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Did you know that Smart TV penetration in North America will meet and surpass 90% of the population by 2024? The good news is that there are lots of popular TVs to choose from. Smart TVs are changing the narrative of home entertainment, and perhaps the most remarkable feature you could get in a modern TV is narration or audio description. Pair those helpful settings with optimal technology, like the best TV for bright rooms, and you’re set with a quality TV for years to come.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
TV narration provides information regarding key elements of a TV by reading out the captions displayed on the screen. In addition, the audio description feature helps visually impaired TV users understand text content on the screen, allowing them to follow TV content easily. While this is a useful feature, some people find it annoying. If you are one of them, you can learn how to turn off captions on TV. Additionally, you may want to learn how to make a TV Bluetooth, so you can use your favorite pair of wireless headphones to help with hearing as well.
Narration is a pretty important tool, but what happens when you can’t turn it off? Don’t panic, on this post, TV owners will learn how to turn off narration on TV.
Narration or voice guidance is a feature that narrates everything that is displayed on your TV screen, helping users navigate through the UI without necessarily looking at the screen. It’s a valuable feature for TV owners with visual impairment.
This language option is enabled by a voice control button located on your remote, and it offers accessibility functions that allow the user to interact with their TV without having to read anything. This option allows users to easily access content without relying on visual elements, making the overall experience much more enjoyable. Depending on your TV model, the narration works perfectly, even when the user opens third-party applications like Netflix or Amazon. It could also give information about the film playing.
The settings menu lets you adjust settings that make the narration work best for you. Depending on your settings, you’ll get different options in the menu, including volume settings and a screen guide. The screen guide is particularly useful if you want to know more about what’s happening on the TV while it narrates.
Also known as audio description or voice guidance, this feature uses modern text-to-speech technology to help narrate text displayed on the screen. Most modern Smart TVs come with this feature. Interested in updating your smart TV? Check out our guide to updating smart TVs.
If you keep hearing text narration on your television, it may be because you or someone in your household might have turned it on intentionally or unintentionally.
To check, you can access audio options on the television and look for voice narration. You will also be able to specify audio language if it is different than what is currently playing. By doing this, you will be able to customize the audio experience so that everyone in your home can enjoy the audio options that suit them best.
While a lot of people may find this narration annoying, there are other features of smart TVs that are a great help, like Consumer Electronics Control (CEC). This allows you to control certain aspects of other devices connected to your TV through HDMI with your TV’s remote, so you don’t have to have a bunch of remotes lying on your coffee table. You can read our article on what is CEC on TV to learn more.
STAT: According to Strategy Analytics, more than 34% of homes globally owned a Smart TV by the end of 2020. This figure is set to increase by 51% by 2026. Smart TV penetration will surpass 90% by 2024 (source)
The narration and talk-back feature was introduced by TV companies in the early 2010s and only works when there is a text that the TV can display on its own. This includes menu items.
Moreover, when a screen menu with multiple options is available, the screen reader can read out each option so that visually impaired people can select the desired one. This feature has become increasingly popular as it enables these people to easily navigate and use menus without having to rely on someone else to describe them.
It is essential to note that in some models, TV narration doesn’t work with external/input devices like video game consoles, cable boxes, Blu-ray, and even streaming services like Netflix.
Therefore, if you unintentionally turned on the talkback feature on your TV, you will have narration on every program on your TV that supports the feature. For some people, even if they own a top-notch model like the best 24 inch smart TV, it might feel distracting. Please note that not all TV programs support narration.
Turing off narration on your TV is pretty simple. All you need to do is the following:
First, power the TV, and on the remote, press the MENU button.
Use the arrow buttons on the remote control to navigate the “System” option and press “Enter.”
Navigate with the arrow buttons to “Accessibility” and activate it by pressing “Enter.”
Find the “Narration” or “Audio Guidance” or “Audio Description” feature and set it to “OFF.”
Press the “Exit” button to save changes. There you go, you have successfully turned off narration on your TV.
F.A.Q.S
What is TV Narration?
TV narration provides information regarding key elements of a TV by reading out the captions displayed on the screen.
How is TV Narration helpful?
The audio description feature helps visually impaired TV users understand text content on the screen, allowing them to follow TV content easily.
How does TV narration work?
Narration or voice guidance is a feature that narrates everything that is displayed on your TV screen, helping users navigate through the UI without necessarily looking at the screen.
Does Narration work with third-party applications or Input devices?
Depending on your TV model, the narration works perfectly, even when the user opens third-party applications like Netflix or Amazon. It could also give information about the film playing.
Does narration work on older model TVs?
Narration only works on Smart TVs. It is essential to note that the narration and talk-back feature was introduced by TV companies in the early 2010s and only works when there is text that the TV can display on its own. This includes menu items.
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