Beantree Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 A few months ago, or perhaps longer, we noticed 'narration' had started on English TV programmes. By that I mean a voice in the background describing the scenes in-between actors talking which somewhat spoils programmes. Last night we tried to watch that JK Rowling film about fantasy animals in a suitcase (forgotten the title). Problem was the volume of the narration was SO much higher than the voices of the actors it was sending us deaf. End result was TV went off halfway through the film. Is there any way to switch the narration off? We're watching via a Humax Freesat box; can't see anything in the menus but perhaps I'm looking for the wrong thing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
patsylabrador Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 I googled it out of interest and found this. Any good? It was on a forum called MyHumax. Audio Description - (on remote 3 up from bottom 1 right (next to opt+)). It has a speaker icon with a ? mark next to it. Press again to remove the AD icon so you see just English. It looks like people have been asking this question for at least five years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajm200 Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 47 minutes ago, Beantree said: A few months ago, or perhaps longer, we noticed 'narration' had started on English TV programmes. By that I mean a voice in the background describing the scenes in-between actors talking which somewhat spoils programmes. Last night we tried to watch that JK Rowling film about fantasy animals in a suitcase (forgotten the title). Problem was the volume of the narration was SO much higher than the voices of the actors it was sending us deaf. End result was TV went off halfway through the film. Is there any way to switch the narration off? We're watching via a Humax Freesat box; can't see anything in the menus but perhaps I'm looking for the wrong thing? I’ve watched the film and don’t remember any narration like that. It is a good film so it is a shame that you couldn’t watch to the end. It must be configurable like subtitles. I’d need it at the moment though so will investigate how to turn it on on our DVD player. here is the instructions on how to stop it for freesat https://forums.digitalspy.com/discussion/1430792/how-can-i-turn-off-the-audio-description-facility-for-freesat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted January 6, 2019 Author Share Posted January 6, 2019 Thanks Patsylabrador and Ajm200. Our handset must be quite old but I've now found the speaker button with '?' next to it which presumably turns it off on a daily basis. Now I know that it's called 'Audio Description' I turned it off on the main menu, so perhaps it will be off permanently tonight? Can't believe it was that simple, having put up with the irritation for months, last night was the final straw. Pity about the film; sure it will be repeated though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
soapdragon Posted January 6, 2019 Share Posted January 6, 2019 What drives me mad is the 'catch up' blurb after an ad break.....yes, I may be declining in years but I can surely remember the first half of the programme I was watching before the ads. I REALLY don't need a three minute recap of the 'plot' so far! They even do this on Salvage Hunters (though I could listen to Ralph Innerson all day so forgive them that!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted January 8, 2019 Author Share Posted January 8, 2019 Yes, it's off! The speaker button with the '?' now does nothing, so can't be used to turn Audio Description on again. Presumably the setting on the menu over-rides it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted January 8, 2019 Share Posted January 8, 2019 It’s not because you’re in France is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted January 9, 2019 Author Share Posted January 9, 2019 No it's not Patricia. We're receiving UK TV via a UK freesat box, just the same as if we were in England. The only practical difference is the size of dish required now. Up to a few years ago an 80cm dish was OK, but then the satellite changed and the signal was better concentrated on the UK. This meant that the fringe signal down here became a lot weaker and we now need a 120cm dish; the problem with that is keeping it out of the wind so it doesn't blow over. Further South the dishes have to be even bigger and set on the floor in concrete. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ursula123 Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 Beantree, we only have an 80cm dish here in Lot et Garonne and the signal is fine, we too use a freesat box for UK television. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted January 10, 2019 Share Posted January 10, 2019 We used to take a dish with us to Spain when we were there for a while, but have given up,because it now needs to be so huge to work! No room in the car for it ( we camp down there ). And, we thought we should be able to live without BBC News and Flog it for 6 weeks! We can still watch sports events on the Spanish, Dutch and German neighbours’ TVs anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beantree Posted January 10, 2019 Author Share Posted January 10, 2019 In 'theory' Ursula123 (according to the internet reception charts), your 80cm dish won't work: so much for theory. You are a bit further North than us, so perhaps that 100 miles makes a big difference. Our last house had to be fitted with a 120cm dish as the 80cm received nothing after the changeover. We have a 110cm here (10km South) and it's subject to weather/ sunspots or something which affects the HD programmes only? Mind you it may improve a bit when we've got the moss off! When we lived in the Dordogne in our first year here we had no TV at all Patricia, but because there was so much going on we didn't miss it at all. Problem there was the tree covered hill to the South which blocked any signal. We had a 100cm portable dish which, when we moved here became surplus to requirements and which has now been converted into a chicken feeder shelter; just turned it upside down and added 3 legs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
