Closed captioning

I occasionally use CC because of hearing loss, but generally find them distracting, especially when they appear at different locations on the screen. I much prefer them at the bottom of the screen. Even worse, is when they start falling behind the video action (especially with the sound on).

I much prefer to use my Costco Video Ears. Well worth the price.

I admit it's annoying when the video action fall behind, but I prefer CC, because I was "brought up" with CC....

in my small country alot of broadcasts was/are foreign made, movies too, so subtitles are very common....

Yes I can watch Netflix, VUDU etc even though I'm not located in the US/North America, but with some small (legal) tricks I have made it possible 😉 ...my hearing is (still) ok, but I don't understand every word spoken, so it helps me get the "full picture" 😁...

I have no knowledge of Costco Video Ears, but surely helps hearing impaired, in my case it wouldn't do any good?

BTW.... the other night I was watching "Horrible Bosses" (no good by the way..) and the subtitles was all over the screen.... annoying!!!!

Yes, you can get captioining now on Apple TV by simply going into the settings menu on Apple TV. (This works on NETFLIX) . Go to Audio Video area. Go to your CC or subtitles area from there, and, and hit ok. It will give you the option to get CC and subtitles on anything that is already caption ready. Then, just enjoy. Thank you Apple for fixing this issue.

Using my AppleTV2, I must set "dolby digital" in the audio/video settings to the "off" position in order to get the closed captioning AND to avoid static noise drowning out the audio on the aforementioned (previous posting) content. This is IN ADDITION to setting "closed captioning" on and having CC available programming, as shown in the show's preview page. Apple has not "fixed" this issue if I have to disable the dolby digital feature in order for CC and the audio to function!!! The reason CC captions appear in different areas of the screen is because they adjust as to not obscure other information on the program, such as a caption as to whom the speaker is, or subtitles to brief foreign dialogue, which ALL viewers are seeing. The default position for CC is the lower part of the screen. I agree they are not perfect and sometimes lag or skip important info, such as someone's name or a location. I find that movies have the best CC. These CC issues may not exist on the original AppleTV, as I understand it had a hard drive included, which AppleTV2 does not. (?)

CC for Netflix on Apple TV works, but it's not clear how to enable it. You have to go to a/v settings and enable a language under subtitles. Works perfectly then.

If you have a movie or TV with CC, start playing it. Then press the big silver button on the Apple TV remote and you will get a choice to turn on the CC. Not obvious but then Apple never is.

We purchased our Apple TV just this past weekend. I have had no problem with getting the closed caption working. All I did was go to the 'Audio and Video' settings and turned on the CC plus I set the Subtitles to English. The CC won't work without knowing what langauge it is suppose to broadcast in. My Dolby is in Auto.

I hope this helps. Happy viewing.

tincan53, have you tried the Apple TV2 with Netflix, and you are not having any CC issues with the A/V dolby digital on auto? The issue has always only been with Netflix. If you are not having any problems set on auto, how is your audio set up - straight from the TV, or using speakers? The subtitles on mine have always worked for everything, but the CC only works for Netflix with dolby set on off. Subtitles and CC are 2 different issues.

Lisa, yes I have. I watched a Netflix movie this morning. All I did was turn on the CC and chose the subtitle language and up came the CC. Yes Dolby was in auto. Dolby should have nothing to do with Closed Caption because the two don't interchange with each other. One is for sight, CC and the other is sound. You are probably 100% correct that CC and Subs are two different animals. But if both are on, then any movie should show CC. Since I turned both on, all movies that I have watched have had CC.

Here are the two setups that have worked for me: Dolby = Auto, Auto

Subtitle = English, English

CC = On, Off

Results = Closed Caption on Netflix in English.

I tried these setups and failed at CC on Netflix: Dobly = Auto, On, Off

Subs = Off, Off, Off

CC = On, On, On

If both the Subs and CC are on, then I would think that just about any move should produce the needed CC. Lord knows I have to have it. Too many years in the enginerooms of Navy ships and then working around industrial and commercial air compressors.

I am glad that there are these discussion forums available in itunes support, but I must admit its frustrating to read people stating that their CC "works perfectly" on Netflix movies in apple tv, when it seems to be anything but easy to enable. Am I the only one who can still NOT get CC for netflix movies/shows? I am willing to admit there is some potential for user error since I am no computer guru.

I have gone to a/v settings and turned on CC and english subtitles, this DOES work for enabling CC for the few itunes movies in my library that have CC capability but it does NOT work for Netflix movies/shows (under any dolby setting). I am only trying to enable CC/subtitles for Netflix shows/movies that I know already have subtitles available when viewing on the PC.

So, are any other suggestions out there for enabling netflix CC/subtitles in apple tv? Because pressing the big silver button on the Apple TV remote during a movie only pauses my movie and does not give me the choice to turning on the CC as a previous person stated.

I don't think there's that much potential for user error, it's only two settings: CC and subtitle language. Pressing the big silver button would only toggle the CC on and off, I think. I certainly understand your frustration, many times I too have come to this forum looking for help, and found lots of people who aren't having trouble. It seems you understand that CC isn't available on all shows, so that's a start (I actually called Netflix a few times to find out why my 5.1 wasn't working, only to realize that it wasn't on all shows, even very recent HD movies).

I have two thoughts on other solutions;

1. Try a factory reset. Sometimes updates get a little muddled, worth a try anyway.

2. What is your connection speed like? When I was trying to get my 5.1 working, the eager (if not helpful) people at Netflix said that if the connection speed isn't great, the software will try to reduce the requirements, including turning off the Dolby. I can't imagine that CC is such a bandwidth hog, but perhaps if your connections isn't great the AppleTV is ditching the CC to maintain image quality.

Otherwise, it's probably time to get on the phone with tech support at both Netflix and Apple. I'm sure they'll blame each other to some degree, but at least you can get the issue on their radar. There's really not too much that the user can do to troubleshoot this, so it's likely a service or device issue. Netflix is able to tell you how fast you are downloading the stream, which may be helpful (or just interesting).

Dear Duncan,

Thank you for your knowledgable reply and I do apologize for letting out my frustrations on this helpful forum. My only excuse is that this is the second time in as many days that I have read people's posts regarding the "correct solution" only to find that the solution didn't apply to my problem.

At any rate, I appreciate your suggestions and have since tried your #1 suggestion by doing a factory reset and then updateding the apple tv software again. Lo and behold the CC's in Netflix are now toggle-able via pressing and holding the large silver button, voila! Hopefully your post and this post will help someone else viewing this discussion thread in the future...

Dear Always Wondering,

As I have posted previously, go to the AppleTV2 "settings", click on the "Audio/Video" line, then on the list of A/V settings, go to the Dolby Digital line and click on that until the line says "off". That is the only way that I have been able to receive CC on Netflix AND everything else, and without any background noise interferring with the normal audio, which I had with the default setting on "auto". Again, subtitles are NOT the issue! CC is not about subtitles, which only show with foreign language movies. I think we all know that the program must be CC available and that CC must also be enabled separately on that line of Audio/Video.

Pressing the big silver button does NOTHING with CC for me!

Also, even tho there have been several software updates, these did not change the CC issue. You will not receive notice of updates, so look for them occasionally (once a month or so) by clicking on "general" under settings and then clicking on "update software". Follow the directions - it takes about 20 minutes, so don't plan to do it during TV usage.

I hope that solves your problems. There seems to be a lot of misleading info here - just turn off the dolby digital. I would like to know if that works for you.

Speaking of misleading info... many people here have been able to get CC working without turning Dolby off. That is not the only solution to the problem.

You also should be getting notice of updates for your AppleTV. Have you tried a factory reset to clear some of the problems?

I'm also curious to know if those with the Dolby noise problem are getting their audio through the HDMI to the TV, or using the optical output.

Duncan,

You sound a bit hostile - what makes you the "expert" that you feel the need to comment on or override what others are saying on this site? If you work for Apple, maybe you are the expert. No one has attacked you, so just settle down. I personally am only adding what has worked for me, without all the tech babble.