# shortcut for CC toggle (closed captions)



## rickyTV (Mar 16, 2014)

How about a 1 key toggle to turn on/off closed captions.

This would be a key, say C, that would be active while watching a show (i.e. not on any page such as now playing, etc.) Currently, all 4 keys do nothing when playing a show.

I realize that this would be a "hint-less" shortcut, and thus someone could accidentally turn on closed captions without any clue as to which key turns it on or off. At present, one has to do

right,
down,
enter,
left

to turn on captions and dismiss the dialog.


I would suggest therefore that a hint could appear on the CC screen indicating that one can toggle CC with a single key. If this is a problem, then there are several other ways to let the user know about this key, such as a 1 second popup message when toggling, or a hint could be shown on the timeline bar that appears during pause or play.

Also, it would be nice if this could work with netflix, which is even more tedious to turn on CC.


BTW, I don't use CC because of a hearing problem. Today's actors tend to mumble or whisper their lines at critical points in a show; some have thick accents or their characters do. So, I need to turn on CC, skip back 10-20 seconds, read the lines, then toggle CC back off. Very tedious.


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## Arcady (Oct 14, 2004)

I like your idea.

You know how the ->| key has a (-) above it, since it has two functions? 

They could put a (CC) above the C key and accomplish the same thing.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

<Info>, <down>, , <clear>


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## rickyTV (Mar 16, 2014)

ThAbtO said:


> <Info>, <down>, , <clear>


Yes, same as right, down, select, left, but still tedious. I'm looking for a single key CC toggle, e.g. one of the color keys on my roamio remote. In my original post, I mistyped enter for select.

I don't use CC for long stretches, where I'd set it and forget it. Hence, the desire for a simpler toggle key, where I might turn it on and off several times in 20 or 30 seconds of playback.


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## hfcsyrup (Dec 12, 2012)

Great idea, I do the same, and don't know why the abcd buttons do nothing..
But I would prefer hitting c would turn captions on, and skip back 14 seconds and turn off after a minute. Is that to much to ask


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## Megamind (Feb 18, 2013)

+1 A feature like this would be really convenient.


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## CraigThom (Sep 27, 2002)

hfcsyrup said:


> Great idea, I do the same, and don't know why the abcd buttons do nothing..
> But I would prefer hitting c would turn captions on, and skip back 14 seconds and turn off after a minute. Is that to much to ask


The Hulu Plus channel on my Roku does that. If I hit the "jump back" button it automatically turns on the captioning for a short time. I guess a lot of us do quick rewinds to figure out what the heck she just said.


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## psmith1234 (Oct 3, 2010)

hfcsyrup said:


> Great idea, I do the same, and don't know why the abcd buttons do nothing..
> But I would prefer hitting c would turn captions on, and skip back 14 seconds and turn off after a minute. Is that to much to ask


This would be wonderful. Often times I cannot understand slurred or fast dialogue.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

rickyTV said:


> How about a 1 key toggle to turn on/off closed captions.
> 
> This would be a key, say C, that would be active while watching a show (i.e. not on any page such as now playing, etc.) Currently, all 4 keys do nothing when playing a show. . . .
> 
> BTW, I don't use CC because of a hearing problem. Today's actors tend to mumble or whisper their lines at critical points in a show; some have thick accents or their characters do. So, I need to turn on CC, skip back 10-20 seconds, read the lines, then toggle CC back off. Very tedious.


^ +1.

Think that this is a great idea, including for the reasons you note (lack of attention being paid in productions, at times, to being 100% intelligible). And using the C option button makes absolute sense, including possibly with a popup appearing, telling the user that CC has been enabled and can be disabled simply by pressing the C button again.


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## jth tv (Nov 15, 2014)

And while they are at it, I'd like to be able to see the closed captions when pause is pressed.


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## mangochutney (Apr 7, 2015)

^ Do you mean *mute* like Media Center does it?

I like this idea.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Nope--pause. The cc's disappear when you press pause, which can make things difficult when the dialog is fast and captions are very brief timewise.


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## mangochutney (Apr 7, 2015)

Ahh sorry I see. I'll add captions on mute. Mute function should be part of the TiVo not the TV or AVR. when mute is pressed captions should appear as sound is cut.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Now, that would solve the main issue: just have captions appear on pressing the mute button.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

mangochutney said:


> Ahh sorry I see. I'll add captions on mute. Mute function should be part of the TiVo not the TV or AVR. when mute is pressed captions should appear as sound is cut.


CC on Mute is the function of the TV and the Tivo Remote sends the mute signal to the TV and not to the Tivo. Not all TVs have this feature.


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## mangochutney (Apr 7, 2015)

Yep that's why I listed the request for captions to be a TiVo function just like Media Center


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## jth tv (Nov 15, 2014)

ThAbtO said:


> CC on Mute is the function of the TV and the Tivo Remote sends the mute signal to the TV and not to the Tivo. Not all TVs have this feature.


I don't think that necessarily has to be. The TiVo is receiving an RF signal for mute (as evidenced by a flash of the yellow light on my Roamio basic box) and can do what it wishes with that information. It could be hardwired, but I find that hard to believe. It would just be a software setting or user option.

CC on mute would be good. Actually I'd be very happy with anything that makes CC on or off more convenient. I use it a lot.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

jth tv said:


> I don't think that necessarily has to be. The TiVo is receiving an RF signal for mute (as evidenced by a flash of the yellow light on my Roamio basic box) and can do what it wishes with that information. It could be hardwired, but I find that hard to believe. It would just be a software setting or user option.
> 
> CC on mute would be good. Actually I'd be very happy with anything that makes CC on or off more convenient. I use it a lot.


The Tivo remote would always flash either red (IR) or yellow (RF) while its in whichever mode regardless, but the IR signal code is what's sent to the TV, and the Tivo logs every remote press in its log, even though its a TV or Tivo function.


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## rocket777 (Sep 11, 2013)

While the idea of using the mute key to toggle CC is better than nothing, I (the OP) would still prefer using the C key for 2 reasons:


I want to toggle ONLY the Captions & still leave the sound on. If someone wants only one or the other, then that might be a settings option, as I mention below.

When I use mute, say, to watch sports while listening to something else, like a pod cast playing on my computer, I don't want the captions. If mute always puts captions on screen, I'd be back where I started, only now I'd have to manually remove the captions - or I'd have to mute using my tv's remote instead, kinda ruining the convenience of that key to save me from needing both remote controllers next to the couch.
I think there could be an options page in settings where users could decide for themselves which key to use, and other behaviors, like should mute turn on CC. There's probably 5 or more other options like this that could also be on an options page, e.g. some of the current backdoors, like the time in the upper right corner, which I use. I wouldn't object to this shortcut being off by default (but remember the setting across re-boots).

I do agree with the idea of keeping the captions on during pause. Sometimes the captions are so fleeting, I have to backup a few times to read them.


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## cherry ghost (Sep 13, 2005)

If you have a Harmony remote, there are discrete codes for CC on/off


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