settings back to English and saved the settings. The two shows that had the descriptive audio still have the descriptive audio. I am convinced that the problem was with WCMH TV 4 signal. I sent an email to the local station and I hope to hear back from them. This has been a learning experience for me. I knew about the Spanish using the SAP signal but I was unaware about descriptive audio.

 

[Tampa8]

Those of us who are blind, this is a great feature.

No question about that, but not so great for it not to be able to turned off!