DTV captions let the viewer select parameters for how their DTV captions will display. (Figure 1) This is probably a TV caption settings issue. (Figure 2, Figure 3)
Figure 1: Samsung DTV caption settings:
Figure 2: Charter DTV caption settings:
Setting Description Options
Text Settings Change the color, transparency, size and font of your Closed Captioning. Color: Select a color for the Closed Captioning text that will appear on your TV screen.
Transparency: Select the degree to which you can see through the text, either Opaque or Semi- transparent.
Size: Choose a small, medium, or large font.
Font: Select which font style you prefer for the Closed Captioning text.
Character Edge: Choose how you want the edges of the characters to appear in Closed Captioning text.
Background Settings Change the background on which your Closed Captioning text appears. Color: Select a background color that is different than the text color.
Transparency: Select the degree to which you can see through the background.
Window Settings Select a color and transparency setting for the window or box surrounding the Closed Captioning text. Color: Select a color for the box surrounding the Closed Captioning text.
Transparency: Select the degree to which you can see through the Closed Captioning box.
Figure 3: Example of PBS.org default web caption settings:
Figure 4: Example of PBS.org web caption settings: Low Text Opacity makes text disappear even though the caption background box remains.
Figure 5: Example of PBS.org web caption settings: Black caption font makes text disappear into black caption background box.
Figure 6: Example of PBS.org web caption settings: Dark blue caption color makes it hard to read the text over the black caption background box.
Figure 7: Size 10 font may be too small to read.
Longshot Possibility:
– Captions are enabled on both the viewer’s cable/satellite/streaming tuner AND on their DTV display, and both devices are displaying their captions in the same place, thus the overlapping captions block the font.
– I can’t be certain that the viewer is wrong or that this issue definitely resides with the viewer and not with our signal.
Non-viewer possibilities:
– Viewer is watching through a satellite, cable, streaming provider, and that provider is accidentally failing to pass the caption signal.
– Viewer is the one person who can’t hear and needs captions or who cared to contact us about the issue rather than being annoyed, but not saying anything.
If you get a chance, can you let me know, please, if the viewer can resolve this through a menu setting on their TV or cable/satellite/DVR box?
Thanks!
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