Commercials without sound

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Boatrocker
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Commercials without sound

Unread post by Boatrocker »

This is not a problem for me at all, but my curiosity really wants to know, and I'm bored on a Sunday morning. Thing is: There are some commercials, exclusively on WSPA in Spartanburg, that air without sound. Commercials that air just fine at other times, just don't have any sound On Sunday AM. The commercial before it might have sound, and the commercial after. Somtimes 2-3 in a row will have no sound. Programming sound outside of ads is fine. Weirder, still, is that often only the dialog track of the sound will be missing, leaving the music and other audio intact. On top of that, I have never seen this happen at any time other than Sunday mornings, up till around 11:00AM., This same station will, on Sunday mornings, air maybe 2 seconds or so of a PSA, then go immediately to another commercial, or back to programming. I guessed that this is a tactic that allows them to get credit for technically airing the commercial, while squeezing another one in the same time space. But I lack the knowledge to guess why some commercials might air in their entirety, missing some or all sound, only on Sunday mornings, and only on one particular station. Searches have returned little but smartass requests to know how this can be replicated on someone else's TV system.
I have Charter cable, running on non-HDMI cables thru a Motorola DVR receiver to a 7 yr old 47" Vizio LCD HD TV. I have a non-DVR receiver in the bedroom, but the missing sound thingy happens back there, too. Even before, when I was running cable straight to the cable-in port on the back of a Emerson 27" CRT fossil, the same thing happened. This has been going on for years.
What the hell?
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I will not go quietly.

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Vrede too
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Re: Commercials without sound

Unread post by Vrede too »

I wouldn't know, but found this:
My guess is that your receiver is set to a mode that puts mono sound through a center channel (either real or simulated) and that isn't working.
My suspicion is that you're on the right track here. I would suggest that the receiver is somehow locked into a certain mode, possibly Dolby Digital. When programming is on, the sound is being output in DD. When the commercials come on, it probably switches to PCM, causing there to be no sound.

My guess is, if you switch the receiver to Auto, you'll get sound during the ads.

Whether or not you would want to actually do that is totally up to you...
And this:
It could be a couple of things. One thing that you should check is press Settings on the Remote and set your Output Resolution to 1080i. Deselect the Auto Setting and all other resolutions. (The dot should only be on 1080i.) This may stop the flickering.

The second option could be a bad HDMI cable. You might want to go out and purchase a new quality HDMI cable. How old is the HDMI cable? Plan to spend about $20.

What is the made and model of the box? How long have your parents had it? The SA model boxes are really old, about 10 years out of date. A box upgrade may be needed. (Newer Model.) Try these two steps above first. But if the DVR is actually turning off or losing sound, this could be an HDMI issue, a cable box settings issue, or the box going bad.
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Boatrocker
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Re: Commercials without sound

Unread post by Boatrocker »

Found all that stuff, but none if it applies. IF my settings were off, it would happen all the time, not just Sunday morning. Nor would it go away by lunch on Sunday.
It is a puzzlement.
I will not lie down.
I will not go quietly.

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rstrong
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Re: Commercials without sound

Unread post by rstrong »

I download the occasional "ProRes" movie trailer. These are professional quality versions, almost 3GB for a 2.5 minute trailer.

They often have 8 audio tracks, marked:
1) Left
2) Right
3) Center
4) LFE (Low-Frequency Effects)
5) Left Surround
6) Right Surround
7&8) Stereo Mix

What comes out on my headphones, when I select different tracks:
1) Music only
2) Music only
3) Voice and sound effects only
4) Rumbling only, where appropriate
5 Music only
6) Music only
7&8) Entire audio; music, voice and rumbling

The annoying thing is, track 1 is the default. And there's a short description card tacked on to the start with no audio track at all. So to watch the trailer I have to start it, wait for the description card to finish, **THEN** quickly switch to track 8. Otherwise there's no voices.

It may be that if I had surround sound, I'd hear everything without having to select a track.

I'm guessing that *some* commercials are arriving at the station in ProRes format, and the person manning the station on Sunday mornings just plays 'em with the default audio track.

It may be that if the station broadcast surround sound, and your receiver and TV supported it, you hear everything too.

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Vrede too
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Re: Commercials without sound

Unread post by Vrede too »

Boatrocker wrote:Found all that stuff, but none if it applies. IF my settings were off, it would happen all the time, not just Sunday morning. Nor would it go away by lunch on Sunday.
It is a puzzlement.
Booze ads in a Blue Law state? :D

Have you asked WSPA?

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homerfobe
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Re: Commercials without sound

Unread post by homerfobe »

Boatrocker wrote:Found all that stuff, but none if it applies. IF my settings were off, it would happen all the time, not just Sunday morning. Nor would it go away by lunch on Sunday.
It is a puzzlement.
God's yanking your chain for being such an asshole towards christians.

Seriously, you say you're not using HDMI cables. I'm thinking if your receiver and connecting cables aren't hi def, it's possible that could be your problem. Considering it's only with commercials, I'd say you are in an enviable position. I've worn the lettering off my mute button.
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Boatrocker
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Re: Commercials without sound

Unread post by Boatrocker »

rstrong wrote:I download the occasional "ProRes" movie trailer. These are professional quality versions, almost 3GB for a 2.5 minute trailer.

They often have 8 audio tracks, marked:
1) Left
2) Right
3) Center
4) LFE (Low-Frequency Effects)
5) Left Surround
6) Right Surround
7&8) Stereo Mix

What comes out on my headphones, when I select different tracks:
1) Music only
2) Music only
3) Voice and sound effects only
4) Rumbling only, where appropriate
5 Music only
6) Music only
7&8) Entire audio; music, voice and rumbling

The annoying thing is, track 1 is the default. And there's a short description card tacked on to the start with no audio track at all. So to watch the trailer I have to start it, wait for the description card to finish, **THEN** quickly switch to track 8. Otherwise there's no voices.

It may be that if I had surround sound, I'd hear everything without having to select a track.

I'm guessing that *some* commercials are arriving at the station in ProRes format, and the person manning the station on Sunday mornings just plays 'em with the default audio track.

It may be that if the station broadcast surround sound, and your receiver and TV supported it, you hear everything too.
That could be it; I have no idea. I have asked the station several times, with no responses. Again, it is really not a problem for me, but my curiosity gets extremely agitated.
I will not lie down.
I will not go quietly.

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Vrede too
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Re: Commercials without sound

Unread post by Vrede too »

Boatrocker wrote:.... I have asked the station several times, with no responses....
Try calling? My emails to TV stations never get a response, though I have occasionally seen a change in story presentation. I don't know if that was me or not.

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Boatrocker
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Re: Commercials without sound

Unread post by Boatrocker »

Vrede too wrote:
Boatrocker wrote:.... I have asked the station several times, with no responses....
Try calling? My emails to TV stations never get a response, though I have occasionally seen a change in story presentation. I don't know if that was me or not.
After "business hours" it is effectively impossible to talk to anyone about anything at local stations; during business hours, it's almost impossible, unless you have an extension # or know exactly who you need to speak to, etc. Someday when I'm bored and un-busy enough to tend to it during the day, I'll try to call then again.
I will not lie down.
I will not go quietly.

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