subtitles

buzi

hi, im having problems with the subtitles on itv programmes, they dont appear as the people speak, there is a delay and its not live tv but regular programmes. im wondering if this problem is to do with the new digital change?

InsideInsurance

Are you looking at HD or SD channels?

With SD the subtitles are still sent in the unused lines of the broadcast (along with Teletext) and so a sync issue would purely be down to either it being intentionally behind or the highly unlikely thing that your TV is taking time to process the signal but given how low tech it is I'd be surprised.

If you are watching HD (actual HD channels not just an SD channel on a HD TV) then the sub titles are actually broadcast separately to the main TV itself and therefore it does open up the risk of the two broadcasts getting out of sync with each other and I'd argue greater risk of hardware delays being created by your kit.

Simple test would be to get someone else to watch the same thing on another setup and see if they have the same issues or not. If they dont then you know the broadcast is fine and its a problem with your kit

buzi

thanks for your reply

im looking at sd in a hd tv, what puzzles me is that the subtitles work ok on bbc with the same tv. i have contacted itv and they said they are looking at the problem but that was months ago!

InsideInsurance

With SD content then the subtitles are embedded into the broadcast itself and just uses one of the extra lines in the PAL broadcast that isnt ordinarily displayed on the screen.

I dont think I ever watch ITV to say if we have the same problem - have you checked with others to see if they have the same problem?

Given how old a technology it is I'd be concerned if it is the HDTV that is unable to process the information and display it onscreen quick enough as not to give a perceivable delay

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

InsideInsurance wrote: »

With SD the subtitles are still sent in the unused lines of the broadcast (along with Teletext) and so a sync issue would purely be down to either it being intentionally behind or the highly unlikely thing that your TV is taking time to process the signal but given how low tech it is I'd be surprised.

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't this just apply to the old analogue broadcasts? Digital SD transmissions don't have lines as such. Or have I misunderstood?

InsideInsurance

Fruit_and_Nut_Case wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't this just apply to the old analogue broadcasts? Digital SD transmissions don't have lines as such. Or have I misunderstood?

They certainly do still have lines, my understanding was the digital SD was the same as analogue SD in that subtitles are still carried in the redundant capacity but HD (which is obviously only digital) is carried in a separate feed.... could be wrong, most the info is US based online and NTSC was different to PAL as how it dealt with subtitles/ closed captions

Fruit_and_Nut_Case

InsideInsurance wrote: »

They certainly do still have lines, my understanding was the digital SD was the same as analogue SD in that subtitles are still carried in the redundant capacity but HD (which is obviously only digital) is carried in a separate feed.... could be wrong, most the info is US based online and NTSC was different to PAL as how it dealt with subtitles/ closed captions

Thanks for that. I stand corrected.

moneypenny2k

it's flaming annoying when subtitles don't work properly and you rely on them. half way through dci banks this week, I had about 5 mins of subtitles from mr and mrs... don't ask me why.

I cant help with your problem other than to say when my sky tv subtitles stop working, I've always unplugged everything and plugged it all back in and started up again, seems to fix most gliches.

My main gripe is the lack of subtitles on streamed programmes. Netflix and Apple manage to subtitle a lot as does BBC via it's online iPlayer. However, the new Sky catch up and anytime service doesn't have any subtitles at all, even for itv programmes that have subtitles when watched on a computer. Moan over sorry.

buzi

yes it is so annoying when they dont work properly but what puzzles me is that they work ok for me on bbc but not itv and restarting doesnt fix it for me and although the restart works for you, you miss some of your programme while doing this! As for netflix, I tried them on the free trial but found a lot of their films didnt have subtitles my moan over!