# Closed Captioning in HDTV **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 7, 2006, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning-in-hdtv/351697 "2006-04-07T09:42:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning-in-hdtv/351697/1 "2006-04-07T09:42:45Z")
I have a Samsung HDTV hooked up to a comcast HD DVR. I can’t get closed captioning to work. Does anyone have any suggestions? Even ones that involve buying extra hardware? thanks ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning-in-hdtv/351697/2 "2006-04-07T15:05:05Z")
I think for the time being a lot of digital channels don’t carry closed-captions while the analog ones do. I could be wrong, but I think they’re also working on a different standard for digital closed-captioning and not many TVs are compatible with that yet. There’s nothing in Googling that contradicts this. At least, I’ve never gotten CC to work on digital cable; I ended up quitting my cable account out of protest. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning-in-hdtv/351697/3 "2006-04-07T15:18:43Z")
Assuming you have a Motorola DCT-6412 cable box (which is what Comcast gave me), go [here](http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/dct6412.asp), click on “User Guides”, and download the “DCT 6400 Series User Guide”. Basically you have to turn on the TV, turn **off** the cable box then press the Menu button on the front of the box (I think pressing & holding Menu or Setup on the remote works as well). That brings up a settings menu that lets you turn Close Caption on & off. Unfortunately they don’t have an on the fly method to turn it on & off while watching a show. The problem is that the original Close Captioning was defined only for NTSC TV (old analog signal). The CC data is encoded in the MPEG digital video stream, but there’s no place to put the encoded CC signal on the Component or DVI output of the cable box, so the cable box itself has to decode the CC and insert it as video on the picture. ---
**Author:** ![dre2xl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@dre2xl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dre2xl)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2006, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning-in-hdtv/351697/4 "2006-04-07T15:36:25Z")
ah, makes sense. well, there’s nothing good on TV anyway. If a miracle happens and Firefly is revived, though… Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning-in-hdtv/351697/5 "2006-04-08T08:56:21Z")
> [@muldoonthief](#): > > Assuming you have a Motorola DCT-6412 cable box (which is what Comcast gave me), go [here](http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/dct6412.asp), click on “User Guides”, and download the “DCT 6400 Series User Guide”. Basically you have to turn on the TV, turn **off** the cable box then press the Menu button on the front of the box (I think pressing & holding Menu or Setup on the remote works as well). That brings up a settings menu that lets you turn Close Caption on & off. Unfortunately they don’t have an on the fly method to turn it on & off while watching a show. > > The problem is that the original Close Captioning was defined only for NTSC TV (old analog signal). The CC data is encoded in the MPEG digital video stream, but there’s no place to put the encoded CC signal on the Component or DVI output of the cable box, so the cable box itself has to decode the CC and insert it as video on the picture. Well, that’s the screwiest thing I’ve ever heard of. What a stupid way to set things up. Still, might be worth a try… thanks. > [@dre2xl](#): > > well, there’s nothing good on TV anyway. If a miracle happens and Firefly is revived, though… Perhaps you are unfamiliar with a little show we like to call **24**? (Of course, you hardly need closed captioning to understand the asskicking machine that is Jack Bauer.) ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning-in-hdtv/351697/6 "2006-04-08T17:29:28Z")
> [@MaxTheVool](#): > > Well, that’s the screwiest thing I’ve ever heard of. What a stupid way to set things up. Still, might be worth a try… thanks. Actually, that works more easily than I thought I would, and the menu button on the remote works fine. Thanks again. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2006, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/closed-captioning-in-hdtv/351697/7 "2006-04-08T18:42:02Z")
> [@dre2xl](#): > > I could be wrong, but I think they’re also working on a different standard for digital closed-captioning and not many TVs are compatible with that yet. There’s nothing in Googling that contradicts this. The digital closed captioning standard is called CEA-708 (which supercedes the old numbering system, in which it was called EIA-708). It has been in place since 1999, and all consumer DTV equipment produced in the last 6 years should support at least a minimal implentation. It includes a LOT of capability that analog captioning doesn’t. > [@dre2xl](#): > > I think for the time being a lot of digital channels don’t carry closed-captions while the analog ones do. Digital channels are required by law to carry captioning at the same level as the analog channels do. At this point it means nearly all of what they broadcast. There are two different ways to provide DTV captioning: either full-on CEA-708 digital captions, or the older 608 analog captions. There’s a small hunk of bandwidth set aside in the DTV signal that allows for embedding of analog captioning. Consumer TVs are supposed to look for the DTVCC first, and if they can’t find it, lock onto the analog CC. > [@dre2xl](#): > > At least, I’ve never gotten CC to work on digital cable; I ended up quitting my cable account out of protest. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the cable techs are utterly clueless about CC and how it works.