CC (closed captioning) on DVDs?

[Sam]

This is about Closed Captioning (CC) not subtitle.

Most older DVDs have CC. Some newer DVDs have them too. All of them work correctly with my Toshiba DVD player software on my laptop.

The newer DVDs' CC do not work with my combo Philips DVD player (2 years old) and Samsung HD TV (6 years old). What gives?

Examples:
Rose Hill DVD (about 10 years old) works fine on Philips/Samsung combo.
Black Money (PBS, 2007) does not work, no CC.
Both work fine on the laptop with the Toshiba DVD player software.

Thanks,
Sam

 

[Sam]

Update: I found an answer on alldeaf.com forum. It does not sound quite right to me. I will try to verify it.

DVD says CC, but does not have Closed Captioning - AllDeaf.com

I went to Best Buy Geek Squad. Two of the guys and myself went to their home movie theater area. We did a lot of testing on different DVD & BR players. After we all figured it out, THEN the manager from the back told one of them he already knew what we had just discovered.

The HDMI cable can only hold the highest technology signals with all those pixels, and there is no more room for CC signals.

The old AV2 analog (white, red & yellow) cord can transmit the CC because it is not transmitting all those wonderful pixels.

There is nothing wrong with your DVDs. Your television is set up right. As you just found out, HDMI is the culprit. It is a well known issue of HDMI interferring with closed captioning. The industry knew about it so did FCC but nothing has been done to address it.

I find it hard to believe this is well known issue but not being addressed.

Sam