Closed vs Open Captions, PBS & Pluto?

Channels DVR Server
#1

I understand very little of the technical details about CC, other than it is not currently possible to get CC on Pluto for Channels or VLC Bridge for PBS.

Unfortunately, my wife and I are increasingly unable to watch any TV that does not have CC. I even bought an expensive sound system with Dialog Enhancement. This helps a little bit, but not enough.

A thought came to mind. Would it be possible to turn on CC at the source, before it was downloaded, so the captions became a permanent part of the visible video stream, not embedded in the data?

#2

It looks like the answer is no for PBS. The streams for my nearest affiliates (GBH and WNEH) do not have an embedded caption track of any kind.

If you could set up a HDHomerun network tuner with an antenna (or just connect the antenna to your TV) you could get captions that way. The HDHomerun would give you the advantage of being able to record programing on channels.

GBH through PBS bridge, no caption track

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GBH through my antenna, has caption track
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#3

You could get open captions by using one of the HDMI capture projects.

As far as the Pluto content goes, you may have luck finding captioned versions of some of those channels on another FAST service like Roku, Plex, Tubi, Xumo, or Samsung. Which Sources/Content Support Captions (and which do not)

#4

I have HDHR and two rooftop antennas. Unable to get a decent PBS signal.

#5

Try contacting