New Member
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8 Messages
Osprey / DTV Stream Box Feature Request - easier Closed Captioning on/off toggle?
New DTV Stream customer, purchased 3 Osprey boxes... am very likely to convert my parents over to DTV Stream as well (they, like me, are fed up with the Spectrum + TiVo experience).
One thing I know I am going to miss from TiVo is how easy they make it to turn closed captioning on and off. TiVo has a very easy to reach toggle in their "info" display when you're watching something. I think it is actually the first option that pops up when you hit Info, it might require one or two arrow presses and then hitting OK... but that's it. Very handy if you are watching something quiet, or if you need to temporarily mute audio but want to keep following what you're watching instead of pausing it (e.g. a live sports feed).
With the Osprey box, you have to dig into the settings section and then poke around several menus deep just to get to the on/off toggle. I have no problem with putting the various settings for captioning in there... but please, give us a way to more easily toggle the captioning on and off straight from the main video feed! (If there is something easier, I couldn't find it...)
Accepted Solution
Jrandomuser
ACE - Expert
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1.2K Messages
4 years ago
To toggle CC on the Osprey is not as easy as on some cable remotes - on a remote that has the "color" buttons you generally press the red ("C") button. The Osprey remote has more buttons than most other streaming device remotes, but it doesn't have the "color" buttons, or any other spare buttons for that purpose.
However, you don't need to go to settings unless you want to set the "global" CC value. While watching, if you hit the "OK" button, it brings up on-screen controls as an overlay. One of the controls is "CC", and selecting that takes you to an another overlay which offers audio and closed caption settings for the currently playing video. While fewer presses (I think) than doing it through settings, it is still a lot of button presses. To go from the normal video display to turn on CC and go back would be (roughly?):
OK, Down arrow, Right arrow, OK, Right arrow, Down arrow, OK, EXIT, EXIT
(Which takes you to the control screen, gets down to the control choices, moves to the CC control, selects it, moves to the CC selector, chooses English closed captions, engages them, exits the CC overlay, and exits the control overlay. To turn them back off, I think the last Down arrow would become an Up arrow. I may have tossed an extra button press in there.)
If there is a shorter way, I am not aware of it. That is a lot, but I'm guessing they don't anticipate people changing CC frequently. However, I occasionally use CC briefly (on other systems, with a single button CC on/off) to catch some dialog that I find unintelligible with just the audio - that sequence makes that usage impractical. But like I said, they don't have a spare button.
They could put closed caption control as one of the "extra" (3 dot) menu items, but that probably would only save a button press or 2. What I have seen some systems do is engage closed captioning if the sound is muted - that is probably something they could do.
FWIW, there are a bunch of usability improvements that people have requested for years (many predating the Osprey). Under AT&T ownership, there were very few improvements. Since DirecTV took over as a separate company, there has been movement, so perhaps some of these will actually get addressed.
(edited)
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Accepted Solution
Buster1022
New Member
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11 Messages
4 years ago
You could always hit the microphone button on your remote, and just say captions on, or captions off.
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Tiger593
ACE - New Member
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1.6K Messages
4 years ago
DIRECTV STREAM keeps getting better give them time I am sure that it will get easy for you
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bradenmcg
New Member
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8 Messages
4 years ago
@Jrandomuser I'm not sure how your answer got accepted as a solution (I didn't click that)... but that is good enough for me that I would've accepted it. 😁
I was mostly just posting here because I had no other idea how to present a feature suggestion / request to DTV development. I'm also hopeful that under DirecTV's ownership, they'll work on things, because the DBS side has had a history of improving their stuff over time (I had DTV DBS for 2-3 years and saw the introduction of SWiM and DECA during that period, which was a cool evolution).
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Jrandomuser
ACE - Expert
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1.2K Messages
4 years ago
No idea how it got marked as a solution - as far as I know, only the original poster can mark one as "accepted". When the reps mark something as a solution I think it is "official".
In any case, we've been looking since the start for a real way to get requests/suggestions (and for that matter, bug reports) submitted. While the Help reps claim they forward things from postings here, I don't believe it - their knowledge of the service (and technology in general) appears so lacking that them having any sort of interface with Marketing or Development seems very unlikely.
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tonydi
ACE - Guru
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337 Messages
4 years ago
Saw the Subject and opened the thread to see if there was a better way. Except I use the way you outlined @Jrandomuser and was looking for something less cumbersome. 😁
I wholeheartedly agree that we need some sort of official "suggestion box" for things that need improving since I have the same doubts as you. I'd be first in line to put recording padding in there!
Oh, ACEs can turn on the Accepted Answer flag too (and no, I didn't either).
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tonydi
ACE - Guru
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337 Messages
4 years ago
Oooh, good suggestion! It doesn't work for me, though. 😟
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BDK81
New Member
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3 Messages
4 years ago
This works for me.
Press the microphone button and say "turn on closed captions" or say "turn off closed captions" as appropriate. Substituting "subtitles' for "closed captions' also works.
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tonydi
ACE - Guru
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337 Messages
4 years ago
Thanks @BDK81 and @Buster1022 !
I poked around and fount that I didn't have Google Assistant signed in, I was just using the "basic" voice control. It needs GA to do that type of command.
Now if we could only be able to say "pad this recording for 3 hrs" I'd be set! 😁
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bradenmcg
New Member
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8 Messages
4 years ago
I can confirm too that the voice assistant does work if you're signed in with Google on it. If you aren't, it doesn't...
But between this and the "press OK while watching" thing (That I didn't know about until this thread), I should be OK. It's a lot easier than having to go into Settings!
Now if only we could download the AppleTV+ app on the Osprey, because that's apparently one of my mother's "requirements" at her house... she doesn't want to need two devices... but the difference in navigation between using Roku + DTVStream app, vs having an Osprey, might be too much for her to handle.
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