HR20-700 Closed Captioning

645 Views 3 Replies 3 Participants Last post by Kevin872, Aug 10, 2008

Kevin872

Discussion Starter · Aug 10, 2008

I have a stupid question that I can't seem to find the answer to:

Does the HR20 pass closed-captioning data through an HDMI connection? My Toshiba LCD TV is supposed to activate CC when the volume is muted. However, if I am viewing the output from the DVR this does not work. If I use the TV's built-in ATSC tuner, it works as expected.

Is this normal? Does the DVR not pass that through? I am on the NR software for the HR20-700... was this maybe addressed in a recent CE? I ask because I saw a couple of CC-related fixes in recent CE versions.

Normally we don't use CC, but we do like to have it activate when the volume is muted. We also have an HR21 connected to a TV via COAX and the CC works as expected there. Is this just a limitation in an HDMI connection?

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K4SMX

· #2 · Aug 10, 2008

Instead of enabling CC on your TV for watching the HDMI input from your DirecTV receiver, push the yellow button on your DirecTV remote and enable it there. It's a very simple procedure, thanks to a software update some months ago. It used to take about 15 steps.

You can still leave your TV set up for "CC on Mute" for ATSC OTA. You can also run your OTA antenna through the HR20 and have all your ATSC OTA stations in the DirecTV Guide by enabling the OTA section of your HR20. The HR20 OTA tuners are probably not as good as what's in your TV, however.

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Grentz

· #3 · Aug 10, 2008

CC on your TV will only work with its own tuner in most cases. You need to use the CC through the Directv Box, which as stated by K4SMX is access by pressing the Yellow button.

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Kevin872

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 10, 2008

I do have my OTA antenna running to the HR20 which is what I use when the satellite goes out, and don't normally use my TV's tuner (but I did for testing the CC).

So it sounds like CC can't pass through an HDMI. Bummer. I could use the yellow button method... it would just be an extra step to take if we mute the TV, which honestly is pretty rare.

It would be nice to program my Harmony to toggle the TV mute & CC on the HR20 with a button, but unfortunately my TV has two-stage mute (1/2 mute & full mute) which would make this more difficult to achieve.

It was mostly curiosity.... whether or not it SHOULD work through HDMI. Although I do wonder if it is possible, or it just isn't possible at all through HDMI, even with a software upgrade. ***UPDATE*** After Googling this (which I probably should have done in the first place), it would appear that the HDMI specification does not reserve a portion of the signal for closed captioning data. So basically, at least for now, it is impossible to pass CC information through an HDMI connection. Instead it must be added to the picture before it is sent via HDMI, which is what the HR20 does when it is enabled. Another Scooby Doo mystery solved!

Thanks for the posts!

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