Some Audio Problems Can Be Fixed

One of the questions I often get now that we are finally and totally converted to digital broadcasting has to do with the increased frequency of audio problems on TV programs? The most prevalent and irritating problems are the increased instances of lip sync errors. We have all experienced it. The person speaking and the audio track are not in sync. Sometimes it is so pronounced and distracting that it makes the program unwatchable. Watching a drummer hit the drum or guitarist strum a chord only to hear the lick 2 seconds later is not pretty.

In the old days, before digital broadcasting, most often lip sync problems were caused by the circuitous path the video program traveled from its source to your living room. For example, news reports coming from Europe or Asia, because they were being transmitted using two or more satellite hops, had many incidents of audio delay and audio / video separation.

Today’s problems seem to be more pronounced and harder to fix. In the analog days the audio and video for a TV program were transmitter separately to your TV. They were joined inside the TV set. With digital, from the very beginning, the audio and video are all part of one stream of “1”s and “0”s and once joined they can’t easily be pulled apart. So if the audio is out of sync at the source there is virtually nothing you can do to fix it.

There are some instances where the problem is in your TV set or cable set top box. I have noticed that with some Time Warner set top cable boxes when a program has a lip sync problem you can fix it by powering down the cable box for a few seconds and then turning it back on. I am betting that this is a bug in the box where by its buffer gets filled. Turning it off clears the buffer. I am not sure, but my fix does work. I have tried this on some digital TVs as well with mixed success.

Another audio issue is the varying audio level or loudness. This is often experienced when a station switches from the network to a local source. The most pronounced is on Channel 12’s second channel The CW. When they go to the 10 PM news the audio level jumps almost 50%. Why? Because someone is not paying attention at the station.

Here is hoping that stations and networks will begin to pay as much attention to what we hear as they do to what we see.

Some Audio Problems Can Be Fixed

One of the questions I often get now that we are finally and totally converted to digital broadcasting has to do with the increased frequency of audio problems on TV programs? The most prevalent and irritating problems are the increased instances of lip sync errors. We have all experienced it. The person speaking and the audio track are not in sync. Sometimes it is so pronounced and distracting that it makes the program unwatchable. Watching a drummer hit the drum or guitarist strum a chord only to hear the lick 2 seconds later is not pretty.

In the old days, before digital broadcasting, most often lip sync problems were caused by the circuitous path the video program traveled from its source to your living room. For example, news reports coming from Europe or Asia, because they were being transmitted using two or more satellite hops, had many incidents of audio delay and audio / video separation.

Today’s problems seem to be more pronounced and harder to fix. In the analog days the audio and video for a TV program were transmitter separately to your TV. They were joined inside the TV set. With digital, from the very beginning, the audio and video are all part of one stream of “1”s and “0”s and once joined they can’t easily be pulled apart. So if the audio is out of sync at the source there is virtually nothing you can do to fix it.

There are some instances where the problem is in your TV set or cable set top box. I have noticed that with some Time Warner set top cable boxes when a program has a lip sync problem you can fix it by powering down the cable box for a few seconds and then turning it back on. I am betting that this is a bug in the box where by its buffer gets filled. Turning it off clears the buffer. I am not sure, but my fix does work. I have tried this on some digital TVs as well with mixed success.

Another audio issue is the varying audio level or loudness. This is often experienced when a station switches from the network to a local source. The most pronounced is on Channel 12’s second channel The CW. When they go to the 10 PM news the audio level jumps almost 50%. Why? Because someone is not paying attention at the station.

Here is hoping that stations and networks will begin to pay as much attention to what we hear as they do to what we see.

I Can't Hear You!!!!

I had a call on my voice mail from a women who was very upset with me and CET. Of course she did not leave a call back number. Her complaint was that she experiences loss of audio on some of the programs she is watching on CET. Naturally she thinks that this is CET’s problem. Actually the problem is in her set. I bring this up because it relates to a topic we discussed in this column a few weeks back.

Many new TV sets have multiple audio channels. One of these channels is called the SAP (Special Audio Program) channel and can be used for Spanish language or Descriptive Video for the blind. Most people don’t know that they have this feature, since most do not need it. Normally this feature should be turned off. If it is left on or inadvertantly turned on, you can have a real problem. There are many times when there is no audio recorded on the SAP channel and the result is you will hear no audio at all. This is what is happening to the lady who called me.

Manufacturers are building more and more features into new electronic devices and as a result they are becoming next to impossible to easily operate. In the case of the SAP channel, the various set manufactures can’t even agree what to call that function. I examined several remote controls that I have for my TV and VCR to see how they handle turning SAP on and off.

One of the remotes for Panasonic® TV was unfortunatley very typical. There is no button on the remote that is marked SAP or even Audio. You have to press a button called “ACTION.” Presssing this button brings up an on-screen menu. One of the selections is SAP. Why a designer would think a consumer would look under “ACTION” to turn on the SAP channel is beyond me. Now I guess that I have to come to the defense of Panasonic® since I have another remote control for my VCR. That remote has a button clearly marked “SAP.” But why is this on one Panasonic® remote and not the other?

Another TV remote I found does not use the term SAP at all. Instead it has a setting for “foreign language.” This setting could easily be confused with the settings that allow you to have the on screen menus in English, Espanol or Francias.

If the manufactures would only adopt some standardization …you know “hot water on the left and cold on the right” or “righty tighty and lefty losey.” What a concept! But I ask too much.

I Can't Hear You!!!!

I had a call on my voice mail from a women who was very upset with me and CET. Of course she did not leave a call back number. Her complaint was that she experiences loss of audio on some of the programs she is watching on CET. Naturally she thinks that this is CET’s problem. Actually the problem is in her set. I bring this up because it relates to a topic we discussed in this column a few weeks back.

Many new TV sets have multiple audio channels. One of these channels is called the SAP (Special Audio Program) channel and can be used for Spanish language or Descriptive Video for the blind. Most people don’t know that they have this feature, since most do not need it. Normally this feature should be turned off. If it is left on or inadvertantly turned on, you can have a real problem. There are many times when there is no audio recorded on the SAP channel and the result is you will hear no audio at all. This is what is happening to the lady who called me.

Manufacturers are building more and more features into new electronic devices and as a result they are becoming next to impossible to easily operate. In the case of the SAP channel, the various set manufactures can’t even agree what to call that function. I examined several remote controls that I have for my TV and VCR to see how they handle turning SAP on and off.

One of the remotes for Panasonic® TV was unfortunatley very typical. There is no button on the remote that is marked SAP or even Audio. You have to press a button called “ACTION.” Presssing this button brings up an on-screen menu. One of the selections is SAP. Why a designer would think a consumer would look under “ACTION” to turn on the SAP channel is beyond me. Now I guess that I have to come to the defense of Panasonic® since I have another remote control for my VCR. That remote has a button clearly marked “SAP.” But why is this on one Panasonic® remote and not the other?

Another TV remote I found does not use the term SAP at all. Instead it has a setting for “foreign language.” This setting could easily be confused with the settings that allow you to have the on screen menus in English, Espanol or Francias.

If the manufactures would only adopt some standardization …you know “hot water on the left and cold on the right” or “righty tighty and lefty losey.” What a concept! But I ask too much.