NTL Digital and sign language

DavidT

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I've had NTL digital for a while now and am reasonably happy with it except for one thing that drives me mad, it is the person standing on the right hand side of the screen doing sign language on some programs. I have noticed this particularly on Channel4 broadcasts. This person does not appear on analogue transmissions of the same program.

I have asked NTL Customer Services how to turn it off but they say that it can't be done and I should speak to Channel4 about it. Is this true?

I can't believe that I can't turn this person off.

Does anyone know if anything can be done.

Thanks
 
When I came over to the UK from Canada, I was shocked at how prevalent Widescreen TV was. (back home, it's pretty much non-existent, not to mention that none of the stations transmit in widescreen) A number of other things wow'ed me about the state of television over here, and for the most part, this country is way ahead of back home. But one thing didn't seem right... close captioning.

Back home, almost all reasonably new TV's are fitted with close captioning devices built in. So, for the channels and programs that support it, you just turn it on, and subtitles show up, displaying all dialog and important aural information for the hard of hearing. Even though my hearing is fine, I use this sometimes when I'm not sure exactly what is being said. (song lyrics are sometimes hard to make out, as well as some animated shows) Or, just when it's late at night, and I don't want to wake anybody up.

So, when I realized that in order to get close captioning, you have to get a specially fitted device for your TV, I was a little shocked. And after I saw this "giant" person doing sign language on a couple of the channels, I winced. That's a lot of screen real estate, that (in my opinion) would be much better spent on subtitles. I don't know sign language, but I would imagine that it's easier to read subtitles than to pick up the signs from an on-screen person.

So, I see why they are doing it, but it just seems a little misguided, if you ask me. Course, I'm still new here, so feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on anything.
 
Close captioning in the UK appears to be handled using VCRs although there aren't that many available.
My assistant - who is almost deaf- recently bought the Panasonic NV760 for £199 from Hispek.
 

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