High Definition captioning

Swede

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Has anyone have problem with close caption being displayed on high definition programs via broadcast network (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX)?

I currently have Dish Network satellite with Los Angeles stations.

I have HDTV and with Dish Network Satellite High Definition receiver, I have three picture formats available - analog, digitial standard definition and digitial high definition. I have no problem with closed captions being displayed on analog programs and digital standard definition programs (such as ABC News, LOST, Desperate Housewife, etc..), but those same programs on digital high definition channels are not displaying closed caption.

Does FCC exempt CC requirements on high definition programing?
 
Swede said:
Has anyone have problem with close caption being displayed on high definition programs via broadcast network (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX)?

I currently have Dish Network satellite with Los Angeles stations.

I have HDTV and with Dish Network Satellite High Definition receiver, I have three picture formats available - analog, digitial standard definition and digitial high definition. I have no problem with closed captions being displayed on analog programs and digital standard definition programs (such as ABC News, LOST, Desperate Housewife, etc..), but those same programs on digital high definition channels are not displaying closed caption.

Does FCC exempt CC requirements on high definition programing?


we just bought a HD tv.. manual says it uses different caption on digital input you need to set it up. read your manual.
 
mx757 said:
we just bought a HD tv.. manual says it uses different caption on digital input you need to set it up. read your manual.

Yes, I'm aware of that. I have the digital caption enabled. I'm an engineer, so I know how to set it up. I have no problem with CC on High Definition HBO and Showtime programming on my Dish Network. It's just not being displayed on Los Angeles network broadcast High Definition programming (ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX), so that's the reason why I'm bringing this up to see if anyone has this problem.

Are you saying your local network broadcast high definition programs in your area are displaying captions?
 
FWIW...I got Cox cable, and the cc worked great on the HiDef channels until a couple of months ago. CBS has become horrible, and the others are hit and miss. It seems to get worse during prime time (especially during Ghost Whisperer and Cold Case :( ). HBO is unaffected, for some reason, though the captions seem truncated sometimes.

When I had Dish we did not have HD, but the captioning was unusually spotty in most channels, anyway.
 
Swede,

I have a Sony 60" XBR rear projection LCD TV with built-in HDTV tuner for Over-The-Air (OTA) signals. I live in Reno, NV and I know it's not the same as Los Angeles. I use indoor antenna and I receive six HDTV signals (CBS, NBC, PBS, ABC, FOX, and UPN) and closed captioning works perfectly. I know this is not the same as cable or satellite. I believe CC is the lowest priority for cable and satellite companies.

Are you trying to watch HDTV with CC directly from satellite or antenna? If your TV has a built-in HDTV tuner, have you tried connecting an antenna directly to your TV? How about connecting antenna to your HDTV Dish receiver? The receiver should have OTA input for local broadcasting. This should allow you to receive local OTA programs. If you get CC working using OTA antenna, then the CC problems are from cable or satellite companies. These two companies may not be getting direct feed from local stations.

When I first bought TV with HDTV tuner two and a half years ago, it took a while (about a year) for all six local stations to provide HDTV and CC. Maybe Los Angeles stations are not finished with HDTV Closed Captioning. I have contacted my local stations by e-mail and asked them to provide CC for HDTV and they were very helpful and eventually got CC up and running.

I built a Home Theater Personal Computer (HTPC) using Microsoft Media Center Edition (MCE) 2005. It has two HDTV tuners and I can record and playback HDTV programs with CC perfectly. MCE 2005 will only work with OTA antenna.

I am also an engineer (firmware) like yourself.

Peter
 
DarrenD said:
FWIW...I got Cox cable, and the cc worked great on the HiDef channels until a couple of months ago. CBS has become horrible, and the others are hit and miss. It seems to get worse during prime time (especially during Ghost Whisperer and Cold Case :( ). HBO is unaffected, for some reason, though the captions seem truncated sometimes.

When I had Dish we did not have HD, but the captioning was unusually spotty in most channels, anyway.

Sounds familiar. I am pretty sure that your cable wire is one that cause the problem. Look at the copper wire if it is thick which is good. You should try this one - bend up and down the cable wire a little bit behind your TV. That will solve your problem. Please let me know about it.
 
webexplorer said:
Sounds familiar. I am pretty sure that your cable wire is one that cause the problem. Look at the copper wire if it is thick which is good. You should try this one - bend up and down the cable wire a little bit behind your TV. That will solve your problem. Please let me know about it.

I think the DarrenD was referring to unstable Closed Captioning, not pictures. If the connection was bad, won't the picture be bad as well? I find it hard to believe a bad connection would still show good/stable pictures and bad/unstable Closed Caption.

Peter
 
peternagy said:
I think the DarrenD was referring to unstable Closed Captioning, not pictures. If the connection was bad, won't the picture be bad as well? I find it hard to believe a bad connection would still show good/stable pictures and bad/unstable Closed Caption.

Peter

Oh really. Hmm, then the closed caption card is definitely defective.
 
peternagy said:
I think the DarrenD was referring to unstable Closed Captioning, not pictures. If the connection was bad, won't the picture be bad as well? I find it hard to believe a bad connection would still show good/stable pictures and bad/unstable Closed Caption.

Peter

Right. The pictures are fine, it's just the captioning that gets unstable.

Webexplorer: Thanks. I'll try and swap the box out.
 
I am thinking about buying a satellite dish for my home. I never bought one before. Some of you said that the Dish Network is good one. I live in eastern state. Which model dish is better? What size is better? Plastic or wired dish?

I do not have a flat LCD monitor, but just for now I use the regular tube TV.

Some of you know that in 2009 will be no longer run on all TV tubes so I have to prepare to buy a new one in a few years. If I buy a LCD TV set, will it able to hook up the same satellite dish?

I think that, in a few years later, we need to be careful because some dealers might lie to us if we are forced to buy a new dish which is not necessary. Who knows.
 
According to the schedule set by FCC, NTSC signals (analog) should cease to exist and be replaced by ATSC signals (digital). Which means analog TVs or TV receivers with only NTSC tuners will not work anymore.

This does not mean your analog TV will be completely obsoleted. But in order to continue using analog TV after the 2009 deadline, you will have to buy a ATSC tuner box and hook it up to your existing analog TV. The picture quality using analog TVs will not be as good as digital TVs.

When NTSC signals finally cease to exist, you are better off buying a new digital TV because by then the price of digital TVs should be pretty cheap. Picture quality from digital TVs are significantly better than analog TVs.

I think the US government is setting up a plan to help low income people for the transition from analog to digital TVs.

Peter
 
webexplorer said:
I am thinking about buying a satellite dish for my home. I never bought one before. Some of you said that the Dish Network is good one. I live in eastern state. Which model dish is better? What size is better? Plastic or wired dish?

I do not have a flat LCD monitor, but just for now I use the regular tube TV.

Some of you know that in 2009 will be no longer run on all TV tubes so I have to prepare to buy a new one in a few years. If I buy a LCD TV set, will it able to hook up the same satellite dish?

I think that, in a few years later, we need to be careful because some dealers might lie to us if we are forced to buy a new dish which is not necessary. Who knows.
Unlike satellite, with HD Cable you can watch local broadcast channels (like ABC, NBC, CBS, and PBS*) in HD without an antenna. So you can see the prime-time and sports programs that you wanted to watch when you bought an HDTV set. But if you want to go with satellite, I recommend you pick up an additional set-top-box, mainly an OTA (over-the-air) HDTV receiver with an antenna.

Before you buy an OTA HDTV receiver, I recommend you buy either:

Winegard SharpShooter (indoor)
http://www.winegard.com/offair/sharpshooter.htm

Or:

Winegard SquareShooter (outdoor)
http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm

There may be other outdoor antennas but just to name a few...

For HDTV OTA receivers:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...t&productCategoryId=cat03022&id=1117178265456
http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Sams...98127/catOid/-15607/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

You should do some research on those HDTV OTA receivers and antennas...

I know my post aren't related to closed-caption thread but just wanted to point anyone out when they may decide whether to go with satellite or cable.

And one more thing, check http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx for HDTV OTA channel listings before you buy the receiver and an antenna.
 
i am having the same problem with my satellite provider. I've got Direct TV's high definition package. Some of the HD channels are captioned (ESPN) but I get no captioning whatsoever for the local HD channels. I've gotten a huge run-around by Direct TV these last few months. At first they asked me if the locals even captioned their HD programs. I called the stations and they all said yes. Finally Direct TV sent out a technician and they were stumped.
I thinks it's a problem with the satellite providers. Has anyone else had this problem with NO captioning on their local HD channels?? If so, has it been fixed?
I feel like I'm wasting money cuz there is alot of programming I miss without the captions.
 
Wow!! Both thoughtful and provoking!! Thanks for the help, you are truly a savior...I can only hope to attend the unveiling of the statue commemorating your aid to the world.
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Wow!! Both thoughtful and provoking!! Thanks for the help, you are truly a savior...I can only hope to attend the unveiling of the statue commemorating your aid to the world.

No point in being an asshole about it. :nono: He probably posted something and realized that his response wasn't relevant. You can't entirely delete a response.
 
^^That's correct DarrenD, it was something not neccessary so I had to type that. Too bad I can't delete a post.
 
Sorry about that...I've been trying to get this thing solved for so long and to see that kind of response kinda set me off...
No harm, no foul.
 
Well Just finished a 2 hour conversation with Direct TV's tech staff. After doing everything they asked with the receiver, they told me (again) that it would be fixed within 24-48 hours. We shall see.
My buddy has HD cable and his captions are running fine. One thing mentioned was that the frequency of the local channels may be too low to fully pick up the captions. Sounds like they may need to re-configure their boxes...
 
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