We're aware that some users are experiencing technical issues which the team are working to resolve. See the Community Noticeboard for more info. Thank you for your patience.
📨 Have you signed up to the Forum's new Email Digest yet? Get a selection of trending threads sent straight to your inbox daily, weekly or monthly!

My partners has hearing problems - we would like to watch tv together.

Options
tweeter
tweeter Posts: 3,958 Forumite
Part of the Furniture
edited 12 July 2017 at 9:46PM in Techie Stuff
My partner has hearing problems and uses Geemarc headphones through our Humax set top box, so we can both watch tv together - Samsung tv. Is it possible to set up the tv so we both watch it together if we don't use the Humax, as a earphone socket on the tv turns the sound off when we plug in a standard set of earphones but won't allow us to plug in Geemarc headphones anywhere else.

I wondered If anyone here knows another way of how to get the tv set not to turn off the sound through using the other sockets on the back of it. The reason is is that my Humax has stopped recording and a replacement failed first day and the shop said they have had a lot of complaints about it, so I was thinking of getting a Panasonic set top box but it doesn't have phono's on the back.

Some people I understand have set up their tv's to avoid the sound being turned off when listening together when one of them uses Geemarc type headphones. Thanks for any replies.


The Samsung tv modal I have.


Samsung tv manual. The tv doesn't have a scart socket on the back

Geemarc headphones

Panasonic set top box
Peel back your baby's eyelid to find no nationality or religious identity mark there. Peer at your baby's eyes for them to reflect back just people-throw away your flags and religious symbols...



Comments

  • Owain_Moneysaver
    Owain_Moneysaver Posts: 11,392 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    If your TV has a SCART OUT socket you can use the SCART adapter shown in the headphone manual page 3 item A

    If you want to use a box that doesn't have phono outputs for the headphone then you'd need a through splitter like this between the box and the TV, and the headphones connect at the side

    https://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=4744

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00FJ2DHQ8/

    https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/n92/B00M181STQ/
    A kind word lasts a minute, a skelped erse is sair for a day.
  • fwor
    fwor Posts: 6,862 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    I'm trying to do something similar - on some TVs you can select in the setup menu whether the headphone output mutes the speakers, but on our Samsung it was not possible, so yours may be the same.

    You can extract audio output from either the SCART interface, as already suggested, or from the HDMI interface, but I suspect that the problem you will face is that you want the Audio as an output - and the TV may not consider any of these connections as active when it's just being used as a TV - though it should be possible when you are using the Humax/Panasonic by placing something like this in the HDMI link between it and the TV:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/332236815715/

    However, the digital audio SPDIF output on the TV itself should always be active, so a digital to analogue converter connected to this should give you an audio output at all times, whether the source is the internal tuner or an external set-top box. Here's an example for £5:

    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/201419380856/

    However, note that neither of these have a volume control, so you would need 'phones with volume (perhaps the Geemarc has one anyway).
  • boundy
    boundy Posts: 187 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    As above, 3.5mm splitter. You've already mentioned that using the headphones jack mutes the TV speakers, so get a cheap sound bar, plug the splitter into the TV, 1 end to the sound bar input, other end to the headphones. Even a cheap sound bar from argos will more than likely exceed the audio output of a flat screen TV at the cheaper end of the market
  • sazdes
    sazdes Posts: 108 Forumite
    depending on the degree of deafness (well more if he wears hearing aids), you can get the NHS to provide you with a hearing loop for the room (like cinemas and public buildings use) which you can then put the hearing aid onto the T setting and it will amplify it through the aids
  • Slightly off the wall approach here.
    Have you thought about getting a decent stereo Bluetooth speaker?
    ( I have a Marley geo something ). Once charged, you could place it anywhere in the room ..even behind you . Probably too off the wall, but you never know :)
  • tweeter
    tweeter Posts: 3,958 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    edited 19 July 2017 at 11:12AM
    Thanks to everyone who contributed here, especially fwor, whose idea allowed my partner to hear the tv through a set of Geemarc headphones, and at the same time I could hear the same Samsung tv set without headphones.

    clicky
    Peel back your baby's eyelid to find no nationality or religious identity mark there. Peer at your baby's eyes for them to reflect back just people-throw away your flags and religious symbols...



  • WAYT
    WAYT Posts: 694 Forumite
    Headphone splitter would have been cheaper and less cumbersome. But it works and you are happy. Digital output has a slight delay, so I imagined that might annoy.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350.9K Banking & Borrowing
  • 253.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.6K Spending & Discounts
  • 243.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 598.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.9K Life & Family
  • 257.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 37.6K Read-Only Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.